Sun 08 November 2020:
Polls opened across Myanmar on Sunday for general elections that were expected to deliver the government of Aung San Suu Kyi another term.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in the last election in 2015 — the first polls after the nation emerged from nearly five decades of junta rule in 2011.
Opposition parties had called for an election delay over the surge in coronavirus cases, but the governing NLD and the Union Election Commission insisted on forging ahead. Elderly voters were allowed to cast ballots in advance while the government promised to provide adequate personal protective equipment for poll workers and to ensure social distancing at every polling station.
In South Okkalapa township in eastern Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, hundreds of voters – wearing masks, face shields and gloves – lined up outside a polling booth at dawn to cast their ballots.
Safety Concerns
The UN has raised concerns about the chance of violence during the election. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres believed “the holding of peaceful, orderly and credible elections is an important opportunity to help advance inclusive sustainable development, humanitarian action, human rights and democratic reforms.”
Myanmar and Suu Kyi’s international reputation has been rocked by allegations of genocide after several hundred thousand Rohingya Muslims fled the country following a military crackdown in 2017. Myanmar says it was carrying out operations against militants who attacked police posts, but the UN said there was genocidal intent behind the army’s actions.
The Southeast Asian nation is gripped by several other conflicts with ethnic minorities and many of these groups, disadvantaged by the electoral system, have little chance of voting.
Yangon-based analyst Richard Horsey said there was a “huge risk” of election or post-election violence.
“There’s a lot of guns, there’s a lot of armed groups, there’s a lot of division,” he told the AFP news agency.
‘Apartheid election’
Virtually all of the 600,000 Rohingya Muslims still residing in Myanmar, about half of whom are of voting age, have been stripped of their citizenship and rights. That includes the right to vote.
The UN said in 2019 that the Rohingya Muslims were living in “deplorable” conditions.
“This is an apartheid election,” said rights group Burma Campaign UK, warning the polls would be “less free and fair than the last.”
The NLD-appointed Election Commission has been criticized for lacking transparency, flawed logistics, and discriminating against Muslim candidates.
The government of Myanmar, a Buddhist-majority nation, has refused to recognize Rohingya Muslims as citizens.
UN spokesman Dujarric said Secretary-General Guterres was concerned about the “legal limbo” of Rohingya Muslims in the country.
“It is important that everyone have a voice and be able to participate in these elections in a very … inclusive way,” he said.
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