Myanmar Suu Kyi casts early ballot in advance voting, with elderly voters encouraged to follow suit to reduce the risk of Covid-19.
Nov 8 election to press ahead despite surge in virus infections
LEADER Aung San Suu Kyi has cast her ballot in advance for general elections that are taking place during a surge of coronavirus illnesses.
Myanmar confirmed almost 1,500 new cases of infection on Wednesday alone.
Suu Kyi, whose title is state counsellor, and the country’s President, Win Myint, both wore masks and gloves as they voted yesterday in the capital Naypyidaw.
Measures are being taken to ensure social distancing at the polls on election day on Nov 8.
Advance voting is allowed and encouraged for citizens aged 60 or older in areas where there are lockdown-type restrictions. Suu Kyi is 75 and the president is 68.
It is also allowed in cases where people are staying for work in places other than their official homes.
Tens of thousands of citizens living overseas have also already cast their ballots.
The election commission has ruled that the polls will be held on the planned date despite the coronavirus crisis in several areas, a decision endorsed by Suu Kyi and her ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
At least two dozen other parties had urged postponement.
The commission has also cancelled voting in parts of Kachin state, Kayin state, Bago region, Mon state, Rakhine state, and Shan state, all of which are troubled by various levels of unrest.
The commission said free and fair voting could not be guaranteed in those areas, but the selective cancellation has drawn criticism. The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said it had serious concerns about the human rights situation in Myanmar ahead of the elections, including violations of the right to political participation, particularly for minority groups.
“While the elections represent an important milestone in Myanmar’s democratic transition, the civic space is still marred by continuing restrictions of the freedoms of opinion, expression and access to information, and the use of language that could amount to incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence,” its statement said.
Myanmar has 37 million eligible voters, including five million firsttime voters.
The last general election in 2015 brought to power Suu Kyi’s NLD after more than five decades of military rule.
Suu Kyi, a former political prisoner who won the Nobel Peace Prize for leading the non-violent pro-democracy movement, remains by far the country’s most popular politician.