Suu Kyi’s party faces the axe
The head of Myanmar’s militaryappointed state election commission says his agency will consider dissolving Aung San Suu Kyi’s former ruling party for alleged involvement in electoral fraud, and having its leaders charged with treason.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) came to power after a landslide 2015 election victory, and won an even greater majority in last November’s general election. It was set to start a second term in February when the military seized power in a coup, arresting her and dozens of top government party members.
Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing cited electoral fraud as the reason for the army’s takeover. The army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, which suffered heavy losses in the election, made similar allegations. Independent observers dispute the claims of widespread irregularities.
Union Election Commission chairman Thein Soe said an investigation of last year’s election that would soon be completed showed that Suu Kyi’s party had illegally worked with the government to give itself an advantage at the polls. officials and
‘‘We will investigate and consider whether the party should be dissolved, and whether the perpetrators should be punished as traitors,’’ he said.
The NLD, which has thrown its weight behind a mass popular movement against the military takeover, has faced constant harassment since the coup, with its members arrested and its offices raided and closed.
The junta initially announced that it would hold new elections a year after taking power, but it later said the delay could be up to two years. Before the start of democratic reforms a decade ago, Myanmar was ruled by the military for 50 years.
Suu Kyi’s party also won a 1990 election, but the military prevented it taking power.
Suu Kyi and other members of her government already face criminal charges that could keep them from running in the next election. Their supporters say the charges are politically motivated.
After taking power, the military dismissed the members of the election commission and appointed new ones. It also detained members of the old commission, and, according to independent Myanmar media, pressured them to confirm that there had been election fraud. The new commission declared the November election’s results invalid.
The Asian Network for Free Elections has called Myanmar’s electoral process ‘‘fundamentally undemocratic’’ because its 2008 constitution, implemented under army rule, grants the military an automatic 25 per cent of all parliamentary seats, enough to block constitutional changes. Large sectors of the population, notably the Muslim Rohingya minority, are deprived of citizenship rights, including the right to vote.