Pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest, refuses to vote in Burma’s upcoming election, her lawyer said on Tuesday.
“The National League for Democracy (NLD) will not compete so she (Suu Kyi) said she has no party to vote for even if she is allowed to vote,” said Nyan Win.
Prisoners have no right to vote in Burma, also known as Myanmar. Officials reportedly said Suu Kyi could vote because she is under house arrest and not in prison, changing the initial absence of her name on the electoral register.
Meanwhile, the ruling military regime dissolved the NLD when the party chose to boycott the Nov. 7 election which it considers unfair and undemocratic, AFP reports. By not voting, she is showing support to the boycott.
Suu Kyi had previously said people have the right not to vote, AP reported.
Within the opposition some regard the vote as the only hope for progress in Burma. Suu Kyi’s NLD won the last election, in 1990, by a landslide. However the party was never allowed to take power and Suu Kyi spent most of the last 20 years in detention. Her house arrest is due to expire within a week after the election.
“The National League for Democracy (NLD) will not compete so she (Suu Kyi) said she has no party to vote for even if she is allowed to vote,” said Nyan Win.
Prisoners have no right to vote in Burma, also known as Myanmar. Officials reportedly said Suu Kyi could vote because she is under house arrest and not in prison, changing the initial absence of her name on the electoral register.
Meanwhile, the ruling military regime dissolved the NLD when the party chose to boycott the Nov. 7 election which it considers unfair and undemocratic, AFP reports. By not voting, she is showing support to the boycott.
Suu Kyi had previously said people have the right not to vote, AP reported.
Within the opposition some regard the vote as the only hope for progress in Burma. Suu Kyi’s NLD won the last election, in 1990, by a landslide. However the party was never allowed to take power and Suu Kyi spent most of the last 20 years in detention. Her house arrest is due to expire within a week after the election.
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