Suu Kyi's Party to Sit Out Burma's Election -- What It Means
Burma's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), announced today that it has decided not to register as a political party in the country's first election in two decades. “Participation under the new election laws would force the NLD to expel Aung San Suu Kyi as its leader and accept the controversial constitution, which automatically gives one-quarter of the seats in parliament to the military even prior to voting,” says Suzanne DiMaggio, Asia Society’s Director of Policy Studies. “Even though this decision was largely expected, the full implications are unclear. Now that the NLD will no longer be legally recognized, how will it impact the party’s relevance? It also presents a challenge for the international community which has focused on the leadership of Suu Kyi and the NLD as the best hope for bringing democracy to Burma.”
Suzanne, who is based in New York, is Director of Asia Society’s Task Force on U.S. Policy toward Burma/Myanmar, which is co-chaired by General Wesley Clark and former Administrator of USAID Henrietta Fore. A new report by the Task Force offers a detailed strategy that positions the United States to respond effectively and flexibly to the twists and turns that a potential transition in Burma may take over time.
The global launch of the Task Force report will be held at events on:
-- March 31 at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C.
-- April 6 at the Institute for Strategic and Development Studies in Manila
-- April 7 at the Asia Society in New York and at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations in New Delhi
To arrange coverage of any of the events, or to receive an embargoed copy of the report, feel free to contact us at [email protected] or 212-327-9271.
More information is also available at: http://www.asiasociety.org/BurmaMyanmarReport