Aung San Suu Kyi Goes On The Campaign Trail
Following the news that Burma’s opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, had decided to take part in forthcoming by-elections on 1 April (see WVoN story), she has now hit the campaign trail.
Alison Clarke WVoN co-editor
Suu Kyi was mobbed by tens of thousands of people in the coastal town of Dawei at the weekend, all trying to get a glimpse of a woman who has been a thorn in the side of the Burmese military dictatorship for many years.
Although a new government supposedly came to power last year, it is still dominated by the generals who have kept a vice-like grip on the secretive regime since a coup d’etat in 1962.
Nevertheless, reform is coming to Burma and Suu Kyi’s decision to stand for a seat in the rural township of Kawhmu is the latest evidence of democratic change initiated by the nominally civilian government.
The byelection is to fill 48 seats in the lower house of parliament and is the first time that Suu Kyi has has participated directly in an election.