Myanmar opposition holds major rally

By Joshua Carroll

YANGON, Myanmar

Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi addressed a crowd of tens of thousands in Myanmar’s commercial capital of Yangon on Sunday, one week ahead of a general election that many predict will bring her National League for Democracy (NLD) party to power.

Elated supporters, many clad in red T-shirts and bandanas bearing the party’s golden peacock logo, gathered before a stage next to a Buddhist temple in the east of the city waving flags and chanting "Mother Suu" for what observers say is the party's largest rally so far.

Suu Kyi, who spent the best part of two decades under house arrest for opposing the military junta, told the crowd she wanted her party to win every elected seat in Myanmar’s parliament. "It is every citizen’s duty to vote. You have to vote," she told the crowd.

Even if her party secures enough seats to choose the country’s next president, an office chosen by parliamentarians, Suu Kyi herself will not be able to take the top job because of a clause in the military-drafted constitution.

The same constitution also guarantees the military a quarter of all parliamentary seats, giving generals an effective veto over changes to the charter, which require a 75% majority.

The Nov. 8 poll has been beset by numerous other problems that have raised doubts about its credibility.

Hundreds of thousands of minority Rohingya Muslims are excluded from voting after the government withdrew their temporary citizenship documents earlier this year.

The NLD has also been criticised for failing to field a single Muslim candidate for the poll in an apparent attempt to appease extremist Buddhists.

Despite that, Suu Kyi’s party is still regarded as the best option by many minority Muslims, who have been targeted by a rising wave of hate speech in recent years.

Hla Shwe, a 59-year-old Muslim who voted for the NLD in a 1990 election that was subsequently annulled by the junta, told Anadolu Agency after the rally that Suu Kyi is "not afraid" of extremist Buddhists.

"If she wins it will not just be good for Muslims, but people of all religions in Myanmar," he said.

Next week’s poll is the first the NLD has contested since 1990.

It boycotted the 2010 election that brought the current governing party to power and led to accusations of vote-rigging.