Veterans of 1988 uprising to run in Myanmar election

By Joshua Carroll

YANGON, Myanmar

A prominent leader from a 1988 pro-democracy uprising in Myanmar that was crushed by the military will join the opposition party of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to run in a historic election later this year.

Ko Ko Gyi will be among “at least 15” veterans of the student-led uprising to join the National League for Democracy (NLD) for the Nov. 8 poll, a spokesperson for the 88 Generation students group told Anadolu Agency Monday.

Ko Ko Gyi spent the best part of two decades behind bars for his activism. His decision to run is likely to give the NLD a significant boost.

The spokesperson declined to name the other candidates. “I cannot say the names. We are still discussing… we are having lots of meetings,” he said.

The 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, a coalition of activists who took part in the uprising against former dictator Ne Win's regime, recently teamed up with the NLD to campaign for constitutional reform.   

The NLD confirmed earlier this month that it would contest the election, having refused previously to rule out a boycott.

November’s poll will be the first time the party has run in a general election since 1990, when the party won an overwhelming majority but was kept out of power by the then military junta.

The party boycotted a poll in 2010 that was largely regarded as rigged and brought the current reformist regime of President Thein Sein to power. The November poll will be closely observed as a test of the regime’s commitment to democratic change.

Critics argue the election is already compromised by parts of the constitution that guarantee military officials unelected seats in parliament and bar Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president because her children are British.

Suu Kyi, who became an MP in a 2012 by-election, said recently that her party has “a plan” to deal with the fact that there is no obvious successor to become president if it wins the election.