Description:
"...The elections held in Burma on 7 November
2010 were not free and fair. The manipulation
of the vote count was even more
blatant than those parties and individuals
who decided to participate, despite the unlevel
playing field, had expected. This has
severely limited the opposition?s representation
in the legislatures, and it has
seriously damaged the credibility of the
new government to be formed in the
coming weeks. Nevertheless, the significance of the elections
should not be underestimated. This
was a point made in advance of the elections
by many opposition parties that took
part, that they were participating not out of
any misguided sense that the polls would be
credible, but because of the important
structural shifts the elections should bring:
a generational transition within the military
leadership, an array of new constitutional
and political structures, and some space to
openly debate political issues. A positive
evolution is not inevitable, but those major
changes present new opportunities that
should be recognized and utilized. The
release of Aung San Suu Kyi also presents
important opportunities for the country,
even if the motives behind it may have been
questionable.
This paper provides an overview of the
final election results, and discusses the
implications for the functioning of the
legislatures. While the regime-created
Union Solidarity and Development Party
(USDP) together with the armed forces
have overwhelming control of the national
legislatures and the legislatures in the
Burman-majority regions, the picture is more complex in the ethnic-state legislatures.
The main focus of this paper is on the
opportunities that may exist for improving
the governance of ethnic areas. In this
respect, the relative success of some ethnic
parties must be set against the fact that several others were excluded from the
elections, and that a dangerous confrontation
continues between the government
and several ceasefire groups..."
Source/publisher:
Transnational Institute, Burma Centrum Nederland
Date of Publication:
2010-12-00
Date of entry:
2010-12-15
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English