Yangon (AsiaNews) - In a message on social networks calling on the international community to ensure that the elections bring "a real change in the political and administrative life" of the nation, the Burmese opposition leader has launched the election campaign for the November 8 vote next .
Today, two months before the general election, the challenge between Aung San Suu Kyi and the Burmese generals, now in power, has begun. Compared to the 2010 elections, boycotted by the National League for Democracy (NLD), the former Burma has embarked on a path of reform that has brought some changes, although the process of democratization has suffered a sharp slowdown in recent months.
There remain some significant changes, one of which the Nobel Laureate herself had often called for. Five years ago, when she was still under house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi said she hoped - one day - to be able to open a Twitter account and talk with the outside world. Today, kicking off the official election campaign the "Lady" used herFacebook, page, with a video message in English in which she spoke of her hope of free and fair elections and real progress in the country.
There will be over 30 million citizens eligible to vote, many of them for the first time, the first in which the main political will take part. These include Suu Kyi’s NLD, which had won the 1990 elections, but was never recognized by the generals. There are approximately between 90 political parties and movements of various kinds and extraction in the race, a number unthinkable a few years ago in the South-east Asian nation ruled by a strict military dictatorship.
The newly elected Parliament will have the task of electing the new President of Myanmar, a position the Noble Laureate cannot aspire to, because of a norm contra personam that excludes from the race. However, the main favorite for the final victory remains the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a branch of the former junta, which together with the 25% of which is reserved for military law somewhere Assembly, controls the political life and institutional framework of the country.
In her video message, Aung San Suu Kyi stressed that the vote of 8 November was a "crossroads" in the history of Myanmar. "For the first time in decades - she adds - our people will have a real chance to bring about real change. This is a chance that we cannot afford to take". The "Lady" then invites the international community to monitor the voting process and make sure that "our people feel that their will is respected" and that it is a harbinger of "a real political and administrative change ".
Finally, the NLD leader said she hoped that the result "will be accepted by all" and that is why there is a "real need for everyone’s help" " in the weeks following the vote. "We hope that the whole world understands how important it is for us to have free and fair elections". Following Aung San Suu Kyi also posted a message in Burmese, calling on voters to think about the future generations on their way to the polls, adding that her party will satisfy their desire for change.