Week 9: 2010 Election Watch (4-10 May)

By Altsean-Burma • May 12, 2010

Developments

Burma’s Supreme Court rejected the NLD’s petition to annul the SPDC election law that required the dissolution of the party.
Journalists in Rangoon said the SPDC Censorship Board was not allowing any coverage that criticized the formation of the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).
Three new political parties filed registration papers to participate in the upcoming elections. To date, a total of 36 parties – 31 new parties and five existing parties – have filed registration applications.
The SPDC Election Commission granted tentative approval to 13 new political parties to contest the upcoming elections and also approved the registration of one existing political party. To date, the SPDC has granted tentative approval to 27 new parties and granted approval to 4 existing to participate in the elections.
The SPDC Election Commission announced the formation of 320 sub-commissions at the Township level.

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Reactions

UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma Tomás Ojea Quintana said the SPDC had “not yet responded to pleas from inside and outside the country for conditions that allow credible elections.”
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell said that Washington was “troubled” and had “very real concerns” about the elections. “What we have seen to date leads us to believe that these elections will lack international legitimacy,” Campbell said.
Several registered parties were highly critical of the move by SPDC PM Thein Sein and other junta officials to form the USDP.
The Union Democracy Party said, “[…] for the 2010 elections to be free and fair it is important that those contesting in the elections not be the same persons who are running the show.”
The pro-junta 88 Generation Students (Union of Myanmar) spoke out against the move and compared the party’s registration to a football match where “the referee is [playing] the game himself, and he will shoot […] into the goalpost that he himself positioned.”

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This post is in: 2010 Elections