NLD Report Documents Election Fraud
The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, has completed a draft report that documents cheating and unfair procedures in Burma’s Nov. 7 election and the party’s central executive committee has approved the report, according to NLD leader Han Thar Myint.
“The cases are coming mostly from individual candidates because they were more oppressed in the election than political parties. There was only one political party which submitted their case to us,” Han Thar Myint told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.
“The candidates who submitted their complaints about the Nov. 7 election had to show evidence substantiating their complaint. Although we finished the draft, there are still many more cases to come. We can’t confirm when we will release the report because we have to compile many cases and if necessary translate them into an English version,” said Han Thar Myint.
Dr. Saw Naing, a 42-year-old dentist, was an independent candidate who lost in his constituency in South Okkalapa, Rangoon Division, where he competed for a seat in the Regional Parliament against regime-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) candidate Aung Kyaw Moe.
When the vote-counting ended the day after the election, the Union Election Commission (EC) declared Saw Naing the winner by six votes. But that evening Burma’s state-run television announced that the ballots had been recounted and Aung Kyaw Moe had won.
“If the regime is not going to discuss the NLD report, I will be dissatisfied. I want the regime to review the report and discuss it with the candidates,” Saw Naing told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.
In addition to submitting his case to the NLD for inclusion in its report, Saw Naing signed a complaint letter and sent it to junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe on Nov. 29.
He said he also wishes to sue the EC in court, but if a candidate wants to sue the EC or an opposing political party, the complaining candidate first has to pay a 1 million kyat (US $1,150) court fee. As a result, no candidate has thus far been able to afford to file a lawsuit.
The NLD documenting team also collected the Nov. 7 experience of Thu Wai, the chairman of Democratic Party (Myanmar), who was declared to have lost in the general election.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, Thu Wai said, “Even though the NLD report won’t effect the outcome of the election, it will record its history. Whether the results of the election change depends only on the government.”
On Nov. 17, China’s state news agency reported that the regime-backed USDP won 883 of the 1,154 parliamentary seats, or 76.5 percent, in the Nov. 7 election.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20223
