Suu Kyi's party complains of campaign restrictions

Feb 20, 2012 Bangkokpost - Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party said Monday that campaign restrictions threatened the fairness of by-elections seen as a key test of the regime's reform credentials.

Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi delivers a speech in Pyar Pon at Irrawaddy delta region on February 17. Suu Kyi's party has said campaign restrictions are threatening the fairness of by-elections seen as a key test of the regime's reform credentials.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner's National League for Democracy (NLD) called a news conference to complain that it was being denied the use of sports grounds to hold rallies ahead of the closely watched April 1 vote.

"We are facing many difficulties in our campaign," said party spokesman and campaign manager Nyan Win. "If this situation doesn't change, we will not believe the coming election is fair."
Suu Kyi, whose party boycotted a 2010 election because it thought the rules were unfair, is standing for a seat in parliament for the first time.
The 2010 vote, which swept the army's political allies to power, was marred by widespread complaints of cheating and intimidation.
The opposition cannot threaten the ruling party's majority even if it takes all 48 available seats in the by-elections, but a Suu Kyi win would lend legitimacy to the fledgling parliament.
"We want to compete fairly," Nyan Win said. "To get a fair play, we will make calls on the Union Election Commission or the government whenever it's needed."
The NLD party won a landslide victory in an election in 1990, but the then-ruling junta never allowed the party to take power.
Suu Kyi was under house arrest at the time. She was released from her latest stint in detention a few days after the 2010 vote.
The democracy icon has drawn crowds of tens of thousands of cheering supporters on the campaign trail, posing a security headache for her party.
Earlier this month she postponed a trip to the central city of Mandalay because her party said the venue offered by the authorities was too small.
The NLD said it had also been denied permission to use a venue in northern Kachin State for a planned speech by Suu Kyi later this week.
Her decision to stand for a seat in parliament is the latest sign of dramatic change taking place in the country formerly known as Burma after the end last year of nearly half a century of outright military rule.
The regime has surprised observers with reforms including welcoming the NLD back into the political mainstream, signing ceasefire deals with ethnic minority rebels and releasing hundreds of political prisoners.
The new military-backed government, which is dominated by former generals, assured visiting top EU officials last week that the vote would be democratic.
Western nations are now considering further easing sanctions, adding to hopes of an end to decades of isolation, but controversy surrounding the 2010 vote means the upcoming by-elections will be heavily scrutinised.
The United States has also expressed concern about the recent brief detention of the prominent Buddhist monk Gambira, one of the leaders of a failed 2007 uprising, less than a month after he was freed from jail.
Myanmar state media said Sunday that Gambira faced charges of illegally occupying one monastery in Rangoon and breaking into two others.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/280742/myanmar-opposition-says-campaign-restrictions-lifted