Myanmar Goes to the Polls

Editorial Board / New York Times | 5 Nov. 2015

Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) party supporters rally in the Bago region of Myanmar. Credit Ye Aung Thu/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

There is palpable excitement in Myanmar as the country enters the final stretch of campaigning before Sunday’s parliamentary elections. It’s easy to understand why: These will be only the third credible democratic elections since Myanmar gained independence from Britain in 1948. Moreover, Myanmar’s military, which has held the country in a viselike grip for much of its independence, appears ready to respect the people’s verdict.

Still, not every legislative seat is up for grabs and the military could well emerge with much of its power intact. One quarter of the seats are reserved for the military. This means the National League for Democracy, the leading independent party, must take a supermajority of the remaining three-quarters to earn the right to name Myanmar’s next leader. This will not be easy: Myanmar’s Buddhist extremists have used anti-Muslim fearmongering to tar the National League for Democracy, effectively urging voters to choose candidates from the military-controlled Union Solidarity and Development Party. Many of Myanmar’s myriad ethnic groups are predicted to vote for candidates from new ethnic-based parties, further splintering the independent forces.

Second, too many citizens simply won’t be allowed to vote, including Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya minority, whose voting rights have been shamefully denied by Myanmar’s courts. Polls will remain closed in districts across Kachin and Shan states because of continued fighting between ethnic rebel groups and the military.

Even if the National League for Democracy wins a majority of seats, it will not be able to name its leader, the Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, as president. Myanmar’s Constitution prohibits candidates with family members who owe foreign “allegiance” from holding the office of president. Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s sons are British citizens. Nevertheless, she vows, should her party win, to run the country from outside the government, which is bound to be a confusing arrangement.

With international observers on hand and the world watching, Myanmar’s election promises to be largely free of intimidation. But, after the election, the new government must use its mandate to deepen democracy. Guaranteeing the democratic rights of all citizens will be an important place to start. Easing the military out of the central role it still plays in governing Myanmar will also be key, as will protecting freedom of expression and an independent press. And persecution of the Rohingya — more than 140,000 have been driven from their homes and their plight has been likened to genocide — must stop.