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Suu Kyi Says Myanmar Elections Not Free And Fair, Continues Campaign

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi addresses supporters in Myitkyina on Feb. 24.
Soe Than Win
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AFP/Getty Images
Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi addresses supporters in Myitkyina on Feb. 24.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi says the run up to Sunday's election for a few parliament seats in Myanmar, also known as Burma, have been marred by voting irregularities and reports of intimidation. She says that means the election process is neither free nor fair.

Suu Kyi's political party, the National League for Democracy, gave the media a list of voting irregularities, which alleges vote buying, voter rolls with the wrong people on them, acts of bias from the national election commission, and two incidents where candidates were hit by projectiles, according to Bloomberg.

But Suu Kyi says she'll continue her campaign for a parliamentary seat, and help other candidates from her National League for Democracy, because the effort has boosted political awareness among other citizens, CNN notes.

Earlier this week, Myanmar president Thein Sein spoke of the errors in the ballot lists, according to AP; the former army general continues to urge politicians and voters to respect the outcome of the weekend election.

As Anthony Kuhn told Morning Edition, Sunday's vote will test whether Myanmar's "nominally civilian government" will stand by the slow reforms they've begun implementing. Just seven percent of the country's parliamentary seats are open for election, and even if the opposition sweeps all of them, Anthony reports Myanmar's senior army commander declared the country's military is here to stay in politics.

Still, Suu Kyi said, "we are determined to go forward because we think this is what our people want."

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Korva Coleman is a newscaster for NPR.
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