Campaigning ends ahead of historic parliamentary elections in Myanmar

“She is the leader of the party”, she said.

She was also asked if she thought all elements of the armed forces would accept the election outcome she replied that “All elements is a big requirement, but sufficient elements would be enough”. That is to say nothing of the 25% of the seats in the legislature that are reserved for the military.

In the city and the countryside, however, a more commonly heard view is that Suu Kyi’s time has finally come. Ms Suu Kyi has often said that the Constitution was written by the military specifically with her in mind.

“I had my eyes open about the risks, but when I weighed up all the factors, I didn’t see how we could pass up this opportunity”, Clinton wrote, saying she was keen to prod the generals running the country to move toward political reform but wary of embracing them too fast.

Many in the political opposition have charged in recent days that problematic polling preparations and decisions by the Union Election Commission (UEC) favor the military-linked ruling party which is seeking to retain power.

Wirathu and the Massachusetts Ba Tha Buddhist nationalist movement have thrown their support behind the incumbent Union and Solidarity Development Party (USDP) as a reward for drafting the contentious religious bills. US diplomats have warned the ruling party that they will not turn a blind eye to foul play.

There are however only a handful of Muslim candidates, even though Muslims make up about five per cent of the population. It also canceled voting in 608 village tracts, mostly in two states composed mainly of ethnic minorities, Shan and Kachin, ostensibly due to ongoing civil conflict.

And while “The Lady” is loved in much of Myanmar’s central ethnic Bamar majority heartland, her popularity is untested among the country’s many ethnic minority groups.

“There’s no doubt that the exclusion of millions of voters … will be quite damaging to the poll”, said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division. “The Myanmar government was well aware of the huge numbers of their citizens working outside the country and could have easily planned for a workable and inclusive absentee voting system – and it’s a damning commentary on the government and the [election commission] that they failed to do so”.

More than 6,000 candidates from 91 national and ethnic parties have campaigned.

The NLD need 67 percent of seats to win an outright majority and beat down the challenge of any coalition between the USDP and the army.

“I will run the government and we will have a president who will work in accordance with the policies of the NLD”, she told reporters gathered on the lawn of her Yangon home, the same mansion she was confined to during years of house arrest by the former generals. “I think you should take into consideration the fact that a whole country is in a dramatic situation, not just Rakhine”, she said when questioned about the thousands of Rohingya who are likely to take to shoddy boats again in coming months following the end of Myanmar’s rainy season.

Many have been keen to temper expectations of the poll.

The Obama administration says the conduct of the election will fundamentally shape future US engagement toward Myanmar.

“The State Department has had different definitions for what would be a successful election … the standard was ‘free and fair.’ For the November elections, we are calling for elections to be ‘transparent, inclusive and credible, ‘” he said, adding, “I don’t know whether this is a raising of the bar or a lowering of the bar”. “Whoever wins the elections, the military still has ultimate control over Burma, guaranteed by the 2008 constitution”. Although the government had invited them to return, seven of the 15 rebel groups refused to join the ceasefire agreement signed on October 24. Hundreds of political prisoners remain behind bars, and the police recently arrested three online activists for criticizing the military on Facebook.

The transfer of power took place following 2010 general elections that the NLD boycotted, claiming the polls were neither free nor fair. Attempts in parliament to amend the constitution failed earlier this year.