Myanmar’s first openly contested elections since 1990

The former junta-ruled country goes to the polls on Sunday in elections that could see the army’s decades-long grip on power substantially loosened.

But in bullish remarks yesterday, she vowed to be “above the president” in the event of the expected victory by her National League for Democracy party.

Still, the vote ended the junta era and ultimately installed President Thein Sein, a former general who began instituting political and economic reforms to end Myanmar’s isolation from much of the world and jumpstart its moribund economy. Daw Suu has been upping the ante this week by making bold statements, including a proclamation that she would be “above the president” if the NLD wins. And the military – regardless of the performance of the governing party it backs – will retain substantial power.

In 2012, after Suu Kyi was freed, the party swept by-elections and she won a seat in parliament. The elections are widely seen as a test of how far democracy has taken root in Myanmar.

If not, there will be severe doubts about the veracity of reforms that many have already criticized as superficial.

In Yangon early Friday residents were removing party stickers and flags from cars, anxious to meet a midnight deadline on campaigning, in a sign of the nervousness that pervades Myanmar after years of arbitrary military rule.

Of its 18 candidates, 15 were denied the right to contest a seat in November on citizenship grounds. “But when it comes to minority issues, particularly the Muslim and the Rohingya issue in (Burma), we feel that she has failed us”.

There will also be a contingent from Australian and the European Union in Myanmar monitoring the election.

Tellingly, not a single candidate from the ruling USDP was excluded during the commission’s vetting process. “I don’t think I will discuss these matters now”, she said.

“The NLD is the only party that can make our hopes come true”, Tun Tun Naing, 39, told AFP, explaining his loyalty to the party pivots on its leader’s star power.

The USA administration remains upbeat about Myanmar, but has also been critical of the pro-military government of President Thein Sein.

Another member of the USDP, Shwe Mann, could also be hoping for the top job.

If the result “is too suspicious, we will have to make a fuss about it”, Ms. Suu Kyi said Thursday at her first news conference in a year following three months of campaigning around the country with thousands turning out at her rallies. (Interestingly, numerous resulting diasporas have resulted in many members of these various populations becoming Austin residents.) The NLD is more pluralistic and supportive of the rights of ethnic minorities and women.

At a final pre-election press conference on Thursday in Yangon, Suu Kyi left no doubt on that score. The candidate with the highest number of votes will become the president and the other two will become vice-presidents.

Twenty-five percent of the seats in parliament are reserved for the military, and the key security ministries are nominated not by the president but the army’s commander-in-chief.

In 2011 the new government of President U Thein Sein introduced a degree of political freedom unseen in decades.

A more immediate concern is how free and fair the elections will be.

“At the end of the day, the administration will probably find a way to swallow whatever happens in these elections, but if the disconnect between what they say and the reality is great enough, it could cause tensions on the Hill”, Lohman said, referring to Congress.

In a video at the start of her two-month campaign, she requested vigilance from the worldwide community during the transition period, which she said was nearly as important as a free and fair election.

He added, “They might say bad words around the ballot station, and then there might be violence”. There is no prime minister in Myanmar’s political system.

‘Abandoned people’: What rights do the Rohingya Muslims have?

A few observers say it may be counterproductive in tinderbox Rakhine, where global aid groups have faced hostility from local Buddhists who accuse them of bias towards Muslims.

But this time, pundits expect the NLD to emerge as the single largest party from the election. He helped found the United Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the junta’s mass social organisation which turned itself into a political party.