Conflicts & War

Myanmar’s Election Commission orders dissolution of Suu Kyi’s party

Bangkok, May 21 (EFE).- Myanmar’s military-appointed Election Commission announced Friday it would dissolve the National League for Democracy (NLD) part led by deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, local news outlet Myanmar Now reported.

Thein Soe, the director of the Election Commission remodeled after the coup on Feb. 1, accused the NLD of “electoral fraud” in the November polls and said it would prosecute its leaders as “traitors,” the outlet added.

He made the statements during a meeting in Naypyitaw between the members of the commission and a handful of political parties, many linked to the interests of the military, to study possible changes in the electoral system, the news site said.

The state newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar has been publishing daily for weeks what it claims is evidence presented by the Electoral Commission of the manipulation of more than 10 million votes by the NLD in the last election.

After the coup, the military junta headed by General Min Aung Hlaing promised to organize a new election after a year in power, although without specifying a possible date.

Since the coup, the military has kept Suu Kyi under house arrest and she now faces six charges for crimes including violating the Official Secrets Act, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The accusations against Suu Kyi, who spent a total of 15 years under house arrest during the previous military junta (1988-2011), have been strongly rejected by her lawyers.

The junta justifies the coup alleging fraud during November’s election, in which Suu Kyi’s party won by a landslide, and which were considered legitimate by international observers. EFE

nc/tw

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