Myanmar's detained democracy leader will be able to vote in upcoming referendum

The Associated Press ,  Yangoon   |  Fri, 05/02/2008 6:31 PM  |  Headlines

Detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be able to vote in the upcoming referendum on the country's military-backed draft constitution, according to an official voting list released Friday.

Local government offices posted lists of people who have the right to vote in the May 10 referendum on a proposed constitution that critics say is a sham designed to cement military rule.

Suu Kyi's name was on the list of voters in Bahan township, a neighborhood in Yangon, the country's biggest city. Suu Kyi - a Nobel Peace Prize laureate - has been detained for 12 of the past 18 years and is currently under house arrest.

The name of her deputy, Tin Oo, also under house arrest, was on the voters list for another ward of the same township.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy insisted in a statement last month that political prisoners held under emergency laws without being convicted by a court have a legal right to vote. It said a ban on convicted felons voting does not apply to such people.

The party has also called for voters to reject the military-backed constitution, calling it undemocratic. Other critics of the ruling military, including the U.S. government and lobbying groups such as Human Rights Watch, have criticized the draft charter for the same reason.

Detainees held under emergency laws include Suu Kyi and Tin Oo, as well as prominent members of the 88 Generation Students activist group, which helped organize last year's pro-democracy demonstrations - the biggest in almost two decades. The demonstrations were violently suppressed by the military.

The law governing the referendum prohibits Buddhist monks and nuns, high-ranking Christian and Hindu officials, the mentally ill, people living in exile and convicted felons from voting.

It is not clear if Suu Kyi would be able to leave home to vote, since advance voting - for people unable to go the polls on the day of the referendum - is allowed. Advance and absentee voting overseas began last month.

A Yangon election officials was quoted last month as saying that there are more than 4 million eligible voters in the city. The nationwide total was not announced.

There will be more than 2,500 polling booths in Yangon, the Myanmar Times reported, quoting Hla Soe, chairman of the Yangon Division Referendum Holding Commission.

Polling booths will be open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., he said. (***)

 

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