Sunday, 07 November 2010 19:42
"There are elections that are being held right now in Burma that will be anything but free and fair, based on every report that we are seeing," he said. "For too long the people of Burma have been denied the right to determine their own destiny. We renew our calls for the authorities to free Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners immediately and unconditionally."
Burma voted under tight security on Sunday in a carefully controlled exercise designed to replace half-century of direct army rule with two military-backed parties.The vote will not bring an end to Western sanctions but could reduce Burma's isolation in Asia at a time when neighbouring China has dramatically increased investments in natural gas and other resources.
Armed riot police stood guard at polling booths or patrolled streets in military trucks in the commercial hub Rangoon, part of a clampdown that includes bans on foreign media and outside election monitors, and a tightening in state censorship.
The Internet was barely functioning, hit by repeated failures widely believed orchestrated by the military junta to control information. Power failures also hampered early turnout.
It is the first vote since 1990, when pro-democracy candidates won by a landslide in a result ignored by the junta.
"After the elections, Burma will be a military dictatorship just as much as now," said David Williams, director of the Center for Constitutional Democracy at Indiana University School of Law.
The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is the military's political juggernaut, fielding 27 incumbent ministers, top-heavy with recently retired generals.
The USDP dominated the campaign, contesting all 1,158 seats up for grabs. Its only real rival is the National Unity Party (NUP), another vehicle for the military, running in 980 seats.
At least six parties have lodged complaints with the election commission, claiming hundreds of state workers were forced to vote for the pro-military USDP in advance balloting.
"There has been widespread fraud and malpractice committed by the USDP in advance voting across the country," said Khin Maung Swe, leader of the National Democratic Force, the largest pro-democracy party.
"We democratic parties will have to take appropriate action after the elections," he added.
Twenty-five percent of seats in all chambers are reserved for serving generals. That means an army-backed party needs to win only 26 percent of the remaining seats for the junta's allies to control the country's national legislature.
Nearly 40 parties are contesting places in a bicameral national parliament and 14 regional assemblies. Except the USDP and NUP, none have enough candidates to earn any real stake due to a host of restrictions such as high fees for each candidate.
Still, some analysts say the election will create a framework for a democratic system that might yield changes in years ahead in a country bestowed with rich natural resources and located strategically between rising powers China and India.
The United States, Britain and some Asian governments have expressed concern about transparency and say the vote will lack credibility while an estimated 2,200 political prisoners, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, remain in detention.
The last, and only other election since 1960, was 20 years ago and won overwhelmingly by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, which has boycotted this election because hundreds of its members are in detention.
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