APSN | Suu Kyi lashes out in Taungoo

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Suu Kyi lashes out in Taungoo

Irrawaddy - March 6, 2012

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In a rare show of ire and frustration, Burma's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi indirectly warned the ruling authorities that the country stood to lose if election campaigning was not carried out in a free and fair manner.

Speaking to hundreds of supporters in Taungoo on Tuesday afternoon, Suu Kyi complained bitterly that her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was being unfairly restricted.

In what some observers regarded as a thinly veiled threat to the ruling authorities, Suu Kyi warned that the international community was not only watching to ensure that the April 1 by-election was conducted in a free and fair manner, but that it will judge whether all political parties were provided with the freedom to campaign.

In a 15-minute speech, the Nobel Peace Prize winner said, "Any political party that tries to win parliamentary seats by dishonest means will harm the entire country."

She said that international interest in delivering humanitarian aid to Burma began only last year, and that any political restrictions on the democratic process would inevitably lead to a withholding of the necessary support.

"The international community wants to help us because they believe Burma is on a democratic path," she said. "They believe that the country will be pluralist and that everyone can participate in the political process.

"I would like to say very openly that if some [parties] are allowed to compete in the election while others are not, then no one will support us," she said.

Though she did not point the finger at any party or group in particular, Suu Kyi went on to complain that NLD billboards and signs were defaced and destroyed in Naypyidaw, and that once they had been repaired, they were destroyed once again. She said anyone who would do such a thing had "the worst of attitudes."

Sources in the Burmese capital confirmed that civil servants in the Burmese capital were told not to welcome the NLD leader or to attend her rallies. They said police officers were instructed to turn their backs on Suu Kyi as her convoy passed.

In addition, Suu Kyi was forced to hold her four Naypyidaw rallies in open unshaded areas after failing to get permission to hold the events at football stadiums.