Suu Kyi's party dissolved

Suu Kyi's party dissolved

Junta-appointed election commission axes NLD for failing to re-register under tough new election rules

A cordoned-off entrance with insignia of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party is pictured near the house of detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in Yangon in March last year. (Photo: AFP)

A cordoned-off entrance with insignia of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party is pictured near the house of detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in Yangon in March last year. (Photo: AFP)


Myanmar’s election commission announced on Tuesday that the National League for Democracy (NLD) party would be dissolved for failing to re-register under a tough new military-drafted electoral law.

The NLD, which Aung San Suu Kyi led to crushing victories over military-backed parties in elections in 2015 and 2020, will be “automatically cancelled as a political party” from Wednesday, according to the state broadcaster MRTV.

The end of the NLD appeared inevitable given that the new law also says parties can be dissolved for communications with “terrorist organisations”. The military junta that seized power in 2021 uses the term whenever it refers to the National Unity Government (NUG), the government in exile that includes many former NLD lawmakers.

The NLD said earlier that it would not contest what it said was certain to be an illegitimate election if one were held.

In any case, it is no longer clear when or if elections will take place. The junta last month announced a six-month extension of a state of emergency and postponed elections it had promised to hold by August because it did not control enough of the country for a vote to take place.

As well, it has announced plans to carry out a national census late next year, which could form the basis for determining constituency boundaries.

Gen Min Aung Hlaing, who heads the junta, vowed this week that the military would continue to take “decisive action” against its opponents including the NUG and ethnic rebels supporting them.

Myanmar has been under sanctions, including by the US and EU, since the coup in 2021 that toppled the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. She has since been sentenced to a total of 33 years in jail after being convicted in secret trials of several charges that her supporters say are completely bogus.

The NLD won the 2020 election by a landslide despite the military’s claims of voter fraud, which were dismissed by international observers. The military sacked the election commission and appointed a new body that subsequently reported it had found 11 million polling violations.

The new election law also sharply increases the requirement for membership of political parties vying for seats nationwide to 100 times higher than what had been prescribed before the coup.

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