Legislative in Burma: Aung San Suu Kyi's party still so popular?

State woman Aung San Suu Kyi, criticized abroad but still very popular in Burma.

REUTERS / Chalinee Thirasupa

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

The legislative elections in Burma will take place in a month, and the electoral campaign begins this Tuesday, September 8.

In total, 97 political parties are in the running.

The central question of this election is whether Aung San Suu Kyi's party can repeat the overwhelming score it achieved five years ago.

Publicity

Read more

In November 2015, during the last legislative elections in Burma, the National League for Democracy won everything by obtaining 80% of the vote, i.e. an absolute majority in Parliament and a triumph for

after years of fighting for the political pluralism in his country.

At the time, she was an icon of freedom, both inside and outside Burma.

A deteriorated image abroad but still strong in Burma

Today after

The forced exile of the Rohingya and

, the image of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate has collapsed in the West.

But among the Burmese, Aung San Suu Kyi remains immensely popular.

It is considered as the guarantor of the unity of the nation and is supported by the Bamar, who form the majority ethnic group in Burma.

►Also listen: Aung San Suu Kyi, the fallen icon

The stateswoman had promised a lot: reform the Constitution to reduce the influence of the army, speed up the resolution of ethnic conflicts, develop the economy.

We are far from the mark, and the Covid-19 epidemic will not help.

But the 37 million people registered on the electoral rolls this year have no reason not to support the one who remains their best hope, in a country still largely controlled by the military.

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Burma

• Aung San Suu Kyi

• Rohingya

On the same subject

Almost 300 Rohingya refugees land in Indonesia

Coronavirus obliges, an anniversary of the purification of the Rohingya without commemorations

International report

Civilians in western Burma continue to flee fighting