Page 29 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL8

For the past couple of years we’ve seen much more openness in print, online and in social media in Myanmar, which is a very good stepASEAN and the international community will be following the general elec tion in Myanmar on November 8 with great interest, as it will mark the first national election in the country with the participation of all the major parties.Besides concerns over land disputes and future development, there is the bigger problem of the continued dominance of the military, which insists on having 25 per cent of parliamentary seats, giving them a deciding say on any constitutional reforms. There will nevertheless be new political alignments after the election as the country continues on a path of “revived democracy”.Recently the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand hosted a discussion on Myanmar’s political outlook as the general election looms, with two key speakers, Dr Khin Zaw Win and Aung Saw, who have long been actively and vocally involved in the Myanmar political scene.Dr Khin Zaw Win, a former political prisoner and current director of the Tampadipa Institute, served 10 years of a 15-year sentence from July 1994 for criticizing the government. He was considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International and UNESCO issued a rare public appeal.“For the past couple of years we’ve seen much more openness in print, online and in social media in Myanmar, which is a very good step,” Khin Saw Win said. “But I don’t think the road to democracy will be simple and easy, because there are a lot of factors we have to consider.“November 2015 will be the first national election in Myanmar in which all major parties will be participating. It will be the second general election held under the controversial 2008 constitution. It comes after the first term of the semi-elected, partly civilian government, which has ushered in reforms. The first election in 2010 and these reforms have led to the revival of a democratic system of government, which Myanmar had from 1948 to 1962, and a more open political atmosphere, although the degree to which this has happened is hotly debated.”Elite+ 27