Junta moves to dissolve Suu Kyi’s party

GBNEWS24 DESK//

Myanmar’s junta-appointed election commission will dissolve Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy Party (NLD) because of what it said was fraud in a November election, news outlet Myanmar Now said yesterday, citing a commissioner.

Myanmar Now said the decision was made during a meeting with political parties that was boycotted by many parties including the NLD.

Myanmar’s army seized power on February 1, overthrowing and detaining the elected civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who fought for democracy for decades before tentative reforms began a decade ago.

The military justified the coup by accusing Suu Kyi’s NLD of obtaining landslide victory through a manipulated vote, though the electoral commission at that time had rejected its complaints.

The election fraud conducted by the NLD in November was illegal “so we will have to dissolve the party’s registration”, the chairman of the junta-backed Union Election Commission (UEC), Thein Soe, was cited in the report as saying.

Thein Soe said the people who committed the election fraud “will be considered as traitors” and action will be taken against them.

A spokesman for the junta and for an underground pro-democracy national unity government, which includes ousted members of the NLD, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A spokesman for the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party said it had representatives at the meeting, which was still going on, and he was unaware of the outcome.

Security forces have killed more than 800 people since a wave of protests broke out after coup, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group said, though Reuters has been unable to verify the casualties due to a clamp down on media, with many journalists among the thousands of people detained.

Fighting has also flared between the security forces and ethnic minority guerrilla groups.

The turmoil has alarmed Myanmar’s neigbours and the broader international community, but the generals have shown no sign of intention to seek a compromise with the pro-democracy movement.

State media said yesterday military will beef up security in a restive region bordering China following a string of rebel ambushes on fuel supply lines that have worsened a crippling fuel shortage for the junta.

In recent days insurgents in Kachin and Shan states have targeted trucks they say are supplying fuel for military air strikes against their fighters and the transport of troops.

Two privately-owned trucks were destroyed near Sumprabum in Kachin, state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said yesterday, the latest in a string of ambushes that has contributed to “fuel shortages and high commodity prices.”

“It is reported security forces are stepping up security in the area,” it added, without providing details.

Kachin Independence Army (KIA) spokesman Colonel Naw Bu told AFP the group had destroyed several tankers in Kachin state in recent days, and at least seven trucks carrying fuel imported from China through neighbouring Shan state on Monday and Tuesday.