NewsBy-Election 2012Inside BurmaRegionalWorldGlobal Financial Crisis and BurmaWindowsElection 2010 |
Burma’s 2015 election will be tough fight: Thein Sein
President Thein Sein said this weekend Burma’s government-backed party would face a “neck-and-neck” fight from opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in the crucial 2015 elections.

“Back in 2010, USDP hardly had a rival as it was the strongest one,” Thein Sein told RFA's Burmese service on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, which he is attending.
“It [USDP] has been organizing for many years, and had a good foundation then. But later, the NLD came in and it also has a certain amount of supporters. So in 2015, both have to compete neck-and-neck and have to try hard, that's what I see,” the former military general said.
The USDP benefited from the NLD boycott of the 2010 elections when the party was legally banned as a result.
However, since then the NLD re-registered itself and swept 43 of the 44 seats up for grabs in the April by-elections, becoming the biggest opposition party in the military-dominated Parliament. Since then, it has been conducting a member recruitment drive with a goal of more than 1 million members throughout the country.
Four of the new NLD seats were in Naypyitaw, the country's capital and home to the military and government.
On Thursday, Thein Sein said in reply to a question at a forum in New York City that he might consider serving another term in office if the country and people want him to do so.
“If I have my way, I will only serve one term,” he said, according to news agency reports.
“But of course the future of the position depends on the needs of the country and the wishes of the people,” he said, in response to a question at a forum hosted by the New York-based Asia Society.
It was believed to be his first direct response to a question on his future since he came to power under a nominally civilian government replacing decades of brutal military rule.
Latest News
- Myanmar-US chamber members meet Thein Sein
- Too early to judge Burma’s progress in eliminating child soldiers: report
- Burma shaking up media reform in Asean countries
- Burma’s 2015 election will be tough fight: Thein Sein
- Than Swe: Burma’s new US ambassador
- Suu Kyi leaves San Francisco, heading for LA
- Thein Sein meets with Islamic group at UN
0 comments:
Post a Comment