In a result which caught absolutely no one by surprise, a political party closely allied with the military regime has won most of the seats in Burma’s first general election for 20 years. The Union Solidarity and Development Party said it had won “up to 80 per cent” of the positions in parliament.
But opposition groups in the country accused the military machine of openly manipulating the ballot, Foreign Secretary William Hague said the result was a “foregone conclusion” and American President Barack Obama described the election as neither free nor fair. He said: “For too long, the people of Burma have been denied the right to determine their own destiny.”
People in Burma last had an opportunity to vote in 1990 when they overwhelmingly backed the National League for Democracy, the opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi. The ruling generals refused to let
the NLD take over and promptly detained Ms Suu Kyi.
Clashes between ethnic rebels and government forces continued all week after the election on Sunday November 7.
