Myanmar's military-backed party pledges to practice democracy; Myanmar opposition party NDF says polls step towards democracy; Myanmar’s Supreme Court to hear Suu Kyi latest appeal against her house arrest; Myanmar to free 11,000 inmates ahead of election
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    • Myanmar's military-backed political party is pledging to practice multi-party democracy and market-oriented economics. The chief of the military-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, Htay Oo, appeared in a 15-minute broadcast on state-run radio and television on October 9 in advance of the November 7, 2010 elections. He noted his party would guarantee Burmese citizens freedom of religion and would engage in "independent and active foreign policies."1

    Reports noted that a political party ‘National Democratic Force’ (NDF) which has been formed by ex-colleagues of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, issued a policy address which noted that upcoming elections would be a "first step" towards democracy in army-ruled Myanmar. NDF Chairman Than Nyein said "Now our country is in (a) transitional period to democracy… "we assume that (the) forthcoming election is the first step of democratisation the people aspire for," in a policy address.”2

    Myanmar's Supreme Court has announced it will hold a hearing on detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's latest appeal against her house arrest on October 18. Suu Kyi had lodged the last-ditch appeal in May. Her appeal has already been rejected twice, most recently by the Supreme Court in February. It would be worth noting that Court verdicts in the army-ruled country rarely favour opposition activists.3

    According to reports, Myanmar’s military regime is planning to release up to 11,000 prisoners ahead of November elections, in order to enable them to vote.
    However, it was not clear if Myanmar’s political prisoners, numbering over 2,200, would be included in the released prisoners. A corrections department official said about 11,000 prisoners could be freed.4

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