Aung San Suu Kyi to join Twitter

On 07th November Burma will hold it’s first election in over 20 years. The last election was held in 1990, and was won overwhelmingly (by 80%) by the National League for Democracy (NLD) – led by Aung San Suu Kyi (left.) The result was never accepted by the military, and Aung San Suu Kyi has spent most of the two decades since under house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi is now excluded in the forthcoming election after new electoral laws stated it was was banning anybody serving a custodial sentence from participating. In protest, the NLD is boycotting the election and is urging other groups not to participate.

With Aung San Suu Kyi release now imminent (although expected after the election) she has announced once free she intends to sign-up and use Twitter regularly to stay in touch with the younger generation, both locally and around the World.

With the news of a new election being welcomed, many from within Burma and across the World believe it is a pointless exercise which won’t see the change Burma needs take place.

A poll of more than 1,000 people, by Burmese civil society organisation Egress, found 78% believed the result of the election would be manipulated by the ruling military regime, but that they still intended to vote.

Despite this if Aung San Suu Kyi manages to create and participate on Twitter it will be a major success for democracy in Burma, and one thing is for sure, they’ll be millions of people wanting to hear what she has to say!

Source: Guardian