Dear Friends,

Below are the “2010 Election Watch” highlights for Week 14, covering 8-14 June:

Developments

• The SPDC Election Commission approved the registration of the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. To date, the Election Commission has granted final approval to 32 parties to participate in the polls.
• The SPDC Election Commission has yet to grant tentative approval to three ethnic parties (two Kachin and one Shan) despite the fact that the Election Commission has approved the applications of other parties that had applied later.
• SPDC Army intelligence personnel monitored campaign activities and questioned canvassers of the All Mon Region Democracy Party in Ye and Thanbyuzayat Townships in Mon State.
• The SPDC Election Commission conducted election monitoring workshops for USDA personnel in Rangoon, Sagaing, and Mandalay Divisions and in Shan, Mon, and Arakan States.

For more developments click here

Reactions

• US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Eric Schwartz said that “the preparations going on in Burma give no confidence that these elections are going to have international legitimacy, or be free and fair.”

For more reactions click here

You can find comprehensive monitoring of the 2010 elections on the “2010 Election Watch” website. The Election Watch summarizes developments according to indicators drawn from UN, OSCE, and EU guidelines. You can also join our 2010 Election Watch facebook page to receive the latest Election Watch updates.

Yours, in solidarity,

ALTSEAN-Burma