Dear Friends,

Below are the “2010 Election Watch” highlights for Week 31, covering 5-11 October:

Developments

• Youth activists posted signs that urged people to boycott the upcoming elections in 15 Villages across Arakan State.
• Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) organizers told residents of Shweza Village, Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, that if they did not vote for USDP candidates, they could be fined up to 100,000 kyat (about US$1,000) and serve one year in prison.
• Burma’s Supreme Court agreed to consider the lawsuit filed by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi over the SPDC Election Commission’s decision to dissolve the NLD.
• The USDP in Kutkai Township, Northern Shan State, ordered local militias to forbid any other party other than the USDP to campaign in the Township.
• The SPDC Election Commission reversed an earlier ruling that barred two USDP members from contesting the Haka and Thantlang Constituencies in Chin State.
• Election Sub-commission members in Mudon Township, Mon State, and Three Pagoda’s Pass, Karen State, reported that the number of eligible voters assigned to polling stations is up to five times greater than the maximum number it is supposed to process on election day.

For more developments click here

Reactions

• UN Sec-Gen Ban Ko-moon reiterated his call for the polls to be “conducted in a transparent and inclusive and credible manner, with all political prisoners freed before the election.”
• UK Deputy-PM Nick Clegg said that the elections “will do no more than reinstate the military government in civilian clothes.”

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