US condemns Myanmar army’s decision to abolish 40 political parties

The United States “strongly” condemns the Myanmar military’s decision to outlaw 40 political parties, including the National League for Democracy, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel said on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday (local time), Vedant Patel said that elections in Myanmar would not be considered ‘free or fair’ without the participation of all stakeholders. He made the remarks in response to a question about the Myanmar military’s decision to disband political parties, including the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

“Strongly condemn the decision of the Burmese military regime to eliminate 40 political parties, including the National League for Democracy. Vedant Patel said that no election in Burma could be considered free or fair without the participation of all stakeholders.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party was one of 40 political parties that failed to meet the ruling army’s registration deadline for the election. Earlier in January, Myanmar’s military gave people two months to register under a strict new electoral law ahead of new elections, Al Jazeera reported, citing Myawaddy TV. According to the report, the army has promised the public that it will hold elections after two months.

Only 50 of the 90 existing parties in Myanmar had applied for re-registration under the new rules. The rest will be disbanded from Wednesday. Suu Kyi founded the NLD in 1988. He won a landslide victory in the 1990 elections, which the then-rulers later nullified.