Myanmar Faces Crucial Test of Democracy

Channel NewsAsia

07 November 2015

On Nov 8, millions in Myanmar will cast their ballots in what is touted to be the freest and fairest election in the country’s history.

The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) looks poised for victory. However, the real test of the country’s democratic transition will come only after the election.

Dr Alistair Cook, a research fellow with Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, predicts that an NLD victory will be followed by a period of strategic bargaining between the winning party and the various stakeholders, including the military.

“If the NLD wins, it will be a vote for change”, Dr Cook said to Channel NewsAsia’s INSIGHT. “The change will be in the form of amending the constitution, if not rewriting large parts of it. So what we’ll see after the election is a period of negotiation between the different elements contained within the parliament over how that will take place and over what period of time it will take place and at what speed.”

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NTS Centre / Online