(February 11.2012) Thousands of cheering supporters swarmed opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi on Saturday as the democracy icon took her historic campaign for a parliament
seat to the southern constituency she hopes to represent for the first time. Supporters
waving her political party's flag came out in force to catch a glimpse of the 66-year-old
Nobel Peace laureate as her convoy crawled from the main city Yangon to Kawhmu, a
poor, rural district to the south. The 16-mile journey down a crumbling road took
three hours, underscoring how undeveloped Myanmar is after half a century of military
rule. Suu Kyi is running in an April 1 by-election that is being held to fill 48
parliamentary seats vacated by lawmakers who were appointed to the Cabinet or other
posts last year. Even if Suu Kyi's party wins all 48 seats, however, it will have
minimal power. The 440-seat lower house is overwhelmingly dominated by ruling party
allies of the former junta and 25 percent of lawmakers are, by law, military appointees.
At a youth meeting Thursday, Suu Kyi told party members that ``even one seat is important.''
A victory would be historic for Suu Kyi, who spent most of the last two decades under
house arrest. She would have a voice in government for the first time after decades
as the country's opposition leader. In 1990, while she was still under house arrest,
her party won a sweeping election victory but the then-ruling military junta refused
to honor the results. The nominally civilian government that inherited power last
year after 2010 elections that Suu Kyi's party boycotted has embarked on a series
of reforms that have surprised even some of the country's toughest critics. It has
released hundreds of political prisoners, signed cease-fire deals with ethnic rebels,
and increased media freedoms. The government hopes the changes will prompt the lifting
of economic sanctions imposed under the junta's rule. Western governments and the
United Nations have said they will review the sanctions only after gauging whether
the April polls are carried out freely and fairly.