(Image source: Wikimedia Commons )

 

BY EVAN BUSH AND ADNAN KHAN

 

Burma’s democracy icon and opposition leader -- Aung San Suu Kyi -- has suspended her parliamentary campaign due — her advisors say — to sickness and a grueling tour of the nation. CBC News reports.

“Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is cancelling the remainder of her campaign due to ill health. Aides say she's suffering from severe exhaustion as a result of her active schedule.”

The 66-year-old Suu Kyi had spent 15 years under house arrest in Burma -- but was released in 2010. The BBC explains her condition in more detail.

“Doctors have now advised her to rest. The opposition leader set herself a punishing schedule, travelling hours in the searing heat by car, and on this most recent trip, by boat, to support her party's bid for a clutch of parliamentary seats...”

According to AFP this will be the first general election that Suu Kyi will participate in since the 1990. Al Jazeera says her party — National League for Democracy or NLD — had to face many hurdles to to get to this point...

“ The opposition boycotted the 2010 general election, claiming it was neither free nor fair, leaving the field open for a landslide victory by the army-backed Union Solidarity And Development Party... ”

As the Telegraph explains — the NLD boycotted the 2010 elections because Suu Kyi was still under house arrest and there were complaints about cheating. But the regime loosened in response to long-held sanctions and pressures imposed by Western countries that disallow investment in the impoverished country...

“A new nominally civilian regime has since implemented sweeping changes, including welcoming Suu Kyi’s party back into mainstream politics and releasing hundreds of political prisoners. The NLD cannot threaten the ruling party’s majority even with a strong result in the April 1 vote. But experts believe the regime wants Suu Kyi to win a place in parliament to give its reform drive legitimacy and encourage the West to ease sanctions.”

This setback will not only be a frustration for Suu Kyi and her campaign, but some fear it could be a blow to the democracy movement’s momentum in the country. A writer for the The Independent says NLD’s chances of shaking things up were already slim...

“Even if the NLD wins each of the polls it is contesting, it will not shake the USDP's hold on power. But the elections are considered very important, for both the main opposition and the government.”