The detained pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, will be allowed to vote in November's elections although her name was not on an initial voter list, an official said yesterday.
Many Western nations and the UN are critical of the junta for its poor human rights record and refusal to hand over power to Suu Kyi's party after it won the last elections in 1990. Suu Kyi's name was added to a supplemental voting list posted yesterday, a local official said. The official said she might have to cast her ballot without leaving home. Suu Kyi is under house arrest, and has been in detention for about 15 of the past 21 years.
Allowing Suu Kyi to vote would seem to have little point, since she has said disgruntled citizens have the right not to participate in the 7 November polls.
Her National League for Democracy party has been disbanded by the government for boycotting the balloting, saying the rules were unfair and undemocratic.
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