Myanmar November Election Campaign Opens: What You Need to Know
- Nobel Prize Winner Suu Kyi Barred From Becoming President
- Army Automatically Granted a Quarter of Seats in Legislature
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Campaigning for Myanmar’s Nov. 8 general election begins with as many as 90 parties competing for legislature seats. It’s the first vote since the formation of a quasi-civilian government in 2011 and probably the most transparent since Myanmar’s former military rulers began dabbling with multi-party voting in 1990.
The last ballot in 2010 ended half a century of military rule and led countries including the U.S. to lift sanctions, attracting a wave of money to one of Southeast Asia’s poorer economies. Direct foreign investment rose tenfold to $4.1 billion between 2009 and 2014, according to Chatham House.