Inside Story

Will Myanmar election be free and fair?

Campaigning for Myanmar’s first general election since end to military rule began on Tuesday.

The polls in Myanmar will be the first since a nominally civilian government was installed in 2011. But with the military still firmly in control of the process, there is widespread speculation as to whether the election will be free and fair.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from becoming President, even if her party, the National League for Democracy, wins in the vote. She has said a smooth transition is crucial.
 
But how smooth can it be? And will it usher in a new era in Myanmar? 
 
Presenter: Laura Kyle
 
Guests
 
Maung Zarni: a Myanmar scholar and dissident now living in the UK. Zarni was a former visiting scholar at London School of Economics and Harvard University.
 
Gwen Robinson: chief editor of the Nikkei Asian Review. She’s also a senior fellow at the Institute of Security and International Studies.