Suu Kyi opens campaign for Myanmar election amid virus surge

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi raised her party’s flag at its office in the capital Tuesday to start an election campaign that may be disrupted by a resurgence of the coronavirus.

Her National League for Democracy party is widely expected to again win the most seats in the Nov. 8 general election and Suu Kyi is expected to remain as state counsellor, the de facto head of state.

The main opponents will be the Union Solidarity and Development Party, formed by former generals. Myanmar was under military rule from 1962 until a nominally civilian government took over in 2011.

Suu Kyi said her plan to open her campaign with a tour of her constituency just outside Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, was canceled because of travel restrictions due to surging virus cases.

Cases have spiked suddenly after Myanmar registered months of relatively low numbers. The health ministry reported 92 more cases on Tuesday morning, bringing the total to 1,610.

The western state of Rakhine, where the vast majority of the new cases have been found, is under lockdown, as are parts of Yangon. Restrictions are in force in several other cities, including the capital, Naypyitaw.

The Union Election Commission has not yet decided on a postponement of the election but has not allowed campaign activities in areas where a “Stay-at-Home” program has been implemented, which include the whole of Rakhine state and seven townships in Yangon.

The commission has said it will decide in October whether to allow voting in areas where armed struggles are active with ethnic minorities that have battled for decades for greater autonomy.

Wearing white gloves and a plastic face shield over a mask in her party’s trademark vivid red color, Suu Kyi slowly hauled her party’s flag up...