Still the generals’ election

ON NOVEMBER 8th Myanmar will hold a general election (see ). It will not be completely free and fair, but it will be competitive—the first in 25 years not to be boycotted by the main opposition party, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel peace prize in 1991. For a country that has suffered six decades of military rule, albeit in recent years a mufti and slightly less thuggish form of it, this will be a remarkable step.In 1990 Miss Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won a landslide victory at the ballot box. It should have formed the government, but the generals ignored the result and kept her under house arrest (where she already was) for most of the ensuing two decades. Five years ago they concocted a sham election, which the NLD boycotted. Now the signs are more promising: Miss Suu Kyi is free and the opposition will certainly win again. The army will probably keep its word and accept the result.