NLD chairman Aung San Suu Kyi told residents of Kawhmu Township, where she is seeking a seat in the Burmese Parliament, that she will focus on trying to alleviate unemployment in the township.
Suu Kyi delivered a 25-minute speech to about 40,000 people in an open field outside a Buddhist Monastery in Phayalan quarter after meeting with Buddhist abbots and touring an orphanage.
Myint Thein, a National League for Democracy (NLD) campaign official, said Suu Kyi told the vast audience that she will work for jobs for them and for the people in Burma, but she can that only if people give her their votes.
In the past few weeks, jobs has become a strong NLD campaign theme, perhaps partly in response to an anonymous campaign in Kawhmu last week, alleging that Suu Kyi has cost the township jobs because of her support of international sanctions.
“Our country’s main problem is poverty,” Suu Kyi told the crowd. “In response to the question, how will I solve the problem, we have discussed this issue with organizations and the countries that want to help Burma. We are planning how best to approach the issue, and we will do as much as we can.”
In her speech on Thursday, she said that she choose to stand for the by-election in the Kawhmu constituency, where many residents are Karen, for the sake of national unity, and if she becomes an MP, she will visit all villages in the township in which ethnic people live, according to Myint Thein.
The campaign trip to Kawhmu Township was her fourth visit. Suu Kyi donated alms to 13 Buddhist abbots in the township prior to her speech, and also visited Mingala charity orphanage in Phayagyi village in Twante Township. She also met village heads from 62 villages at the NLD campaign office.
The constituency has a total of 87,000 eligible voters from 62 villages. There will be 129 polling stations in the township for the April 1 election.
A Mizzima reporter, “A large number of people gathered along the road from Twante to Kawhmu and the car moved very slowly. Despite the burning sun, people form almost all the villages turned out to welcome her. Even elderly men and women came to greet her without wearing footwear.”
Here opponents are Union Solidarity and Development Party candidate Dr. Soe Min and Unity and Peace Party candidate Tin Yi.
