Suu Kyi postpones major election rally Saturday, 04 February 2012 00:36

YANGON: Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has postponed a major political rally in the central city of Mandalay because the venue offered by the authorities is too small, her party said yesterday.

Tens of thousands of supporters turned out on Sunday to greet the Nobel Peace Prize winner on a campaign trip to the south ahead of April 1 by-elections, and an even bigger crowd had been expected this weekend.

But the pro-democracy leader decided to postpone the two-day visit, which had been due to start on Saturday, because the football ground where she wanted to deliver a speech is not available, said a spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

“The Union Election Commission has allowed us to gather at another football ground with a capacity of about 10,000 people, but her audiences can be in the tens of thousands,” he said.

“She worries people might be injured because of the size of the crowd. That’s why she postponed the trip. She will go there later for sure.”

He said Suu Kyi’s plan to visit the Irrawaddy region on February 7 was unaffected.

During her trip on Sunday to the southern city of Dawei, streets were flooded with local people waving flags, cheering and dancing with delight at the appearance of the democracy icon, who could be swept into parliament by the April vote.

Traffic clogged the roads as Suu Kyi’s convoy, trailed by a large number of cars and motorbikes, travelled around the district.

AFP

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