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Politics

Muslim candidate has high hopes despite obstacles

Sann Tin Kyaw, center, ​who is running for parliament for the United National Congress, is campaigning in Yangon on ​Oct. 31. He is one of the only Muslims approved to run in Myanmar's election. (Photo by Aung Naing Soe)

YANGON -- Aung San Suu Kyi and Sann Tin Kyaw have a few key things in common. In the 1940s, their fathers fought for independence. In the 1980s, their activist offspring joined pro-democracy protests. Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest for a combined 15 years. Sann Tin Kyaw says he has gone to prison 10 times. They are both running in elections scheduled for Nov. 8. But there, the similarities end.

     Suu Kyi, 70, is campaigning as the leader of the National League for Democracy, which has declined to nominate Muslim candidates. Sann Tin Kyaw, 49, is a Muslim running under the banner of a historically Muslim party, the United National Congress.
 
     "I said that I would work for minority groups to get equal rights," he told the Nikkei Asian Review at his campaign office in Yangon as UNC songs blared from trucks outside. "So if minority people will vote for me, I will win.

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