Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited one of the country's many flood-afflicted areas Monday raising her profile during a national disaster that has killed at least 46 people and could affect this November's general election Associated Press reported on 3 August.
The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement announced Monday that the death toll from flooding had climbed to 46, with more than 200,000 people affected in 11 of the country's 14 states and divisions. In addition to damage to houses and farmland, infrastructure has been very badly hit, with roads and rail lines cut in many places and telecommunication links broken.
Suu Kyi on Monday used a small wooden boat to travel in flooded parts of Bago township, 45 miles (70 kilometres) northeast of Yangon. She visited several shelters for flood victims and handed over donations of rice and drinking water on behalf of a foundation named for her late mother, a former diplomat.
The current flooding also has affected the political process. The Union Election Commission extended its deadline for election candidates to register by a week to 14 August noting that many need to deal with the crisis in their home areas.
The next session of parliament, scheduled to start Aug. 10, has been postponed indefinitely because lawmakers will be helping people in their constituencies, the speaker of the lower house, ThuraShwe Mann, said Monday.
