MANILA, Philippines—Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo has called on Burmese authorities to ensure free, fair and credible elections and allow Aung San Suu Kyi and other political detainees to participate in the electoral process to be held this year.
Romulo also urged Burma to engage in a meaningful dialogue with all political groups, and to work closely with them toward a peaceful transition to democracy at an early date. "Otherwise, the election would be a mockery of Burma’s Roadmap to Democracy," he said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday that Romulo made the call during the Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting held in Da Nang, Vietnam on Jan. 12-14.
Romulo asked Burmese Foreign Minister U Nyan Win to help ensure credible elections and allow Suu Kyi and all other political detainees to run if they so decide.
Last week, the head of the military junta in Burma confirmed it was planning to hold national elections this year, but no specific dates or procedures for the elections were announced. Western diplomats in Burma have received indications that the polls would come in late spring or early summer.
Senior Gen. Than Shwe, the junta’s head, confirmed the elections in an open letter published in a state-run newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar. The letter, which also commemorated the 62nd anniversary of the nation’s independence from Britain, encouraged citizens to “remain vigilant at all times against dangers posed by neocolonialists.”
Burma last held an election in 1990, when the National League for Democracy won by a landslide with the party’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, set to become prime minister. But the ruling generals nullified the poll results and have remained in power since.
A new Constitution was passed in a referendum in 2008 that was widely assailed as a sham. It reserves a substantial number of future seats in Parliament for the military and factions loyal to the junta, and many analysts say the Constitution is a way for the military to perpetuate its control over the country.
Suu Kyi remains under house arrest in Rangoon and it is unlikely she will be allowed to play an active role in the elections. She was permitted to confer last month with three senior leaders of her political party.
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