Japan, M'sia urge Myanmar to hold free polls

TOKYO - Japan and Malaysia urged Myanmar on Monday to hold "free, fair and inclusive" general elections, government officials said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who began his first visit to Tokyo as leader on Sunday, held talks with his Japanese counterpart Yukio Hatoyama after meeting Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko earlier in the day.

"The two leaders... expressed their hope that the holding of general elections in Myanmar this year would be free, fair and inclusive, thus contributing to Myanmar's stability and development," they said in a statement.

Critics have said that elections planned for this year will lack credibility because of laws that effectively bar opposition leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi from taking part.

The poll will be the country's first election in two decades, but Suu Kyi's political party has called for a boycott over rules that would have forced it to expel her as leader if it wanted to participate. — AFP


Source :http://www.malaysianmirror.com/foreigndetail/10-foreign/37386-japan-msia-urge-myanmar-to-hold-free-polls-

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