Thailand will press Burma's military leaders in the coming week to open its first elections in two decades to all political opponents and ethnic minorities, said Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya.
''I'm concerned about national reconciliation [in Burma] and the inclusiveness of the whole political process,'' Mr Kasit said.
Last week, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, denounced new laws guiding the election as undemocratic and recommended a boycott of the election, which is expected later this year.
Her National League for Democracy, which swept the last vote in 1990 but was barred from taking power, decided on Monday to opt out of the election and now looks likely to be dissolved.
Mr Kasit said the electoral laws looked discriminatory, as they provided amnesty only to the military leadership and not to the political opposition.
Thailand, he said, would raise the issue of political inclusiveness with Burma's foreign minister in two days at a meeting of the Mekong River Regional Commission, which Thailand is hosting.
He said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva would also raise the issue when he meets Burma's leaders at the Asean summit in Hanoi next week.
Mr Kasit said Indonesia's foreign minister is in Burma this week, adding: ''I'm sure he has taken up the collective concerns of the Asean members.''
Source :http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/35502/kasit-open-burma-poll
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