YANGON, Myanmar — The prime minister of military-ruled Myanmar has called on people to chose "patriotic" candidates and oppose all "destructive activities" that might disrupt the nation's first general election in 20 years.
The state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper reported Monday that Prime Minister Thein Sein urged people to carefully choose candidates "who are smart, patriotic, and those who will uphold non-disintegration of the country."
The junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, led by Thein Sein, is widely expected to receive the most votes in the Nov. 7 election because its ties with the junta help give it access to easy funding and a nationwide presence.
Smaller parties, including those aligned with the country's democracy movement, have said cumbersome, unfair election rules have limited the candidates they can put forward and are likely to leave the USDP candidate unchallenged in more than half the seats in national and regional parliaments.
Critics have called the vote a sham to cement the power of the military, which has tightly ruled Myanmar for a half-century.
The opposition National League for Democracy party of detained Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is boycotting the polls as undemocratic and was disbanded as a result. It won the last election in 1990 but was barred from taking power.
Thein Sein, who spoke Sunday at a rail line opening ceremony in Bago Division, just north of Yangon, urged the people to "oppose and destroy all destructive acts that will disrupt the successful holding of the elections."
He did not specify who might disrupt the polls. However, the junta in the past has frequently accused the country's pro-democracy movement, and especially Suu Kyi's party, of conspiring with outside enemies against the nation.
Source:http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5g3PA9zAny9gYCYcuAr5b1pSf0Y7A
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