11/08/2010 | 03:15 PM
MELBOURNE, Australia — The United States and Australia decried Myanmar's weekend elections as undemocratic and urged the country's junta Monday to immediately release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Representatives of both countries discussed the elections in Myanmar, also known as Burma, at their annual meetings — a wide-ranging forum for the two allies to discuss bilateral and other issues.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates met for several hours with Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Defense Minister Stephen Smith in the southern city of Melbourne.
"Australia and the United States underlined their deep regret that the Burmese authorities failed to hold free, fair and genuinely inclusive elections," according to a joint communique issued after the talks.
They called on Myanmar's military government to "release without delay or conditions" Suu Kyi and all political prisoners, and urged the government to ensure that post-election institutions be "transparent, accountable and responsive to their citizens' aspirations."
Sunday's poll was the Southeast Asian nation's first election in two decades. The government says it is a move toward democracy in a country that has been ruled by generals for decades. Critics say the poll is a sham engineered to solidify military control.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and opposition leader who is being held under house arrest, urged a boycott of the vote. Hundreds of potential opposition candidates were either in prison or detained at home.
Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory in the last elections in 1990 but was barred from taking office.
The Australian and US officials also urged democratic reform in Fiji, another Asia-Pacific trouble spot.
Fijian military commander Frank Bainimarama seized power in a coup in 2006 and installed himself as prime minister. He has been promising to hold elections eventually to restore democracy but has pushed back the timetable and vowed to rewrite electoral laws first. Meanwhile, he has imposed a media and security crackdown on dissenters and government critics.
Clinton, Gates and their Australian counterparts "confirmed their support for steps that would hasten the restoration of democratic institutions and the rule of law in Fiji," their statement said. — AP
Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/205439/us-australia-condemn-myanmar-elections
MELBOURNE, Australia — The United States and Australia decried Myanmar's weekend elections as undemocratic and urged the country's junta Monday to immediately release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Representatives of both countries discussed the elections in Myanmar, also known as Burma, at their annual meetings — a wide-ranging forum for the two allies to discuss bilateral and other issues.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates met for several hours with Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Defense Minister Stephen Smith in the southern city of Melbourne.
"Australia and the United States underlined their deep regret that the Burmese authorities failed to hold free, fair and genuinely inclusive elections," according to a joint communique issued after the talks.
They called on Myanmar's military government to "release without delay or conditions" Suu Kyi and all political prisoners, and urged the government to ensure that post-election institutions be "transparent, accountable and responsive to their citizens' aspirations."
Sunday's poll was the Southeast Asian nation's first election in two decades. The government says it is a move toward democracy in a country that has been ruled by generals for decades. Critics say the poll is a sham engineered to solidify military control.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and opposition leader who is being held under house arrest, urged a boycott of the vote. Hundreds of potential opposition candidates were either in prison or detained at home.
Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory in the last elections in 1990 but was barred from taking office.
The Australian and US officials also urged democratic reform in Fiji, another Asia-Pacific trouble spot.
Fijian military commander Frank Bainimarama seized power in a coup in 2006 and installed himself as prime minister. He has been promising to hold elections eventually to restore democracy but has pushed back the timetable and vowed to rewrite electoral laws first. Meanwhile, he has imposed a media and security crackdown on dissenters and government critics.
Clinton, Gates and their Australian counterparts "confirmed their support for steps that would hasten the restoration of democratic institutions and the rule of law in Fiji," their statement said. — AP
Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/205439/us-australia-condemn-myanmar-elections
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