By Rachel O'Brien
BANGKOK, Monday 8 November 2010 (AFP) - The West denounced army-ruled Myanmar's first election in 20 years on Monday while state media in China, a key ally of the regime, struck a discordant note by hailing the polls as a sign of progress.
Led by US president Barack Obama, numerous countries decried the vote as neither free nor fair and called for the release of political prisoners including democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who was sidelined in the polls.
China has yet to make any official comment on the poll, but in an editorial titled "Myanmar's election a step forward," the state-run Global Times newspaper said Beijing supported "Myanmar's plan to transform its political system, but knows it will not happen overnight".
China has long helped economically-dysfunctional Myanmar to keep afloat through trade ties, arms sales, and by shielding it from UN sanctions over rights abuses as a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council.
The Global Times said Monday that Myanmar's stability was "vitally important for neighbouring countries, including China".
The contrasting global reactions came as a deadly clash broke out between Myanmar ethnic rebels and government troops near the Thai border and officials counted up the ballots from the controversial polls.
The military's political proxies looked set to win after regime-backed candidates enjoyed hefty financial and campaigning advantages and were accused of intimidation by the "pro-democracy" parties.
"For too long the people of Burma have been denied the right to determine their own destiny," Obama said on Sunday in Mumbai, using the country's former name.
Australia and the United States issued a joint statement following security talks in Melbourne on Monday stressing their disappointment with the elections.
Both countries urged the regime's leaders to ensure that "post-election institutions be transparent, accountable and responsive to their citizens' aspirations".
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington would maintain "rigorous sanctions" against Myanmar's regime while it abuses human rights, ignores dialogue with the opposition and holds political prisoners.
Suu Kyi, whose party won the last election in 1990 but was prevented from taking power, has spent much of the last two decades in detention and more than 2,000 other political prisoners remain locked up.
"The generals who have ruled the country for the past 22 years missed an opportunity to begin genuine transition toward democratic governance and national reconciliation," Clinton said in a statement.
Japan, which unlike major Western nations has maintained trade and dialogue with Myanmar, said it was "deeply disappointed" by the vote.
Tokyo had repeatedly urged Myanmar to "hold free, fair and open elections", foreign ministry press secretary Satoru Sato said in a statement, which called for Suu Kyi's immediate release.
New Zealand joined the chorus of criticism, saying opposition candidates were impeded by electoral rules which restricted their campaigns and registration and hampered press freedoms.
"That the playing field was tilted was evident from the regime's refusal to allow credible international observation, or foreign media, to witness the election," Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said.
The European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also called for the release of political prisoners and dismissed the election, as did Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague, who said the result was a foregone conclusion.
"For the people of Burma, it will mean the return to power of a brutal regime that has pillaged the nation’s resources and overseen widespread human rights abuses, including arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, rape and torture," he said.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the rights of the opposition and those representing the country's ethnic minorities had not been respected in the run-up to the vote.
Source : http://www.mysinchew.com/node/47715
BANGKOK, Monday 8 November 2010 (AFP) - The West denounced army-ruled Myanmar's first election in 20 years on Monday while state media in China, a key ally of the regime, struck a discordant note by hailing the polls as a sign of progress.
Led by US president Barack Obama, numerous countries decried the vote as neither free nor fair and called for the release of political prisoners including democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who was sidelined in the polls.
China has yet to make any official comment on the poll, but in an editorial titled "Myanmar's election a step forward," the state-run Global Times newspaper said Beijing supported "Myanmar's plan to transform its political system, but knows it will not happen overnight".
China has long helped economically-dysfunctional Myanmar to keep afloat through trade ties, arms sales, and by shielding it from UN sanctions over rights abuses as a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council.
The Global Times said Monday that Myanmar's stability was "vitally important for neighbouring countries, including China".
The contrasting global reactions came as a deadly clash broke out between Myanmar ethnic rebels and government troops near the Thai border and officials counted up the ballots from the controversial polls.
The military's political proxies looked set to win after regime-backed candidates enjoyed hefty financial and campaigning advantages and were accused of intimidation by the "pro-democracy" parties.
"For too long the people of Burma have been denied the right to determine their own destiny," Obama said on Sunday in Mumbai, using the country's former name.
Australia and the United States issued a joint statement following security talks in Melbourne on Monday stressing their disappointment with the elections.
Both countries urged the regime's leaders to ensure that "post-election institutions be transparent, accountable and responsive to their citizens' aspirations".
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington would maintain "rigorous sanctions" against Myanmar's regime while it abuses human rights, ignores dialogue with the opposition and holds political prisoners.
Suu Kyi, whose party won the last election in 1990 but was prevented from taking power, has spent much of the last two decades in detention and more than 2,000 other political prisoners remain locked up.
"The generals who have ruled the country for the past 22 years missed an opportunity to begin genuine transition toward democratic governance and national reconciliation," Clinton said in a statement.
Japan, which unlike major Western nations has maintained trade and dialogue with Myanmar, said it was "deeply disappointed" by the vote.
Tokyo had repeatedly urged Myanmar to "hold free, fair and open elections", foreign ministry press secretary Satoru Sato said in a statement, which called for Suu Kyi's immediate release.
New Zealand joined the chorus of criticism, saying opposition candidates were impeded by electoral rules which restricted their campaigns and registration and hampered press freedoms.
"That the playing field was tilted was evident from the regime's refusal to allow credible international observation, or foreign media, to witness the election," Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said.
The European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also called for the release of political prisoners and dismissed the election, as did Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague, who said the result was a foregone conclusion.
"For the people of Burma, it will mean the return to power of a brutal regime that has pillaged the nation’s resources and overseen widespread human rights abuses, including arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, rape and torture," he said.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the rights of the opposition and those representing the country's ethnic minorities had not been respected in the run-up to the vote.
Source : http://www.mysinchew.com/node/47715
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