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| Philippines sees Burma vote 'farce' in September |
| 08-FEB-2010 Intellasia | AFP |
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| 8 Feb, 2010 - 7:07:00 AM |
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Myanmar is likely to hold elections around September but they are shaping up to be a "farce" with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi unable to run, Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Friday.
On a visit to Washington, Romulo said he expected the fellow Southeast Asian nation's military regime to release Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of the past 20 years under house arrest.
"I believe the election will go through in September -- around that time -- and I believe that perhaps from what we hear that Aung San Suu Kyi would be released before the election," Romulo said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank.
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| Alberto Romulo, secretary of foreign affairs to the Republic of the Philippines, participates in a Statemen's Forum at The Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. Myanmar is likely to hold elections around September but they are shaping up to be a "farce" with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi unable to run, Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Friday.
(AFP/Tim Sloan) |
But he said that the junta would likely prohibit Aung San Suu Kyi from running as well as some members of her National League of Democracy, which won the last election in 1990 but was never allowed to take power.
"If this is so, then it's a mockery of Burma's own roadmap to democracy," he said, using Myanmar's former name. "Such an election would be a farce."
The Philippines has been outspoken in demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, with Romulo calling his country a "strong and sometimes solitary voice" on Myanmar in the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The junta has pledged to hold elections in 2010 but has not set a date.
The opposition and ethnic minorities have been deeply suspicious about the election, fearing the junta would use it to legitimize its rule.
US President Barack Obama's administration has called for a free election as part of its policy of engagement with Myanmar.
Romulo said it supported the new US approach to Myanmar, long a pariah to Western nations.
"We think this is a step in the right direction," he said. "It's time to adopt a new tactic."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100205/wl_asia_afp/myanmarpoliticsrightssuukyiphilippinesus_20100205194330
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