International

Myanmar to hold polls in October or November: official

NAYPYIDAW, March 27, (AFP) -Military-ruled Myanmar will hold national elections in the last week of October or in early November, a senior official told AFP Saturday.“

Myanmar leader senior general Than Shwe

The candidates will get about six months for campaigning after they have registered as political parties. The elections will be in the last week of October or early in November,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The junta has not announced a date for the polls but earlier this month it released election laws that were criticised for barring political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, from standing.

New party registration laws also mean that Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party must expel her in order to be able to contest the vote.

The elections will be the first held since 1990 polls, which the NLD won by a landslide but which were never recognised by the military.

The NLD has yet to decide if it will take part in the vote. Critics say the polls are a sham designed to legitimise the ruling generals' grip on power, and that an NLD boycott would further damage their credibility.

Suu Kyi, a 64-year-old Nobel peace laureate, has been in detention for 14 of the last 20 years.

Top to the page  |  E-mail  |  views[1]
SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend
 
Other International Articles
Big powers in G20 under scrutiny by smaller nations
Blair strikes Oil in Iraq
The spreading Somali pirate threat
The service revolution: Lessons in India’s growth
Last Supper is growing by Biblical proportions
Pinkie finger triggers rethink of human odyssey
Quarter of Republicans think Obama may be the Anti-Christ
Dung beetle is world's strongest insect: Study
Allawi to start coalition talks after slim win over Iraq PM
US, Russia finalize landmark nuclear arms treaty
46 missing after S.Korea warship sinks near N.Korea border
'24' hours ticks down final season
Myanmar to hold polls in October or November: official
Vatican dismisses fresh New York Times allegation
Arab leaders gather in Libya for 'Jerusalem' summit
TB: a killer that can't be kept behind bars
In South Africa, whites are becoming squatters
India’s obsession with white is big business
Disputed island 'disappears'
'God particle' hunt set to start

 

 
Reproduction of articles permitted when used without any alterations to contents and a link to the source page.
© Copyright 2010 | Wijeya Newspapers Ltd.Colombo. Sri Lanka. All Rights Reserved.| Site best viewed in IE ver 6.0 @ 1024 x 768 resolution