TMG to launch post-AI project and begin Noor city deliveries in 2026    Gold prices in Egypt end 2025's final session lower    From Niche to National Asset: Inside the Egyptian Golf Federation's Institutional Rebirth    Egyptian pound edges lower against dollar in Wednesday's early trade    Oil to end 2025 with sharp losses    Egypt completes 90% of first-phase gas connections for 'Decent Life' initiative    5th-century BC industrial hub, Roman burials discovered in Egypt's West Delta    Saudi Arabia demands UAE withdrawal from Yemen after air strike on 'unauthorised' arms    Egyptian-Italian team uncovers ancient workshops, Roman cemetery in Western Nile Delta    Egypt to cover private healthcare costs under universal insurance scheme, says PM at New Giza University Hospital opening    Qatari Diar pays Egypt $3.5bn initial installment for $29.7bn Alam El Roum investment deal    Egypt to launch 2026-2030 national strategy for 11m people with disabilities    Kremlin demands Ukraine's total withdrawal from Donbas before any ceasefire    The apprentice's ascent: JD Vance's five-point blueprint for 2028    Health Ministry, Veterinarians' Syndicate discuss training, law amendments, veterinary drugs    Egypt completes restoration of 43 historical agreements, 13 maps for Foreign Ministry archive    Egypt, Viatris sign MoU to expand presidential mental health initiative    Egypt sends medical convoy, supplies to Sudan to support healthcare sector    Egypt's PM reviews rollout of second phase of universal health insurance scheme    Egypt sends 15th urgent aid convoy to Gaza in cooperation with Catholic Relief Services    Al-Sisi: Egypt seeks binding Nile agreement with Ethiopia    Egyptian-built dam in Tanzania is model for Nile cooperation, says Foreign Minister    Al-Sisi affirms support for Sudan's sovereignty and calls for accountability over conflict crimes    Egypt flags red lines, urges Sudan unity, civilian protection    Egypt unveils restored colossal statues of King Amenhotep III at Luxor mortuary temple    Egyptian Golf Federation appoints Stuart Clayton as technical director    4th Egyptian Women Summit kicks off with focus on STEM, AI    UNESCO adds Egyptian Koshari to intangible cultural heritage list    Egypt recovers two ancient artefacts from Belgium    Egypt, Saudi nuclear authorities sign MoU to boost cooperation on nuclear safety    Egypt warns of erratic Ethiopian dam operations after sharp swings in Blue Nile flows    Egypt golf team reclaims Arab standing with silver; Omar Hisham Talaat congratulates team    Sisi expands national support fund to include diplomats who died on duty    Egypt's PM reviews efforts to remove Nile River encroachments    Egypt resolves dispute between top African sports bodies ahead of 2027 African Games    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Myanmar president urges free and fair by-elections
Ko Ko Peter Janssen Published in Bikya Masr on 25 - 03 - 2012

Yangon (dpa) – President Thein Sein urged the people of Myanmar to help keep the April 1 by-elections “free, fair and clean” as the world watches the outcome, media reports said Sunday.
“This coming by-election is a first-ever election which will be held by the new government and the world will be watching us,” Thein Sein said Saturday while attending the opening of a bridge in Pathein in the Irrawaddy Delta, Skynet TV reported.
Thein Sein, a former army general, became president a year ago after his pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party won the November 2010 general elections, the first to be held in Myanmar in 20 years.
Since his government came to power, replacing a military junta, he has surprised the international community by taking a reformist path, mainly by opening a political dialogue with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and paving the way for her National League for Cemocracy party to contest the by-elections.
It is widely anticipated that Suu Kyi would win a seat and become the opposition leader in parliament after the polls.
“I would like to urge our people to help us have a free, fair and clean election,” Thein Sein said.
“All political parties must accept the people's decision, whether win or lose,” he said.
Western democracies have set the outcome of the by-elections as an important benchmark for Myanmar's reform process. If they are held freely and fairly, the West would be likely to further normalize diplomatic ties with the country, once an international pariah for its human rights abuses, and consider dropping economic sanctions that have been in place for the past two decades.
Last week, Thein Sein invited representatives from the European Union, United States and the Association of South-East Asian Nations to send observers to monitor the by-elections, an unprecedented move for the country that had been under military rule since 1962.
The by-elections are to fill 48 vacant seats in parliament.
BM
ShortURL: http://goo.gl/hmc8j
Tags: Democracy, Elections, Myanmar
Section: Latest News, Southeast Asia

Clic here to read the story from its source.