Burmese PM: Electoral Law Coming Very Soon

CHA-AM, Thailand — Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein told his Thai counterpart yesterday that his country’s ruling military junta would soon announce an electoral law for next year’s planned election.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, speaking after a meeting with Thein Sein on the sidelines of the 15th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) in the Thai resort town of Cha-am, said that the two had discussed the election and Burma’s national reconciliation process, among other topics.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva (right) shakes hands with his Burmese counterpart Gen Thein Sein during the 15th Asean Summit in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin. (Photo: Reuters)

“Gen Thein Sein said the electoral law will be announced very soon,” said Abhisit, adding that the Burmese prime minister provided no further details.

Thein Sein also told Abhisit that Burma would not allow anyone to use the country to attack neighboring Thailand, according the Thai News Agency.

Burma “upheld the principle of living in harmony and … would not allow anyone opposing Thailand [to use Burma] in attacking this country,” the agency reported Thein Sein as saying.

Thein Sein’s comment came soon after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said that his country would not extradite Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Thai prime minister who was ousted in a coup in 2006, if requested to do so by Thailand.

Hun Sen also compared Thaksin to detained Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, suggesting that the billionaire businessman who went on to become Thailand’s most powerful politician was also a victim of political persecution.

The subject of Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years in prison or under house arrest, also came up in Abhisit’s talks with Thein Sein. Abhisit said he wanted to meet with Suu Kyi when he visits Burma.

Although no dates have been confirmed for next year’s election, both Thein Sein and Foreign Minister ex-Maj-Gen Nyan Win said at the Asean summit that the electoral law would be announced soon.

However, observers noted that Burmese officials have often made similar comments during meetings with foreign officials since the regime declared in February 2008 that the election would be held in 2010.   

Diplomats said that fellow Asean members have repeated their offers of assistance with the 2010 election at various meetings held over the past few days, but so far, the junta has remained tightlipped about whether it will allow international involvement in the nationwide vote.

On Thursday, Nyan Win assured his Asean counterparts that the coming election would meet the standards demanded by the international community.

“The Myanmar [Burmese] government says the election next year will be inclusive, free and fair,” said Thailand’s foreign minister, Kasit Piromya, at a press conference.

Others, however, expressed skepticism, saying that the regime has made such promises in the past without ever honoring them.

Kraisak Choonhavan, the president of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar [Burma] Caucus, said the junta has often offered assurances that it would respect democratic principles, but has repeatedly refused to allow its opponents to participate freely in the political process.

On Friday, representatives of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly called on the international community to unite to deal with Burma more effectively.

“We have to have a common policy for Burma,” said Kraisak, adding that the policy should fall somewhere between that of the US and the EU on the one hand and Asian countries on the other.

Also on Friday, civic activists were shocked to learn that the Burmese regime had handpicked two former police officers, Win Myaing and Sitt Aung, to attend the Informal Meeting with Representatives from Asean’s Civil Society, after refusing to allow Khin Ohmar, a prominent exiled activist, to attend.

They also expressed surprise at the junta’s choice of Kyaw Tint Swe, a former military official and Burmese representative to the UN, as the Burmese human rights commissioner.

“Burmese civil society and human rights under the Asean Charter will be ‘improved’ by human rights oppressors,” said Debbie Stothard, the coordinator of the Alternative Asean Network (Altsean), noting that Burmese security forces are the country’s worst perpetrators of human rights violations.