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Agence France-Presse

A video posted on the Facebook page of Myanmar's president, raising the spectre of bloodshed and chaos akin to the Arab Spring aftermath if the ruling party loses power in Sunday's polls, has drawn an angry response on social media.
The tightly edited four-minute feature was posted on the page of President Thein Sein, days before the country heads to the polls in landmark elections which are expected to see the opposition make major gains.
The video juxtaposes scenes of recent violence in the Middle East with shots of seeming tranquility and development in Myanmar during its transition towards democracy, backed by a heavy metal soundtrack.
It ends with the words: “Only when peace prevails will democratisation be implemented.”
WATCH: Myanmar president Thein Sein's chilling warning

It was about the transformation of Myanmar into a democratic country
Zaw Htay, director of the president's office
“It was about the transformation of Myanmar into a democratic country,” Zaw Htay, director of the president's office, said.
Thein Sein, a former general, and the ruling army-backed USDP party have positioned themselves as the guarantors of Myanmar's stable progress as it shakes off decades of junta rule.
Unlike countries that suffered “blood streams, explosions, violent protests”, Myanmar has remained stable, Zaw Htay said, since the army handed power to a quasi-civilian reformist government in 2011.
“Compared to those countries, we all know that our country developed step by step,” he added.

“We can't become like America or Singapore right away, we have to wait.”
Religious violence has left hundreds dead in Myanmar since 2012, while several insurgencies continue to burn in the borderlands.
Many local social media users accused the president's office of hypocrisy.
For decades Myanmar's military ruled the country with an iron fist, crushing dissent and fixing - or simply ignoring - elections. Thein Sein rose to the highest echelons of the junta before trading in his uniform for civilian politics.
Human rights groups accuse the military of regular abuses in their fight against ethnic minority rebels. Others, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, have voiced fears the government is backsliding on reforms.
“Taking students to prison while they were protesting in Letpadan for our people's education system, was that a peaceful way of transforming to democracy?” wrote Thet Ko Ko under the Facebook video on the president's page - a reference to the recent arrest and trial of student protesters.
“The beautiful Kachin is now left with piles of waste soil... peaceful way huh?” wrote user Pharsi Myae, a reference to military-controlled mining operations in the northern state of Kachin, which has been blighted by decades of war.


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Myanmar's democratic transition

Myanmar president warns of Arab Spring-style violence if army-backed ruling party loses power in Sunday’s landmark poll

Supporters of the army-backed ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) display portraits of Myanmar President Thein Sein during a campaign rally in Yangon. Photo: AFP

Myanmar President Thein Sein inspects officers and military hardware during a ceremony to mark Myanmar's 67th anniversary of Independence in Naypyitaw.  File photo: AP

The junta stepped back from power in 2011 with the election of President Thein Sein, and the country has moved toward democratisation, though the military still maintains a powerful position.  Photo: AP

Supporters of the National League for Democracy (NLD) Party hold portrait photos of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her father General Aung San during a campaign rally in Yangon. Photo: EPA

The president's video featured many images of the turmoil that spread across the Arab world in 2011.

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