‘We will respect the outcome’: Myanmar’s president Thein Sein insists junta will abide by the results of landmark elections
Concerns stem from events in 1990, when it refused to accept results of elections that were won overwhelmingly by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party.
Myanmar’s president said his government and the military, which gave up power only five years ago, will respect the results of Sunday’s elections that are expected to be won by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party.
“I heard that there are worries whether the outcome of the election would be respected. Our government and the military want to repeat that we will respect the outcomes of the free and fair election,” President Thein Sein said in a speech broadcast on national television late on Friday night.
His remarks are also aimed at signalling to the international community that the government is sincere about holding a free and fair election despite concerns about voter list irregularities, intimidation and disenfranchisement of a large section of the population – the Rohingya Muslims who have been denied citizenship and made ineligible to vote.
“According to the outcome of the election, we will work together in the new political arena,” said Thein Sein, who is also the chairman of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, which is aligned closely to the military.
Concerns about the military’s lurking influence stems from events in 1990, when it refused to accept results of elections that were won overwhelmingly by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party. The junta continued its rule that had begun in 1962.
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After intense international pressure, the military called elections in late 2010, which the NLD boycotted, citing unfair rules. By default, the elections were won by the USDP, made up of former military figures. It formally took over power from the junta in 2011.
