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| Southeast Asia |
| Junta to keep political role |
| 2010-03-28 |
| [Straits Times] MYANMAR'S junta chief warned political parties to behave while campaigning for historic elections later this year, noting yesterday that the armed forces can take part in politics 'whenever the need arises.' Addressing 13,000 troops at the country's annual Armed Forces Day parade, Senior General Than Shwe said: 'We, the patriotic Tatmadaw (military), not only defend and protect the nation and the people with our lives, but take part and serve in national politics whenever the need arises.' He also warned against foreign meddling in upcoming elections and said 'divisive acts' could spark anarchy and derail the transition to democracy. 'During the transition to an unfamiliar system, countries with greater experience usually interfere and take advantage for their own interests,' said the reclusive junta supremo, wearing full military garb bedecked with medals, in a speech. 'For this reason, it is an absolute necessity to avoid relying on external powers,' he said in the address, which was broadcast to the nation and witnessed by foreign journalists, who received a rare invitation to the isolated nation. Gen Than Shwe did not reveal a date for the long-awaited polls, the first to be held in more than two decades in the former Burma, a strategically situated but isolated country with rich natural resources from natural gas to timber and gems, and a South-east Asian port. |
| Posted by:Fred |