BBC Online :
Myanmar’s president is holding rare roundtable talks with the opposition, military and ethnic groups, as the US called for “credible” polls next year.
The meeting comes days after officials announced the next general election would be held in late 2015.
Ahead of the meeting, US President Barack Obama held telephone talks with both President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
He urged Thein Sein to ensure the polls were “inclusive”. The gathering, being held in the capital Naypyitaw, will reportedly focus on the peace process, national reconciliation and political reform.
Senior officials attending are said to include the president, both vice-presidents, the two parliamentary speakers, the military chief and representatives from various ethnic political parties. Ms Suu Kyi, whose party the National League for Democracy (NLD) is the official opposition, has called for such a meeting in the past.
Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi became a lawmaker in 2012, after years under house arrest
Having been wooed by Thein Sein to join parliament and validate his reforms Aung San Suu Kyi has spent the last two years as an increasingly frustrated outsider.
The meetings with the president have dried up and Ms Suu Kyi’s repeated requests for talks with the head of the army have gone unanswered. With just a year to go to the general elections, Myanmar appeared to be sleepwalking towards yet another crisis.
Now the talks are on but many will view them with cynicism.
The Burmese government is well known for making grand gestures just before high-profile diplomatic visits. In the past it was groups of political prisoners being released.
Now most of them are out of jail, there will be those who see these discussions in a similar light. In two weeks President Obama will be in Naypyitaw to attend the most prestigious summit the country has ever seen.
It seems the threat of a few pointed words forced the Burmese leaders into action.
Last week, officials announced that the general election would take place in either late October or early November 2015.
The NLD boycotted the last general election in 2010, because of rules it said were unfair.
That poll, the first in the nation in 20 years, moved Myanmar away from decades of outright military rule. It now has a civilian government dominated by a military-backed party.
Thein Sein, the elected president, initiated a series of reforms after the election that led to the Suu Kyi-led pro-democracy opposition rejoining the political process.
Myanmar’s president is holding rare roundtable talks with the opposition, military and ethnic groups, as the US called for “credible” polls next year.
The meeting comes days after officials announced the next general election would be held in late 2015.
Ahead of the meeting, US President Barack Obama held telephone talks with both President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
He urged Thein Sein to ensure the polls were “inclusive”. The gathering, being held in the capital Naypyitaw, will reportedly focus on the peace process, national reconciliation and political reform.
Senior officials attending are said to include the president, both vice-presidents, the two parliamentary speakers, the military chief and representatives from various ethnic political parties. Ms Suu Kyi, whose party the National League for Democracy (NLD) is the official opposition, has called for such a meeting in the past.
Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi became a lawmaker in 2012, after years under house arrest
Having been wooed by Thein Sein to join parliament and validate his reforms Aung San Suu Kyi has spent the last two years as an increasingly frustrated outsider.
The meetings with the president have dried up and Ms Suu Kyi’s repeated requests for talks with the head of the army have gone unanswered. With just a year to go to the general elections, Myanmar appeared to be sleepwalking towards yet another crisis.
Now the talks are on but many will view them with cynicism.
The Burmese government is well known for making grand gestures just before high-profile diplomatic visits. In the past it was groups of political prisoners being released.
Now most of them are out of jail, there will be those who see these discussions in a similar light. In two weeks President Obama will be in Naypyitaw to attend the most prestigious summit the country has ever seen.
It seems the threat of a few pointed words forced the Burmese leaders into action.
Last week, officials announced that the general election would take place in either late October or early November 2015.
The NLD boycotted the last general election in 2010, because of rules it said were unfair.
That poll, the first in the nation in 20 years, moved Myanmar away from decades of outright military rule. It now has a civilian government dominated by a military-backed party.
Thein Sein, the elected president, initiated a series of reforms after the election that led to the Suu Kyi-led pro-democracy opposition rejoining the political process.
