Myanmar urges intl election monitors to follow rules

YANGON - Myanmar's Union Election Commission (UEC) has issued a notification calling on accredited international election monitors to abide by the rules of the commission during the upcoming 2015 general election preliminarily set for early November.

Stressing the need to respect the sovereignty of Myanmar, the fundamental rights of citizens and the authority of the UEC, subcommission and staff of voting booths, the notification, published on Friday, urged members of international monitoring teams to stay away from having bias toward state authorities, political parties, candidates and election issues and disallows support or opposition to a political party or candidate.

Only those in charge of the monitoring teams can release their assessments and opinions to the media after submitting their findings and advice to the UEC, the notification said.

The international monitoring teams are also requested to obey the condition of their visas and follow the advice of security personnel for their own safety, the notification said, adding that the UEC is authorized to revoke accreditation if the rules are breached.

The commission has been compiling the basic voter lists for the upcoming election, saying that every citizen has rights to cast vote for election.

Before the 2015 general election, a nationwide referendum has been set to be held in May to adopt a draft constitution amendment law if the existing 2008 constitution be changed or not, according to earlier report.

However, the result of the nationwide referendum will only be applied in the next parliament term produced from the upcoming 2015 general election which will retain to be held under the existing 2008 constitution without timely application of the probably amended constitution.

Myanmar last held its general election on Nov 7, 2010 when the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won the majority votes with its Chairman U Thein Sein elected as the country's president.

U Thein Sein's government term is to expire in March 2016.