Naypyitaw : The leader of Myanmar's military junta yesterday warned against foreign meddling in upcoming elections and said "divisive acts" could spark anarchy and derail the transition to democracy.
Addressing 13,000 troops at the country's annual Armed Forces Day parade, Senior General Than Shwe said Myanmar should oversee its own elections and urged patience and fair play.
"During the transition to an unfamiliar system, countries with greater experience usually interfere and take advantage for their own interests," the reclusive junta supremo said 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.
Than Shwe did not reveal a date for the long-awaited polls, the first in two decades in the former Burma. The election has been widely dismissed as a sham to entrench nearly five decades of iron-fisted army rule.
The US and United Nations have expressed frustration about the lack of inclusiveness of the polls which they say will be far from credible, suggesting the removal of much-criticised Western sanctions will be unlikely.
Much of that centres on Myanmar's refusal to release 2,100 political prisoners. Observers at the parade noted that 77-year-old Than Shwe walked and spoke more slowly than at the same event last year.
Analysts said the parade was more to remind the public the military would remain the dominant political force long into the future.
The parade is expected to be the last attended by Than Shwe and his top generals as the country's rulers. However, few doubt the junta strongman and his loyal army proteges will relinquish power when a civilian-led government is formed.
Than Shwe said the election was just the start of a long process of democratic reform and urged discipline and patience by the country's 48 million people. He said political parties should avoid slander and dirty tricks to advance their own agendas.
"The improper practice of democracy often leads to anarchic phenomena," he said.
"Improper or inappropriate campaigning has to be avoided," he said, warning parties against "engaging in divisive acts that lead to disunity".
