Post-election result, Myanmar President likely to meet political parties on Nov.15

In the wake of the National League for Democracy (NLD) securing an absolute majority in the parliamentary elections in Myanmar, the country's President, U Thein Sein, has reportedly asked leaders of all political parties to attend a meeting in Yangon on November 15 to discuss the post-election political situation.

The Myanmar Times quoted U Nay Min Kyaw, secretary of National Democratic Force (NDF), as saying that an invitation letter has gone out to every party to attend the meeting with the president to discuss "current affairs and developments".

The letter follows the president's offering of congratulations to the National League for Democracy in the November 8 national election and his acceptance of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's offer of talks, which will likely be held next week.

No official date has been set for the requested talks with the president, the commander-in-chief and the parliamentary Speaker. However, the President's Office yesterday confirmed that the meeting could only occur after the election results are completed.

U Zaw Htay, director of the President's Office, declined to comment on the president's invitation to meet with parties on November 15.

The November 15 meeting, which will take place at the Yangon Region government office.

Officials from Myanmar Peace Center confirmed the meeting with the parties to The Myanmar Times.

Separately, yesterday more than 70 political parties attended a meeting at the peace centre during which they were informed about how they could be involved in the ongoing peace process.

The political parties will also have to participate in the drafting of a framework for political dialogue with eight ethnic armed groups that signed a nationwide ceasefire agreement on October 15. The dialogue is due to start by January 15, while under the terms of the ceasefire framework needs to be agreed upon by December 15.

A 16-membered bloc in the Union Political Dialogue Joint Committee, which also features representatives of the government, military and armed ethnic groups, has been left for political parties.

The parties are scheduled to meet on November 21 to begin the process of selecting their 16 representatives.

Given the landslide win for the NLD, people still fear a repeat of the 1990 elections when the military junta refused to recognise a similar NLD landslide and filled the prisons with its leaders and supporters.

Most think government formation will mainly depend on how the NLD and the military can arrive at a compromise on how best to cooperate with each other.