Myanmar urges international election monitors to follow rules

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 tentatively set for early November.

Stressing the need to respect Myanmar's sovereignty, the fundamental rights of citizens and the authority of the UEC, sub-commission 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 disallowed support or opposition to any 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, Xinhua news agency reported citing the notification.

The international monitoring teams were also requested to obey their visa rules and follow the advice of security personnel for their own safety, the notification said, adding that the UEC was authorised to revoke accreditation if the rules were breached.

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

Before the 2015 general elections, a nationwide referendum will be held in May to adopt a draft constitution amendment law on whether the existing 2008 constitution should be changed or not.

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

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

The term of U Thein Sein's government will expire in March, 2016.