US diplomat meets Aung San Suu Kyi
By DPA, IANSMonday, May 10, 2010
YANGON - US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell Monday met with Myanmar pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and other opposition figures during an official visit to assess the country’s election preparations.
Myanmar authorities escorted Suu Kyi to the State Guest House in Yangon where she met Campbell for one hour and 45 minutes. The Nobel peace laureate is serving an 18-month house detention sentence.
Local media were blocked from the entering the compound.
Prior to his meeting with Suu Kyi, Campbell met with representatives of the now defunct National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party.
“We told him not to accept the outcome of the 2010 general election because it will have no credibility,” former NLD executive member Win Tin said.
Campbell arrived in Myanmar Sunday on a two-day trip.
The junta has promised an election this year, but a constitution approved by referendum in 2008, and election laws passed in March give the military firm command over any elected government.
“We’re troubled by much of what we’ve seen and we have real concerns about the election laws and the environment that been created,” Campbell told a press conference in Bangkok before his trip.
The NLD decided not to contest the polls, because it would have been forced to expel Suu Kyi in order to register. The new election law stipulates that people serving jail terms cannot be members of political parties. The NLD was officially dissolved on Thursday, the official registration deadline.
A faction of former NLD executives have announced plans to set up a new party, the National Democratic Force, to contest the polls.
Campbell met with National Democratic Force (NLD) member Khin Maung Swe and representatives of the pro-military Union Solidarity and Democracy Party (USDP).
Sunday, the US envoy met with several ministers and other high-ranking officials, but was not granted an interview with the junta chief, Senior General Than Shwe, government sources said.
Campbell last visited Myanmar in November, marking a shift in US policy by President Barack Obama. Previous US administrations did not have high-level contacts with Myanmar.
He acknowledged the difficulty of promoting free elections and genuine democracy in Myanmar, under military rule since 1962.
“We have no illusions about how difficult that process is and will continue to be,” Campbell said. “Our primary goal is to establish consequential discussions with the government on a range of issues, and to know their plans and objectives over the next few years.”
