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Burma Pledges Free Elections in 2010

Posted Feb 9, 08 4:00 PM CST in World 

(Newser) – The military junta in Burma said today the nation will have multiparty, democratic elections in 2010, Reuters reports. Opposition leaders greeted the decision with a heavy dose of skepticism and charged that even if the vote goes through, the military will not release its grip on power. The regime has been under heavy international pressure for reform since its violent crackdown on protesters in the fall.

The junta also announced that a referendum on the constitution would be held in May, and the timing puzzled critics. "I was surprised that they announced an election date without knowing the referendum results," said one member of the NLD, the party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest. Another democracy group dismissed the announcement as "public relations spin."

Source Reuters

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In this file photo released by the Democratic Voice of Burma, Myanmar, Buddhist monks in cinnamon robes take to the streets of Yangon, Myanmar on Wednesday Sept. 26, 2007. (AP Photo/ Democratic Voice...   (Associated Press)
In this undated photo released by Free Burma Ranger, a group of forced porters carrying goods for Myanmar soldiers pass through a village in Karen state, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Free Burma Ranger)   (Associated Press)
In this undated photo released by Free Burma Ranger, Myanmar soldiers walk through a village in Karen state, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Free Burma Ranger)   (Associated Press)
In this photo released by Myanmar News Agency, Myanmar's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, meets with Relations Minister Aung Kyi, unseen, at the state guesthouse in Yangon, Myanmar, in...   (Associated Press)
Buddhist monks gather for morning rounds at a temple on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006. The ruling military junta has admitted that hundreds of Buddhist monks were detained after...   (Associated Press)
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