Mizzima News

New Delhi (Mizzima) - Burma’s ruling military junta has tentatively scheduled its general elections in March 2010, a source close to the military establishment in Naypyitaw said.

Although the ruling junta has not made any announcement regarding the timing and the election law that would allow the formation of political parties, the source said, the top-ranking Generals in Naypyitaw have tentatively planned to hold the polls in March.

This information, however, cannot be independently verified, but a military analyst, Aung Kyaw Zaw, based near the Sino-Burmese border, said the junta was likely to hold the elections in the first quarter of 2010.

“As far as I understand, the junta wants to hold the elections in the first quarter of 2010, and there is a likelihood that they will discuss it in the upcoming quarterly meeting,” Aung Kyaw Zaw said.

Sources said, Burma’s military leaders were gearing up for the first quarterly meeting and had ordered all its military commanders to be present latest by March 6.

Aung Kyaw Zaw said, during the meeting the Generals were likely to discuss, apart from the normal topics, three major points – elections and election law, reshuffling of the positions among the military and how to go about the ceasefire with ethnic armed groups.

He said it was likely that the two groups of military leaders – those who want the election law to be announced soon and those who want to postpone it – will compromise during the meeting and come up with the announcement latest by the first week of April.

The second topic would be about choosing whom to appoint to head certain ministries and whom to retire in order to be a candidate for the election, he said.

And regarding the third, the military leaders were likely to discuss on how to handle the ceasefire ethnic groups, he added.

“One thing is for sure, the junta does not dare to pressurize the ethnic armed groups to the point of breaking their ceasefire agreement, as it will have severe repercussions,” Aung Kyaw Zaw said.

However, he added, the junta, at times, plays around with the media and deliberately delays or pre-pones their schedules to get back at the media.

“Though the junta clearly has plans, they can sometimes change their schedules just to confuse the media,” he added.