Roundup: Myanmar ready for closely-watched election

Myanmar is fully prepared for a closely-watched general election to be held on Sunday as it entered the final countdown.

Myanmar President U Thein Sein, in a speech to voters of the country on Friday night, promised that both the government and the army will respect the result of the election.

He said his ruling party will accept the election results and a new government emerged under the constitution, urging other political parties to follow suit.

He called on voters to cast ballots effectively to genuinely and correctly reflect their will, while appealing to government officials and employees and armed forces members to cast votes in a free and fair manner.

The election will be free and fair and reflect the desire of the people, the president believed, despite acknowledging that there have been many challenges along the way in fulfilling the administration's desire to hold a smooth election.

Only when a free and fair election involving all political forces is held, the political path toward continued reform can be carried on in a stable manner, he maintained.

He also said he is prepared to meet leaders of political forces for the stability in the post-election period to ensure a smooth political transition.

Earlier on Thursday, Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi vowed to give priority to national reconciliation work and peace efforts if her party wins the election.

If winning enough seats in the parliament and forming a government, the new government will follow the previous government's peace process while amending the part deemed as necessary to be changed without bearing grudges, she said.

On foreign relations, she said Myanmar has been friendly with all nations in the world since independence, citing the western countries, India, China and the remaining Asian countries. The new government will continue to adopt the same approach in its foreign relations, she said.

Some 40,000 specially-trained police force has been deployed nationwide to to guard the polling, while a total of 10,500 local and international observers have been in place.

Meanwhile, the Yangon region has been put under high security alert, effective for the first two weeks of this month until Nov. 14.

Myanmar's multi-party general election is to begin across the country at 6 a.m. Sunday morning, when some 32 million eligible voters are to cast votes in some 40,516 polling stations nationwide.

A total of 6,038 candidates from 91 parties and 310 independent runners will compete for more than 1,000 seats at three levels of the parliament.

Some 800 female candidates will participate in the election, accounting for 13.2 percent of the total.

The Union Election Commission designated 1,163 constituencies for the parliamentary vote across the country. Endit