Int Election observers : Elections in Myanmar show 'encouraging signs

01.04.2012

Report By EU

Myanmar's by-elections held on Sunday showed 'very encouraging' signs, a European Union official invited to observe the polls told AFP.

'In the maybe 12 or 14 polling stations that my colleague and myself visited today, the signs were very encouraging,' Ms Malgorzata Wasilewska said.

'However that's definitely not enough to assume that it is indicative of how the process was conducted in other parts of the country and certainly not enough to talk about credibility of elections,' she said after visiting polling stations in Yangon and the surrounding area.

Report By ASEAN

Voting in Myanmar's historic by-elections is 'going rather well', Asean chief Surin Pitsuwan said Sunday, adding that it was a 'good omen' for the country as its pursues reforms.

'I suspect things are going rather well up to this point,' Mr Surin told reporters in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, where officials are preparing for a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

'I have been in touch with the teams very, very closely and they report full enthusiasm, full alert, full awareness of all parties involved in the by-elections,' he added.

'It's a good omen for Myanmar.' Voters in Myanmar flocked to the polls on Sunday for elections expected to sweep opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi into parliament for the first time as part of dramatic political reforms.