Myanmar president calls unprecedented talks with parties, army
YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar's president has called an unprecedented summit of army top brass and political rivals including Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party, political figures said Thursday, a year ahead of crucial elections.
The talks, scheduled for Friday in the capital Naypyidaw, are the first of their kind in the country that is attempting to emerge from the shadow of decades of outright military rule.
Experts say the meeting comes at a critical time, with Myanmar searching for a nationwide ceasefire to several rebellions as it heads towards elections in a year's time.
Those polls are seen as a key test of democratic reforms under President Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government.
Confirming the talks, Khin Maung Swe, chairman of the National Democratic Force party, said the meeting will cover "democratic reforms, peace and (the) transition period."
The talks come just days after Myanmar's election authorities announced that the upcoming poll would be held in the last week of October or the first week of November 2015.
Myanmar authorities have promised the vote will be the freest in the country's modern history after the military ceded direct power to a quasi-civilian government three years ago.
