Statement by the Press Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, on Convening of Myanmar’s National Assembly

By Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan • January 31, 2011

1. Today, the National Assembly was convened in Myanmar for the first time in 23 years since 1988 in light of the result of the general elections held on November 7th, 2010. The Government of Japan will closely observe the future direction of the National Assembly, including its administration, debates to be taken as well as activities of pro-democracy movement and ethnic minority parties.

2. We call on the new government of Myanmar, which will be established through processes such as Presidential election in the National Assembly, to take positive measures to ensure more inclusive phase by implementing measures such as release of political prisoners, advancement of substantive dialogue with relevant parties as well as deepening of relationship with the international community, including Japan.

(This is a provisional translation. The above date denotes the date of the issue of the original press release in Japanese.)