JAKARTA, Feb 21, 2008 (AFP) — The UN envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, said Thursday that he would raise the issue of Aung San Suu Kyi being banned from 2010 elections when he visits the military regime as early as next month.
The ruling junta said this week that democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi would be barred from running in polls slated under a proposed constitution, which has been drafted for approval in a May referendum.
Asked about the ban and whether the election would be pointless without Aung San Suu Kyi's participation, Gambari told reporters: "These are some of the issues that I intend to discuss with the authorities.
"I believe that they are in the process of inviting me to return to Myanmar, hopefully the first week of March," he said.
Gambari spoke after meeting Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda and ahead of talks Friday with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The envoy, who is UN chief Ban Ki-moon's pointman on promoting national reconciliation in Myanmar, is on a trip to Asia for regional consultations about the isolated regime.
Gambari held talks in Beijing earlier this week and is to travel on to Singapore and then Japan, his spokeswoman Hua Jiang told AFP.
The envoy said after meeting Chinese officials that he expected to return to Myanmar earlier than April 15, the date authorities there initially said they would receive him.
Ban has said it was "essential" Gambari be allowed to re-enter the country, particularly after the junta this month announced the referendum date.
Gambari has visited Myanmar twice since September when the military junta violently crushed the biggest pro-democracy protests in nearly 20 years.
The generals says the referendum -- if approved -- would clear the way for democratic elections in 2010, the first since Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party scored a landslide victory in 1990 polls, which the junta never recognised.
The United States on Wednesday called the proposed constitution a failure as it banned the widowed Aung San Suu Kyi from running for office on the basis that she had been married to a foreigner.
Indonesia has pushed for engagement with Myanmar and Foreign Minister Wirayuda has said that his country could play a significant role by sharing its experience of transition from a military government to full democracy.
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