YANGON: Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has declared the campaigning ahead of Sunday's watershed elections to be "less than totally free and fair" and accused authorities of failing to investigate many violations of electoral laws.
But Ms Suu Kyi vowed on Thursday to run a multi-party government of "national reconciliation" if her party wins the country's first popular vote in 25 years, despite being barred from the presidency.
"I will run the government and we will have a president who will work in accordance with the policies of the National League for Democracy," she said, referring to her party.
"I will be above the president. It's a very simple message."
Ms Suu Kyi refused to say whether she would be willing to enter into a power-sharing arrangement with the country's powerful military, which kept her under house arrest for 15 years.
"I don't think I will discuss these matters now," she said.
The 70 year-old Nobel laureate told 500 journalists at her home in Yangon that she is worried about the "extent to which the authorities are prepared to go to win the election".
Asked how vigilant she is to the possibility of fraud, she said "if it looks suspicious then I think we will have to make a fuss about it".
Ms Suu Kyi's party has lodged more than 100 complaints about voter irregularities. She said many Burmese have had difficulty casting votes in pre-polling in Singapore, South Korea and other countries and there were concerns that migrant workers returning to the country will be deprived the opportunity to vote on Sunday.
The military ignored elections in 1990 which Ms Suu Kyi's party won in a landslide. Analysts expect tensions to be high in the country in the days after the vote as parties negotiate the formation of the next government.
Ms Suu Kyi's party will need 67 percent of seats to win an outright majority and beat down a challenge of any coalition between the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the military.
Under a military-drafted 2006 constitution a quarter of seats are automatically reserved for the military. But Ms Suu Kyi has been barnstorming across the country during a two-month campaign, attracting tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters.
Human Rights Watch and other poll monitoring groups have already called the election "fundamentally flawed" and said it deprives Burmese of their right to freely elect their government.
In the final days of campaigning evidence has emerged of Ms Suu Kyi's rivals using "dirty tricks" to discredit her, claiming she has sympathy for Myanmar's Muslim minority and highlighting her ties to foreign governments, both sensitive issues in the country.
For the first time about 200 observers from Australia, Europe, Asia, the US and Japan will join more than 1000 local people monitoring the conduct of the polling.
Ms Suu Kyi told reporters not to "exaggerate" the problems of the country in response to several reports in recent days describing the treatment of Rohingya Muslims in western Rakhine State as genocide. She said the whole of the country is experiencing a "dramatic situation," not just Rakhine State.
The political activities of a group of ultra-nationalist Buddhist monks called Ma Ba Tha have been unconstitutional, she said. The group has criticised the NLD for not supporting a raft of anti-Muslim legislation.
Meanwhile, Ms Suu Kyi has won support from one of the country's most powerful politicians who was ousted by the USDP in October, boosting her chances of being able to form the next government.
Shwe Mann, the speaker of parliament and a former general, told Reuters he could work with Ms Suu Kyi.
"We will work for the good of the country," he said.
But Ms Suu Kyi vowed on Thursday to run a multi-party government of "national reconciliation" if her party wins the country's first popular vote in 25 years, despite being barred from the presidency.
"I will run the government and we will have a president who will work in accordance with the policies of the National League for Democracy," she said, referring to her party.
"I will be above the president. It's a very simple message."
Ms Suu Kyi refused to say whether she would be willing to enter into a power-sharing arrangement with the country's powerful military, which kept her under house arrest for 15 years.
"I don't think I will discuss these matters now," she said.
The 70 year-old Nobel laureate told 500 journalists at her home in Yangon that she is worried about the "extent to which the authorities are prepared to go to win the election".
Asked how vigilant she is to the possibility of fraud, she said "if it looks suspicious then I think we will have to make a fuss about it".
Ms Suu Kyi's party has lodged more than 100 complaints about voter irregularities. She said many Burmese have had difficulty casting votes in pre-polling in Singapore, South Korea and other countries and there were concerns that migrant workers returning to the country will be deprived the opportunity to vote on Sunday.
The military ignored elections in 1990 which Ms Suu Kyi's party won in a landslide. Analysts expect tensions to be high in the country in the days after the vote as parties negotiate the formation of the next government.
Ms Suu Kyi's party will need 67 percent of seats to win an outright majority and beat down a challenge of any coalition between the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the military.
Under a military-drafted 2006 constitution a quarter of seats are automatically reserved for the military. But Ms Suu Kyi has been barnstorming across the country during a two-month campaign, attracting tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters.
Human Rights Watch and other poll monitoring groups have already called the election "fundamentally flawed" and said it deprives Burmese of their right to freely elect their government.
In the final days of campaigning evidence has emerged of Ms Suu Kyi's rivals using "dirty tricks" to discredit her, claiming she has sympathy for Myanmar's Muslim minority and highlighting her ties to foreign governments, both sensitive issues in the country.
For the first time about 200 observers from Australia, Europe, Asia, the US and Japan will join more than 1000 local people monitoring the conduct of the polling.
Ms Suu Kyi told reporters not to "exaggerate" the problems of the country in response to several reports in recent days describing the treatment of Rohingya Muslims in western Rakhine State as genocide. She said the whole of the country is experiencing a "dramatic situation," not just Rakhine State.
The political activities of a group of ultra-nationalist Buddhist monks called Ma Ba Tha have been unconstitutional, she said. The group has criticised the NLD for not supporting a raft of anti-Muslim legislation.
Meanwhile, Ms Suu Kyi has won support from one of the country's most powerful politicians who was ousted by the USDP in October, boosting her chances of being able to form the next government.
Shwe Mann, the speaker of parliament and a former general, told Reuters he could work with Ms Suu Kyi.
"We will work for the good of the country," he said.
