YANGON, Burma - Burma's president has vowed to abide by the law to ensure a smooth transition to a new government next year, after his ruling party was trounced in the Nov. 8 general election.
President Thein Sein, whose Union Solidarity and Development Party lost by a landslide to the National League for Democracy of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, spoke at a Sunday meeting with the leaders of more than 70 political parties to discuss the period before power is handed over early next year when the new Parliament is seated.
Thein Sein, an ex-general, said, "We have successfully held the crucial election (leading) from the current transition period toward the transformation of our country," referring to his leadership of the first elected government after almost five decades of military rule.
