BANGKOK, Sept 25 (AFP) - Myanmar's military regime today hailed the capture of a rare white elephant as a sign of a successful “democratic transition” in the upcoming controversial elections.
Historically considered to herald good fortune, the elephant was caught on Thursday in western Rakhine state -- the fifth found since 2001 and a source of “national pride,” the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.
“People are holding discussions cheerfully that the auspicious occasion coincides with the democratic transition of the nation and it is a good sign for the success of general elections,” the article said.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962 and the November polls -- the first in two decades -- have been derided internationally as a sham, designed to shore up the regime's power under a civilian guise.
The elephant's capture came three years after a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks, in which at least 31 people were killed and hundreds of activists detained. |
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