Burma's top leader has warned that democracy must be smoothly implemented or face failure in the military-ruled country.
The state-run New Light of Myanmar reports today that General Than Shwe said democracy without discipline can incite mob rule and anarchy. He made the comments in Pyapon Saturday during a tour of the country's southwestern Ayeyawaddy division.
The general said in order to enact the junta's seven-stage "road map to democracy," peace and stability, law and order must be restored across the nation.
He said the plan required a good foundation for economic development and people who "understand the correct knowledge of democracy."
Burma has been criticized by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for damaging the region's credibility by its reluctance to enact democratic reform.
