Cairo: Egyptian authorities say they are freezing the assets of presidential candidate and former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq and his daughters as part of the investigation into his wealth. But he added that he feared he would also be criticised by Myanmar`s media if he didn`t come out to talk at home after giving so many interviews abroad.
Thein Sein avoided revealing too much, speaking only in general terms even about critical matters such as the fighting in Kachin state, which reflects a deeper, long-running problem of how much autonomy to give the large ethnic minorities living in border regions.
In what many see as an example of the government`s weakness compared to the still-influential military, his orders last year for the army to cease its fighting against the Kachin Independence Army were ignored.
"To get a cease-fire agreement is our government`s goal," he said when asked about the matter. "It`s the people`s desire to get peace and we are doing our best for the people`s desire."
He was also asked whether he plans to contest the 2015 election for a second presidential term. He replied that he has been thinking only of his current term.
Thein Sein was asked if he would give opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, his ally in the reform programme after being freed from house arrest, a role in his government.
Through his reform programme, Thein Sein lured her National League for Democracy party back into electoral politics, and it should pose a major challenge to his party in the next polls.
PTI
