The United States said Friday that Myanmar's planned November 7 elections cannot be "inclusive or credible" under the political circumstances there.
"Given the oppressive political environment in Burma, there is not a level playing field for these elections," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told AFP, using the previous name for Myanmar.
"They cannot be inclusive or credible under these circumstances."
Myanmar's junta announced Friday it will hold its first election in two decades on November 7 -- a vote critics say is a sham aimed at entrenching the ruling generals' half-century grip on power.
Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent much of the past 20 years in detention and is seen as the biggest threat to the junta, is barred from standing in the polls because she is a serving prisoner.
The election date, announced by state media, falls about a week before Suu Kyi's current term of house arrest is due to expire on November 13.
Her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won a landslide victory in 1990 but was never allowed to take office. It is boycotting the upcoming vote, saying the rules are unfair.
The Obama administration last year launched a dialogue with Myanmar, concluding that isolating the regime had not worked. But it has said it will only lift sanctions in return for progress on democracy and other concerns.
President Barack Obama should "renew his support" for Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and make sure the world is "not tempted to recognize this mockery of the democratic process," said top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a "free and fair" vote in Myanmar as the country's state media announced a date for the first election in 20 years.
A statement from Ban noted the announcement and asked that Myanmar's government uphold previous promises to hold "inclusive" elections.
"As essential steps for any national reconciliation and democratic transition process, the secretary-general strongly urges the authorities to ensure that fundamental freedoms are upheld for all citizens of Myanmar," the statement said.
He also asked that the government "release all remaining political prisoners without delay so that they can freely participate in the political life of their country."
Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has spent more than 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest. She was first placed under house arrest in 1989. A year later, in 1990, her party won a landslide victory that the military junta refused to recognize. Elections have not been held in the country since then.
The junta recently announced an election law that bars Suu Kyi from taking part in the upcoming race.
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