In September President U Thein Sein said that the forthcoming 2015 general election might have to be delayed if the on-going peace process has not been completed.
This led many political leaders to express their concern that the elections would be postponed.
Dr Aye Maung, the Arakan National Party (ANP) president has now also expressed his concerns.
He believes that the general election and the peace process are not dependent on each other and he challenged President Thein Sein's claims that both are related.
He said: “The capacity of the Thein Sein government in Naypyitaw will pave the way for the outcome of peace process with the ethnic groups. The peace process is a part of democratic exercise for the government but it hardly relates to the process of democratic transition in Burma.”
He said that the conflict between the government and various ethnic armed groups had been continuing for over 60 years and it would depend on the Union government's goodwill to resolve the matter amicably.
Dr Aye Maung said that he hoped the polls would be held on time.
Other parties like the National League for Democracy, the National Unity Party and the National Development Party also want the 2015 election to be held as scheduled.
