Reclusive Myanmar ruling General Than Shwe urged the country on Monday to make "correct choices" in this year's general election but gave no hint about exactly when the long-awaited polls will take place.
Myanmar's last election, in 1990, ended with a landslide win for Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy but the junta ignored the result and has since jailed more than 2,000 activists and political opponents, many for minor offences.
Suu Kyi herself has been under house arrest or other sort of detention for 14 of the last 20 years.
In a message to mark the 62nd anniversary of Myanmar's independence, Than Shwe championed the junta's much-criticised "road map" as the only route to democratic change but gave no timeframe for the vote.
"Plans are under way to hold elections in a systematic way this year," he said in the address, read out on television by a senior junta official and carried in state-run newspapers.
The 76-year-old gave no new details about the election in the former British colony, and described the junta's seven-stage reform plan as "the sole process of transition to democracy."
The election has already been widely dismissed as a means to entrench nearly five decades of unbroken military rule, with the junta hoping a public vote would legitimise its monopoly of national politics.
Critics of the army-drafted constitution say Myanmar's legislature will be dominated by the military and their civilian stooges, with limited powers and representation for dozens of ethnic groups or established opposition parties.
The notoriously secretive regime has yet to say who can take part in the polls.
Several major ethnic groups are resisting calls to join the political process, saying they have nothing to gain.
The United States, which has pursued a policy of engagement with Myanmar, said it would take "a measured approach" toward the election until it could assess electoral conditions and see whether opposition and minorities would take part.
However, the US state department said it saw no signs yet that the regime was preparing for a credible election.
"So far, we have not seen any meaningful steps by the regime to indicate it is putting in place measures that would lead to credible elections," state department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters in Washington in response to a question.
"Much of the opposition's leadership remains in prison, there is no space for political dissent or debate and no freedom of the press," he said.
"We continue to urge the Burmese government to address these issues and to engage Aung San Suu Kyi and the democratic opposition, ethnic leaders and other stakeholders in a comprehensive dialogue on democratic reform," he said, referring to the country by its colonial name, Burma.
Many analysts believe the delay in naming an election date is to give the government more time to bring the ethnic groups on board, either voluntarily or through military force.
The National League for Democracy has not said whether it will run in the polls and has rejected the constitution promulgated in 2008 because of the power it grants to the military.
On Monday it urged the regime to release all political prisoners and engage with all the parties involved.
"All the stakeholders need to hold a dialogue with a sincere intention towards national reconciliation and for the benefit of the country and the people," said Khin Muang Swe, the head of the NLD's central executive committee.
