Myanmar's military government will resume long-suspended work to draft a new constitution, which will pave the way for an elected government, the country's new prime minister said on Saturday.
| "Yep. We're gonna get right on it..." |
But General Khin Nyunt gave no timetable for the process, and didn't say whether pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi or her party would be allowed to take part in the drafting or any future government. Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won a national election more than a decade ago, but the junta has refused to yield power. Speaking to government and military leaders at the Parliament building, Gen. Khin Nyunt said a body called the National Convention would restart its constitution drafting work, which was suspended in March 1996. The draft constitution would then be placed before a referendum and, if approved, would form the basis for a 'free and fair' parliamentary election. A new government would follow.
| Unless the junta guys lose. If that happens, they'll have to come up with another constitution... |
He said his seven-point road map would finally lead to 'a modern, developed democratic country.' But he hinted that democracy was not around the corner, blaming this on Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy and countries opposed to the junta. Gen. Khin Nyunt blamed Ms Suu Kyi, who has been under detention for the past three months, for scuttling the National Convention when her party withdrew from it in 1995, saying it was a tool of the ruling junta. The convention was suspended the following year. "Due to the NLD's attempt to derail the National Convention under foreign pressure, the political developments and political process sputtered to a stop," he said. Gen. Khin Nyunt was named Myanmar's premier days ago in a major Cabinet reshuffle that changed more than a dozen ministerial posts. |