Critics of Myanmar’s junta say unfinished constitution will bring civil unrest

(July 15, 2007/ Bangkok, Thailand) Opponents of Myanmar’s junta dismissed plans to resume drafting a constitution later this week, saying that the finished document would not deliver promised democratic reforms nor protect minority groups.

Speaking at a press conference in northern Thai town of Mae Sot, six Burmese leaders said Sunday that they initially took part in the National Convention to draft the constitution believing it was the best hope for democracy.

However, they said they became disenchanted over concerns that the junta — known officially as State Peace and Development Council — was using the convention to remain in power, so they fled to Thailand.

“This is a sham constitution because only 12 of the convention representatives are elected members of parliament. The rest were hand-picked by the SPDC,” said Khun Myint Tun, a member of the country’s opposition National League for Democracy who left the convention in 2005 and fled to Thailand Saturday. “They are just trying to gain the upper hand so the army can continue ruling the country.”

Another convention delegate, Khu Shay Rae, said he was forced by the junta to take part and was called on to represent farmers even though he was a teacher. He abandoned the convention seven years ago and also fled to Thailand.

Most of the six are members of the National Council of the Union of Burma, an exiled pro-democracy group based in Thailand which routinely criticizes the junta. All but Myint Tun have been in Thailand for several years.

A government spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.

The attack is likely to rattle the junta, as it comes before the National Convention is set to resume drawing up guidelines for the constitution this week. The junta has not said when it would be finished nor when a vote would be held on the document.

The junta says the convention is the first of seven steps on a “roadmap to democracy” which is supposed to culminate in free elections. The junta hand-picked most of the convention’s 1,000 delegates.

Critics say the proceedings have been manipulated and should not be taken seriously because opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is under house arrest and cannot attend. Her National League for Democracy party has boycotted the convention to protest her detention and that of other NLD leaders.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi has been in prison or under house arrest for more than 12 of the past 18 years.

The current junta, which took power in 1988 after crushing pro-democracy demonstrations, held general elections in 1990 but refused to cede power after a landslide NLD victory.

Myanmar has been without a constitution since 1988, when its 1974 charter was suspended.

The junta first convened the convention in 1993, but it was aborted in 1996 after NLD delegates walked out in protest, saying it was undemocratic and the military was manipulating the proceedings. The convention was resurrected in 2004.

Myanmar, also called Burma, has been military-ruled since 1962.

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This post was written by CALD