Burma's military Government will hold a referendum on a new constitution in May this year followed by multi-party elections in 2010, the first in two decades, state television announced."In accord with the fourth step of the seven-step roadmap to democracy, a nationwide referendum will be held in May 2008 to ratify the newly drafted constitution," it said.
The new constitution, now being drafted after the completion of a national convention first convened in the 1990s, will be finished soon, the statement said.
The constitution is believed likely to disbar detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from office by ruling out anyone married to a foreigner, as she was, and to ensure the top leadership comes from the military. Ms Suu Kyi's husband, British academic Michael Aris, died in March 1999.
Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy swept the last multi-party election in Burma in 1990 after the army had crushed nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations with the loss of several thousand lives.
The military, which has ruled the country since 1962, ignored the result and she has spent much of the time since then in detention.
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3 comments:
Okay I am not sure this really is good news and I am not entirely convinced that it will even happen but given the tragedy of Burma, isn't this better than nothing? A very small step forward?
Better than nothing, I hope. I thik "the lady" as they call her, is incredibly brave.
Well, the acepted standard of window dressing appears to be happening to shut the UN up. Sad to say, but i dont hold out much hope.
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