Burma Sets Date For Feferendum And General Election

by Mungpi
Saturday, 09 February 2008 00:00

The announcement was unexpected because the regime is not known to set a time frame for anything that it is working on.

The announcement, which came in the form of a statement signed by the junta's Secretary (1) Lt Gen Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo was read out in the state-run television.

A referendum on the constitution, which is being drafted by a 54-member committee, will be held in May, the statement said.

The Burmese junta chalked out a seven-point roadmap to democracy in 2003 but there was no time-frame. It took 14 years to complete the first step of the roadmap --- the National Convention.

"Multi-party democratic elections will be held in 2010, according to the new constitution," the statement added.

Burma held its last multi-party elections in 1990, but the ruling military clique refused to honour the results and continues to cling to power, detaining Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the election winning party – the National League for Democracy.

"It is suitable to change the military administration to a democratic, civil administrative system, as good fundamentals have been established," the junta said.

"The country's basic infrastructure has been built, although there is still more to do while striving for the welfare of the nation," added the statement.

While the announcement is the first ever time-frame given by the ruling junta on the different stages of its roadmap, critics said it could be an act to expiate the people, who lived through another bitter experience when the junta brutally crashed protesters in September.

The announcement, which comes after four months of the junta's brutal crackdown on Buddhist monk-led protesters in Rangoon, could also be another move to dilute both internal as well as international pressure, a military analyst said.

"The SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] seems worried about possible mass movements again, so this is to cool down the people so that they do not demonstrate but wait and see," Win Min, a military analyst in Chiang Mai said.

Following the brutal suppression of students-led protesters in 1988, where hundreds if not thousands were killed, the ruling junta held a multi-party election, but failed to honour the results after the NLD posted a landslide victory.

"The SPDC seems to be under increasing pressure from China and India to expedite the roadmap. Ibrahim Gambari, the UN Special Envoy just visited India and he seems to be getting better support from India than he did last year. And he is going to visit China next week," Win Min added.