104 Articles be Discussed in NC, Says Junta
May 11 (Irrawaddy) - The 104 articles intended to make up the body of Burma’s forthcoming constitution will be open for discussion at the National Convention, said a senior military intelligence officer during a meeting on Monday.
“There will be the opportunity to discuss the 104 articles at the National Convention,” said Brig-Gen Than Tun of the Office of the Chief of Military Intelligence, or OCMI, as quoted by Nai Tala Nyi, a convention delegate from the New Mon State Party. Nai Tala Nyi spoke by telephone from Rangoon on Tuesday.
There will be the opportunity to discuss the 104 articles at the National Convention, OCMI officer Brig-Gen Than Tun said.
However, Than Tun said he could not guarantee the proceedings or conditions of the assembly.
A meeting between OCMI and fifteen of Burma’s ethnic ceasefire groups took place on Monday to discuss the National Convention, which is scheduled to reopen after an eight-year hiatus on May 17.
Rangoon announced in April
that the assembly will be held in accordance with the six objectives and 104
tentative articles put forward at the previous convention, which adjourned in
1996. The government-tabled
articles, if adopted, would ensure that the military plays a leading role in
any future administration.
Five delegates from each of the ceasefire groups are to attend the convention. They will be required to stay at Nyaung Hnapin in Hmawbi Township, 32 km north of Rangoon. But Brig-Gen than Tun said they will be allowed mobile phones at the venue.
“We, like other groups, will discuss in a constructive way,” said Chang Lang, a delegate from the New Democratic Army-Kachin, speaking by telephone from Rangoon.
Kachin Independence Organization vice chairman Dr Tu Ja said in April that it would be difficult for the group to attend the convention unless Rangoon was prepared to change the 104 articles—a call echoed by other invited attendees.
The main opposition National League for Democracy party, or NLD, and eight ethnic-based parties, are yet to confirm whether they will attend.
Burma’s second largest political party, the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy held a meeting on Tuesday to decide if it will attend the convention. The party’s decision was not known at the time that this article was filed.
The National Convention first opened in 1993. The NLD walked out in November 1995, claiming that the proceedings were undemocratic. The assembly was adjourned by the government in March 1996.