Myanmar to reopen constitutional convention in February after seven-month hiatus

January 12 (AP) - Myanmar's military government will resume its constitution-drafting National Convention on Feb. 17 after a seven-month hiatus, the state-run press announced Wednesday.

The chairman of the convention's convening commission, Lt. Gen. Thein Sein - who is also a top member of the ruling junta - announced the date at a meeting on Tuesday with fellow commission members, asking them to make the necessary preparations.

The convention, billed by the junta as a first step toward restoring democracy, began its first session on May 17 last year and adjourned after nearly two months of closed-door discussions.

The military government had already announced two months ago that the convention would resume in February, but did not give an exact date. It had made the earlier announcement in part to reassure the international community that it remained committed to plans to restore democracy.

The reports in the New Light of Myanmar and other newspapers said delegates will have to arrive by Feb. 15 at the convention center, about 45 kilometers (25 miles) north of the capital.

The National League for Democracy party of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi boycotted the convention because the government would not release her from house arrest and refused to change some convention procedures which it said were "undemocratic."

Its doubts are shared by other critics of the military regime, including Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights' special investigator for Myanmar.

Myanmar has had no constitution since its 1974 charter was suspended after the military took power in 1988.

An earlier constitutional convention in 1993 was suspended in 1996 after NLD members walked out, saying they were being forced to rubber-stamp decisions made by the junta.

Last year's convention sessions were attended by 1,088 convention delegates, most hand-picked by the government or representatives of ethnic minority organizations.

In 2003, then-Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt announced a "road map to democracy" supposed to lead eventually to free elections.

But Khin Nyunt was forced out of the prime minister's post in October last year in a move seen as a maneuver of hardline generals opposed to political reform.

The junta, however, has since then said repeatedly it remains committed to the road map process.

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