Burma's opposition undecided about attending constitutional convention
May 12 (AP) - With
a registration deadline looming, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party
was still undecided Wednesday about attending a constitution-drafting convention
because Burma's junta had not
guaranteed free and open debate, a party official said.
The National League for Democracy has not yet received any reply from the military government on whether it will meet conditions set by the party for attending the National Convention, party spokesman U Lwin said.
"We are still waiting for a reply from the government. I am hopeful we will get some response," he said, declining to elaborate.
Burma currently has no constitution. Procedures set earlier by the ruling junta for the convention, due to begin May 17, would allow it to control discussions.
The NLD's conditions for attending the convention include a guarantee that its views would be heard, a review of the objectives of the convention, free and open debate, and freedom to select its own delegates.
The government has invited about 1,000 delegates, including some NLD members. However, Suu Kyi and party Vice Chairman Tin Oo, who remain under house arrest, have not been invited.
The government has said that all delegates must register on Thursday and Friday, suggesting that those who fail to do so may not be allowed to attend.
The junta says the National
Convention is a first step in a seven-point roadmap to democracy. It convened
a similar convention in 1993, which collapsed after the NLD walked out in 1995,
charging that it was being
forced to rubber-stamp the junta's decisions.
The earlier convention set six basic principles for a new constitution, including a major role for the military in the country's political future. The junta says the new convention will resume work where the previous convention left off in 1995.
On Wednesday, Swedish Ambassador Jan Axel Nordlander, based in neighboring Thailand, told reporters during a visit to Yangon that "we will regard the national convention as a failure" if the NLD does not participate.
"We very much hope that Aung San Suu Kyi and Tin Oo will be liberated within hours or before the convening of the National Convention," he said.
He said he hopes the junta will allow the NLD to attend even if it fails to meet the registration deadline.
Burma's military government has been widely criticized by the United States and Europe for its human rights record and its repeated incarceration of Suu Kyi and other opposition figures.
Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace laureate, has been detained since last May, when a pro-junta mob clashed with her supporters during a political trip to northern Burma.
The current junta came to power in 1988 after crushing pro-democracy demonstrations. It called elections in 1990 but refused to hand over power when the NLD won.