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POLITICS-BURMA: &#39Discipline-Flourishing Democracy&#39 Promised

Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK, Jun 8 2007 (IPS) - Burma&#39s acting prime minister, Thein Sein, has summed up in four words the political direction his country is headed for once a new constitution is approved. It will be a ‘&#39developed discipline-flourishing democratic state,&#39&#39 he says.

His view was made known this week as he unveiled plans to resume the final session of the military-ruled country&#39s National Convention (NC), a body that has been assigned by the junta to draw up the country&#39s third constitution.

‘&#39Delegates will have to make some amendments, additions and nullifications to some of the points after thoroughly reviewing all the adopted fundamental principles and detailed basic principles to ensure that the constitution is free from flaws,&#39&#39 he said at a meeting of the NC&#39s convening commission, according to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua

Burma watchers are hardly surprised by such language flowing from the lips of a leading figure of a repressive regime. What has aroused more interest is the about-turn by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as the junta is officially known, to kick-start another round of talks earlier than scheduled.

The final round of the NC will begin on Jul.18 at a venue on the outskirts of Rangoon, Burma&#39s former capital, months ahead of what was reported in March, when government officials confirmed that the NC&#39s next round of deliberations would be late this year.

‘&#39It is another sign of the panic that has set in. That is why the dates for the national convention have been brought forward,&#39&#39 says Debbie Stothard of the regional human rights lobby ALTSEAN, which stands for the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma. ‘&#39They fear they are losing more support among their own ranks.&#39&#39

Outside pressure has also built up against the junta, she explained in an interview, with reference to the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN). Burma belongs to this 10-member regional grouping that has increasingly turned the heat on the SPDC to proceed faster with its political reforms towards democracy.

‘&#39Burma needs to give something to ASEAN as well as China to secure protection from being further isolated,&#39&#39 adds Aung Naing Oo, a political analyst from Burma who is exiled in Thailand. ‘&#39This is a way of demonstrating that the military regime is still serious about the new constitution and political change.&#39&#39

ASEAN is scheduled to have its next regional meeting in the Philippines in late July, where the Burma issue is expected to surface. Its members also include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. China, on the other hand, could face heated campaigns led by human rights groups ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing due to its increasingly close ties with one of South-east Asia&#39s most repressive regimes.

But how long this ‘&#39final stage&#39&#39 would last remains an unanswered question, since the NC has been used by the junta to perpetuate its iron grip on the country. ‘&#39The military regime will not give this process up early. It is a mechanism that has been used to protect the military leaders,&#39&#39 Aung Naing Oo told IPS. ‘&#39They always say that democratisation is a long process.&#39&#39

The junta&#39s record confirms this reality, since the military leaders initiated the NC process in 1992. It was done after the junta refused to recognise the results of the 1990 parliamentary elections, which was won convincingly by the National League for Democracy (NLD), the country&#39s leading pro-democracy opposition party. By then, the NLD&#39s leader, Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, had also been placed under house arrest, the first of successive periods of detention over the past 17 years.

The NLD walked out of the constitutional talks in 1995, calling it a ‘&#39sham&#39&#39 after it became clear that the political exercise was meant to cement the military&#39s plans to remain in power. The space for free and open discussion and debate was also curtailed by a law that threatened critics of the charter, which was drafted by the junta, with a 20-year prison term.

The NC, which is made up of over 1,000 delegates selected by the junta, was restarted after that mid-1990 setback in 2004. By then, the SPDC had unveiled a seven-point ‘&#39roadmap to democracy,&#39&#39 of which the approval of the constitution at the NC was the first step.

The last round of talks was held from Oct. 10 to Dec. 29, 2006. Those who participated fit into the slots the junta had devised, including 663 representatives of Burma&#39s various ethnic groups, 29 representatives from political parties and 15 elected politicians. There were also delegates who represented ‘&#39peasants,&#39&#39 ‘&#39workers&#39&#39 and ‘&#39intellectuals.&#39&#39

Last year&#39s session addressed issues such as the composition of the new parliament, the role of the armed forces and citizenship, duties of the citizens and fundamental rights. The phase in July is expected to consider seven areas, including elections, political parties, the state of emergency and amendments to the constitution.

The current language of the draft constitution leaves no illusion as to who the junta wants as the country&#39s leader in the ‘&#39discipline-flourishing democracy&#39&#39 it envisions. ‘&#39According to the new constitution, the president must have a military background,&#39&#39 says Zaw Min, spokesman for the Democratic Party for a New Society, a political party formed in the 1990s by university students. ‘&#39This makes it impossible for a civilian like Aung San Suu Kyi to become president.&#39&#39

It is a clause that will win the constitution little support from the people if put to a national referendum, he told IPS. ‘&#39The military regime is afraid there will be more ‘no&#39 votes, so this second phase of a referendum mentioned in the ‘roadmap&#39 will hardly be a free and fair one.&#39&#39