MYANMAR 10 May 2008 Junta plans constitutional referendum despite cyclone disaster 

Army-ruled Myanmar plans to hold a referendum on a new constitution on May 10 despite a cyclone that hit the country on May 3 that is believed to have killed some 50,000 people. The ruling junta will split the referendum, holding it on May 24 in parts of the country hit hardest by the storm.

The announcement about the referendum has received a mixed reception. Russia has praised Myanmar's so-called "road to democracy," which couples the referendum vote with a full election in 2010, but Western powers and pro-democracy activists dismiss it as a scheme to keep the regime in power.

Myanmar's Constitution was suspended almost 20 years ago when the military junta seized control of the country. The military has held power almost continuously since 1962

The junta described the constitution as the result of 14 years of working out the principles for a "disciplined" democracy by a committee of mainly military officers and civil servants. Information in the state media about the document suggest there will be little change to the status quo. The constitution does not suggest there will be any transfer of power to a civilian administration or greater autonomy for Burma's 100-plus ethnic minorities. The commander-in-chief of the army will be the most powerful man in the country, able to appoint key ministers and assume power "in times of emergency." The military will hold 25 per cent of seats in the new parliament and hold veto power over parliamentary decisions.

The charter talks, involving some 1000 handpicked military and civilian figures, were held in secret at a military base north of Yangon a few weeks after anti-government demonstrations broke out in protest against rising fuel prices. The protests had snowballed into the largest anti-government demonstrations in nearly 20 years, and the military responded with a deadly crackdown.

Myanmar's National League for Democracy, which boycotted a constitution-drafting convention while its leader, Nobel peace laureate and its party leader Aung Suu Kyi, remains under house arrest, called the announcement "erratic."

The League won the last election in a multi-party poll in 1990 - the last election in Myanmar - but the result was later rejected by the military, which has held power since 1962. UPDATED May/08

RELATED READING:

Russia praises Myanmar referendum, election plans (RIA 12 Feb 2008)
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080212/99041584.html

US denounces Myanmar's plans for constitutional referendum (AP/IHT 11 Feb 2008)
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/11/america/NA-GEN-US-Myanmar-Constitution.php