"The 3 day Ethnic Conference organized by the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) that ended yesterday had overwhelmingly spurned the military-drawn and adopted 2008 constitution, following a 3-hour long debate... One participant had called the 194-page composition drafted under the close guidance of the ?retired? strongman Than Shwe as an attempt ?to prolong the military dictatorship and keep the ethnic peoples under perpetual slavery.?... To a representative from the Women?s League of Burma (WLB), it is a ?fearsome? document, as it was written by soldiers who uphold no respect for the womenfolks... The resolution was to draft a new constitution, despite counsel from some that it would mark a head-on confrontation with the military.... The meeting was also like-minded on several other topics: Change, as one put it, is just ?oil on the water?s surface.? The country is just ?going through the motions? but change has yet to come A nationwide ceasefire agreement without adequate guarantees of a political dialogue and monitoring mechanisms is unacceptable After two years of ceasefire and peace talks, there is little trust between the two sides (?Documents captured in battles still call us ?insurgents? and stress ?total annihilation,?? said a Shan State Army representative) The President?s 8 point guidelines for peace talks received a resounding rejection (?The government is out for negotiated surrender, not negotiated settlement,? said Dr Lian H.Sakhong)..."