[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Burma postpones resumption of const



Subject: Burma postpones resumption of constitution meeting

Burma postpones resumption of constitution meeting

      RANGOON, Oct 5 (Reuter) - Burma's military government has postponed
resumption of a national convention that has been meeting for almost two
years to draw up the guidelines of a new constitution, state-run newspapers
reported on Thursday. 

    The convention will resume on November 28 and not October 24 as earlier
planned because many of the almost 700 delegates have other matters to attend
to in October, the country's main harvest time, the newspapers cited
organisers as saying. 

    ``Many of the delegates... are inclined to attend to their business
undertakings, especially agricultural matters,'' the convention's convening
commission said in an announcement. 

    Burma's military government says the national convention, which last met
in April, is central to its long-term political plans but the proceedings are
dismissed by opponents as an unrepresentative ``sham.'' 

    The convention began meeting in January 1993. All but 156 of the 683
delegates attending have been picked by the ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council. 

    Among the principles already agreed by the convention is that the
military retains a ``leading role'' in future politics. 

    Other sections already agreed upon rule out the chance of popular
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi ever having a chance to lead the country
because she has lived abroad during the past 20 years and is married to a
foreigner. 

Reut02:56 10-05-95
-----------------------------------end. (fb.100595.wire)