Myanmar to resume national convention to continue roadmap process

Myanmar will resume on Dec. 5 its session of the constitutional National Convention to continue pushing ahead its seven-step political roadmap to democracy.

According to Sunday's official media, the next session is to seek approval to lay down detailed basic principles for sharing the executive and judicial powers.

First Secretary of the State Peace and Development Council Lieutenant-General Thein Sein, who is chairman of the National Convention Convening Commission (NCCC), said at Saturday's NCCC meeting that the roadmap has been adopted for the emergence of a discipline-flourishing democratic nation and the convening of the convention plays a pivotal role in the process, the media reported.

In its previous phase, which lasted from February to March this year, the convention approved the detailed principles for sharing of legislative power in 11 sectors which include defense and security; foreign affairs; financing and planning; economic; agriculture and livestock breeding, energy, electricity, mining and forestry; industry; transport and communication and construction.

Observers here said once the detailed basic principles of legislative, executive and judicial powers are all approved, the framework of the constitution will generally take shape because the detailed principles on other remaining chapters would constitute no major dispute.

The national convention first started in 1993 but adjourned in 1996. The convention resumed on May 17, 2004 as the first step of the seven-step roadmap which was announced by the government in August 2003.

The seven steps also include undergoing a national referendum on draft of the constitution, holding a general election to produce parliament representatives and forming a new democratic government.

In the two previous sessions, over 1,000 invited delegates, who came from eight categories of delegate groups including mainly political parties, representatives-elect (in the 1990 general election), state service personnel (including armymen) and invited individuals (including turned-in former anti-government ethnic armed groups) attended.

However, the National League for Democracy (NLD) boycotted the convention.

Since the national convention began in 1993, it had adopted 104 basic principles for drawing the state constitution and detailed ones in the chapters of "Structure of State", "Head of state" and "Legislature".

Source: Xinhua