By John Aglionby in Jakarta
Published: February 23 2008 01:16 | Last updated: February 23 2008 01:16
A United Nations envoy will hold talks with Burma’s ruling junta over the country’s “road map to democracy”, including its plans to bar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from taking part in elections.
Early this month the junta said it would hold a referendum in May on a new constitution, followed by elections in 2010. However, Ms Suu Kyi has been banned from the vote because she is the widow of a foreigner.
“This is one of the issues I intend to discuss with the authorities in Myanmar [Burma],” Ibrahim Gambari, the UN secretary-general’s special envoy on Burma, said on Friday in Jakarta, as part of his regional tour before going to the country early next month.
Burma, he said, should revise the proposed constitution to include the interest of opposition and minority groups before it is put to a referendum. Otherwise it would have no credibility, he said.
Mr Gambari said the military should immediately push talks with Ms Suu Kyi to a more substantive level, allow her National League for Democracy party to open offices across the country, and free the thousands of political prisoners so that they can take part in the constitutional debate.
“The proper thing to do is to give [the transition process] the credibility that not only meets our expectations but also internally,” he said. “It’s still possible to make changes before the referendum.”
Mr Gambari applauded Burma’s neighbours for increasing pressure on the junta to democratise the country, but urged them to do more. “Even at this late stage, south-east Asian nations, China and India should be sending the right signals,” he said.
Mr Gambari said Indonesia, which over the last decade has been transformed from a military-run autocracy to a fully fledged democracy, could be used as a template for Burma. Indonesia this week became the first big developing country to criticise Burma’s draft constitution.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Published: February 23 2008 01:16 | Last updated: February 23 2008 01:16
A United Nations envoy will hold talks with Burma’s ruling junta over the country’s “road map to democracy”, including its plans to bar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from taking part in elections.
Early this month the junta said it would hold a referendum in May on a new constitution, followed by elections in 2010. However, Ms Suu Kyi has been banned from the vote because she is the widow of a foreigner.
“This is one of the issues I intend to discuss with the authorities in Myanmar [Burma],” Ibrahim Gambari, the UN secretary-general’s special envoy on Burma, said on Friday in Jakarta, as part of his regional tour before going to the country early next month.
Burma, he said, should revise the proposed constitution to include the interest of opposition and minority groups before it is put to a referendum. Otherwise it would have no credibility, he said.
Mr Gambari said the military should immediately push talks with Ms Suu Kyi to a more substantive level, allow her National League for Democracy party to open offices across the country, and free the thousands of political prisoners so that they can take part in the constitutional debate.
“The proper thing to do is to give [the transition process] the credibility that not only meets our expectations but also internally,” he said. “It’s still possible to make changes before the referendum.”
Mr Gambari applauded Burma’s neighbours for increasing pressure on the junta to democratise the country, but urged them to do more. “Even at this late stage, south-east Asian nations, China and India should be sending the right signals,” he said.
Mr Gambari said Indonesia, which over the last decade has been transformed from a military-run autocracy to a fully fledged democracy, could be used as a template for Burma. Indonesia this week became the first big developing country to criticise Burma’s draft constitution.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
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