Alternative Asean Network on Burma
campaigns, advocacy and capacity-building for human rights
|
NATIONAL CONVENTION: ROADMAP TO INSTABILITY |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The
National Convention, which is tasked with producing detailed principles
for a new constitution, remains a fundamentally flawed and inherently
illegitimate process aimed at formalizing and prolonging military
rule in Burma.
Originally devised by the military regime as a tactic to avoid convening Parliament after it lost the 1990 elections, the National Convention was mothballed in March 1996, and then revived in 2004 as part of the “7-point roadmap to democracy”. The roadmap was a response to heightened regional and international pressure following the Depayin Massacre. Ethnic groups and the National League for Democracy have consistently proposed steps to salvage the National Convention and transform it into a venue for dialogue; however these recommendations have been rejected. The National Convention is part of the problem and not the solution to Burma’s troubles. The results will intensify the root causes of the ethnic-based conflicts perpetuated by Burma’s successive military regimes. |
