Myanmar's military junta reopened a national constitutional convention yesterday, warning its citizens of the dangers of ``external and internal elements'' trying to derail the meeting, which they called a key step toward democracy.
Amid light security, 1,074 delegates -- including politicians, leaders of ethnic groups, workers, businesspeople and government employees -- gathered at a convention center about 40 km north of the capital Yangon to resume work. The session is set to last as long as two months but is unlikely to produce a final draft.
Lieutenant General Thein Sein opened the convention yesterday by telling delegates that the drafting of a constitution "was of primary importance to the transition to democracy."
PHOTO: AFP
"There is no other way but to implement the seven-step roadmap to achieve a genuine, disciplined and flourishing democratic state," Thein Sein said. "External and internal elements are trying to derail the national convention process at a time when it is going smoothly and successfully. Beware of the dangers of subversionists."
Thein Sein did not mention any nation or any group by name. But the convention comes after the US -- which has imposed economic sanctions on Myanmar and called it an "outpost of tyranny" -- successfully lobbied the UN Security Council on Friday to hold a closed-door briefing on the country.
Critics say the convention is being stage managed by the junta to stay in power. They say it cannot reflect the desires of the people when the main opposition party, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), and other groups are not participating.
The NLD won a landslide victory in general elections in 1990 but the military refused to hand over power, saying the country first needed a new constitution. Suu Kyi has been under continuous detention for more than two years. Her house arrest was extended by six months last week, and she has been barred from the convention. Her party is boycotting the event.
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
Russian hackers last year targeted a Dutch public facility in the first such an attack on the lowlands country’s infrastructure, its military intelligence services said on Monday. The Netherlands remained an “interesting target country” for Moscow due to its ongoing support for Ukraine, its Hague-based international organizations, high-tech industries and harbors such as Rotterdam, the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) said in its yearly report. Last year, the MIVD “saw a Russian hacker group carry out a cyberattack against the digital control system of a public facility in the Netherlands,” MIVD Director Vice Admiral Peter Reesink said in the 52-page
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS