The Burmese opposition has described as vague, incomplete and strange the military government's decision to hold a referendum on a new constitution in May. The generals said a multi-party election would follow in 2010, two decades after they annulled the last election. The surprise announcement comes just months after the brutal suppression of last September's pro-democracy protests.
Britain said Burmese political leaders had not been consulted, and called for a genuine process of reconciliation. But Singapore's Foreign Ministry hailed the move by Burmese military government to set a timeframe for a referendum on a new constitution and elections as a "positive" one.
The pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, remains under house arrest, and hundreds of political prisoners are in jail.
Monday,11.February.2008
