12 February 2008
United States Denounces Burmese Constitution Referendum as Sham
May vote announced amidst continued arrests of pro-democracy activists
Washington --The Bush administration has condemned as a “sham” a referendum proposed by Burma’s military rulers to approve a new constitution because the document was drafted without the input of opposition parties or minorities, and the vote, scheduled for May, would be held under “a pervasive climate of fear.”
In a statement released February 11, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the proposed constitution was “drafted in a closed process by a hand-picked committee dominated by senior regime officials.” This, he said, is further evidence of the regime’s refusal to engage in “meaningful and time-bound dialogue” with representatives of the country’s democracy activists and ethnic minority populations.
Burma’s military rulers, who have held power since 1962, announced the May referendum on February 9, along with a proposal to hold general elections in 2010. The provisions of the proposed constitution, which the government-appointed convention has been developing since 1993, have not yet been announced to the public.
The Burmese government is showing a “lack of seriousness about an open and fair process for the restoration of democracy,” White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters February 11.
“The drafting process for the constitution has not incorporated the views of opposition parties or all ethnic groups. Nor does the time frame allow for adequate debate on the pros and cons of the proposed constitution, which has not yet been shared with the Burmese public,” she said.
Perino said there are indications that the new constitution would bar prominent opposition leaders such as National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from running for office. Suu Kyi won Burma’s multiparty elections in 1990 but the military rulers have ignored the results and she has been under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years.
Perino said the Bush administration does not object to setting a date for elections in Burma, but rather condemns “the nontransparent and exclusive processes being promulgated by the regime.” She called for “an open and inclusive process that allows all of the Burmese people a fair say in the structure and form of their new government.”
State’s McCormack also condemned the “pervasive climate of fear” in the country in the aftermath of the brutal September 2007 suppression of peaceful pro-democracy activists. The regime continues to arrest, prosecute and imprison activists, he said, adding “virtually the entire opposition … is under detention.”
Under these conditions, along with the fact that the Burmese people have not been permitted to participate in or even discuss the components of their proposed constitution, the May referendum cannot be “free, fair, or credible,” according to McCormack.
“For the Burmese political process to have any legitimacy -- and any hope of creating conditions for the resolution of the country’s many problems -- it must be made fully inclusive and open to genuine participation,” he said.
Both McCormack and Perino called on the Burmese authorities to meet the demands set by the U.N. Security Council in October 2007, including cooperation with U.N. envoys, release of all political prisoners and the creation of conditions for a “genuine dialogue” with Suu Kyi and “all concerned parties and ethnic groups.”
