The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) announced in August 2003 a governmental roadmap, supposedly aiming at democratising the country. In particular, the roadmap foresees the adoption of a new Constitution by a National Convention, followed by elections.
The main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) who won nearly 85 % of the seats at the last elections (1990), has been asking in vain for preliminary discussions on the composition and the agenda of the National Convention. As stressed by the UN Special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, a number of fundamental human rights requirements must be fulfilled in order to initiate a genuine process of political transition. In particular, the delegates to the Convention should be freely chosen and represent the full range of political parties and ethnic minority groups, and should proportionally reflect the results of the 1990 elections. Political prisoners should be released and political parties should be free to meet in advance and during the Convention in order to discuss their position in the Convention.
However, in spite of those very clear requirements, the SPDC is doing exactly the contrary. According to local sources, invitations have so far been sent merely to individuals selected by the regime in order to participate in the Convention, not to political entities. This is a clear denial of a fair and transparent process, as political parties and ethnic groups supposed to be represented in the Convention cannot freely choose their delegates. It is also an implicit rejection of opposition parties as such.
In addition, the bodies in charge of the preparations of the convening of the Convention do not include any political party nor representatives of ethnic minorities: their members are exclusively military and senior government officials.
It is clear that the present environment is not conducive to a successful democratic transition, and that there is no clear political will on the part of the SPDC to open up to democracy. The NLD offices in Rangoon were re-opened earlier this month, but many political prisoners still linger in state prisons (about 1300 according to the UN special rapporteur), including prominent NLD leaders (Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo) as well as the leadership of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, the second opposition party. “How can such prominent political leaders play a role in the transition process if they are in jail?”, said Sidiki Kaba. “Under those circumstances, it is clear that the National Convention and the Roadmap are only window-dressing; there is no genuine will to dialogue with the opposition and to democratise the country“.
The FIDH calls upon the international community, including Asian states, to put pressure on the SPDC in order to induce the military to engage into a real democratisation process, based on the respect for human rights.