The Straits Time
YANGON - MYANMAR'S junta has said next month's vote on its proposed constitution would be held in a 'systematic and fair manner' and warned the military would 'ward off any danger to the nation', state media reported on Saturday.
The country goes to the polls on May 10 to vote on a new charter that pro-democracy activists say simply entrenches the role of the military which has ruled since 1962.
Vice-Senior General Maung Aye, the junta's number two, however told a passing out parade for army recruits that the military was trying to produce a constitution that would open the way to democratic elections in 2010, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.
'Comrades, it is the Tatmadaw (military) that is constantly striving for the emergence of a constitution capable of shaping the multiparty democracy system,' the general said on Friday.
'The Commission for Holding Referendum will organise the national referendum in a systematic and fair manner for approving of the draft constitution on 10 May,' he said.
'It is safe to say that the process of implementing the seven-step road map is nearing completion when the constitution has been approved,' Gen Maung Aye said, referring to the junta's so-called road map to democracy.
State media have been giving extensive coverage to junta slogans and activities promoting a 'Yes' vote to approve the charter.
'To approve the State Constitution is a national duty of the entire people today. Let us all cast a 'Yes' vote in the national interest,' the New Light of Myanmar said in a front-page banner.
Gen Maung Aye appeared to give a veiled warning to opponents of the constitution such as Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) who have been calling for a 'No' vote.
'Some dissidents at home and abroad are making attempts to undermine the process of the systematic handover of the state power by the Tatmadaw,' Gen Maung Aye said.
'However, I would like to assert that the Tatmadaw will put in the fore the wishes of the people and ward off any danger to the nation joining hands with the people,' he said.
Ms Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party on Saturday said opponents of the charter were being assaulted and intimidated in the runup to the vote.
It has also charged that the ruling generals were doing everything in their power to force a 'Yes' vote at the May 10 referendum.
The referendum will be the first balloting in Myanmar since 1990, when Aung San Suu Kyi led the NLD to a landslide victory that was never recognised by the junta. -- AFP
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