T he ruling States Peace and Development Council of Myanmar (SPDC) has raised hopes that it will hold a national constitutional convention before the end of this year after its March 30 announcement that it would convene one on May 17. It had also hinted that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi could be freed by that date.
The convention is one of the seven points in the "road map" for establishing democracy formulated and announced on Aug. 30 last year by the prime minister, Gen. Khin Nyunt. The assembly will rewrite the constitution and then schedule new elections. These measures are clearly listed as Steps Three and Five on the road map.
What was implied was, with such steps, the convention would be scrapping forever the 1990 elections' results -- which showed clear victory for the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). This alone will be extremely damaging for the country.