Burma pledges to stick with democracy 'road map'

Military-ruled Burma says it will stick with its “road map” to democracy despite the junta’s recent purge of the prime minister who proposed it, but is ducking questions on when pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will go free.

The UN special envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail, headed today to Laos to meet Burma’s new foreign minister, Nyan Win, who made his country’s latest democracy pledge at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference in the Laotian capital.

Nyan Win aimed to head off any censure for his country when leaders arrive for an ASEAN summit opening on Monday.

“Because we are committed to democracy, there is no turning back,” Nyan Win said at the summit venue yesterday, but he side-stepped questions about releasing Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi.

Razali greeted Nyan Win’s comments with guarded optimism, and said he would leave it up to ASEAN members to determine whether the democracy commitments are genuine.

“I am sure they are anxious to know what steps Burma will now take,” he said in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Burma’s junta last month ousted Prime Minister Gen. Khn Nyunt, who had announced a seven-point “road map” for introducing democracy. The government’s continued detention of Suu Kyi draws widespread international criticism.

Khin Nyunt was considered more amenable to making concessions to Burma’s opposition, and was seen as the soft face of the government while dealing with neighbouring countries who are frustrated with the junta’s stubbornness in clinging to power. He is now believed to be under house arrest.

Nyan Win said the change in government would not result in any change in policy.

“Our policies are not dependent on personalities,” Nyan Win said.

He said a constitutional convention would be reconvened in February. Once a constitution is adopted, multiparty elections could be held, but he did not say when.

Suu Kyi was taken into custody last May while travelling in northern Burma when her motorcade was attacked by a pro-junta mob. Nyan Win refused to say if she would be one of more than 9,000 prisoners that the junta says would be freed soon.

The junta came to power in 1988 when it crushed a pro-democracy uprising that saw Suu Kyi rise to prominence. It called elections in 1990 but refused to hand over power when the NLD won overwhelmingly.