'Myanmar constitution to be completed in 2007'

Jakarta, Feb 15: Military-ruled Myanmar will finish drafting a new constitution this year as part of its pledge for democratic reforms, Indonesia's foreign minister said today.

The constitution contains provisions on power sharing involving the military and civilians but it is not clear if detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party would be allowed to take part in any such scheme in the future, Hassan Wirajuda said.

''If this (the completion of the constitution) really happens, it will be progress in a process which many quarters see as slow,'' Wirajuda told a news conference after talks with Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win.

''It seems they are quite optimistic,'' he said.

Myanmar's junta has been holding a national convention to rewrite a new constitution since 2003 as part of a seven-stage ''roadmap to democracy'' laid out by former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, who was ousted in October 2004.

Western governments and other critics say it is nothing but a smokescreen to preserve the generals' grip on power, especially while opposition figures such as Nobel laureate Suu Kyi remain under house arrest.

Critics point to a key objective of the convention which ensures a ''leadership role'' for the army in politics.

Nyan Win and other Myanmar officials held talks with Indonesian counterparts on increasing bilateral cooperation under the framework of the Myanmar-Indonesia Joint Commission.

Wirajuda said Myanmar's draft constitution also provides for power devolution to the country's regions and the establishment of regional legislative assemblies.

He said Nyan Win declined to say when Suu Kyi would be released from house arrest but assured him she had regular access to doctors.

Myanmar escaped censure at the United Nations in January after China and Russia vetoed a U.S.-backed resolution calling calling on it to stop persecuting minority and opposition groups.

Russia and China, among the five permanent Security Council members whose no-vote automatically kills a UN resolution, argued that human rights violations were not the purview of the Security Council unless they endangered regional or international peace and security, which Myanmar did not.

Reuters