YANGON, Aug 30: Myanmar’s new prime minister General Khin Nyunt on Saturday announced a seven-point roadmap towards democracy including “free and fair” elections to be held under a new constitution.

“Free and fair elections will be held based on a new constitution spelled out by the national constitutional convention,” Khin Nyunt said in his first speech since taking office five days ago.

Khin Nyunt, who was appointed prime minister of the military-run state by Myanmar’s leader Senior General Than Shwe, gave no timeframe for the elections.

But he said the first step of the plan, the re-convening of a constitutional convention suspended in 1996 following a boycott by the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), should be done “as soon as possible.”

The process leading to national elections to form a “government of elected members” would start with the drafting and passage of a new constitution, he said, adding: “This is our roadmap.”

Myanmar has been ruled for the past four decades by the military, which in 1990 refused to recognise national elections that gave a landslide victory to Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD party.

The junta has long promised to pursue a gradual transition to democracy but there has been little progress toward that goal.

Analysts and democracy advocates said they doubted Saturday’s announcement would change the political climate, or indicated an impending release for Aung San Suu Kyi, who was taken into custody in May.

“We don’t see any change in the political scenario at this point,” a member of the NLD told AFP.

“And I don’t expect Aung San Suu Kyi to be released in the immediate future.”

Other critics dismissed the road map as a rehash of previous efforts by the regime to advertise its path to “disciplined democracy,” and a reiteration of its determination to rule on its own terms.

“It’s an old formula reprocessed, and it shows the military intends to stay in control for the forseeable future,” one Yangon analyst said.

He also said Khin Nyunt’s performance was an indication that the military will stick to its hardline stance despite intense international pressure to make democratic reforms and release Aung San Suu Kyi.

“What they have done was to buy time and then convince their friends, especially ASEAN, that they are heading towards democracy,” he said.

Aung San Suu Kyi was mentioned twice in the 80-minute speech, once when Khin Nyunt denounced her party for walking out on the constitutional convention.

In late 1995 the NLD refused to join a new session of the convention to draft the constitution, rejecting it as unrepresentative. Shortly afterwards it was suspended by the junta and it remains in mothballs to this day.

Khin Nyunt is considered by foreign governments and diplomats in Yangon to be the most accessible and reform-minded figure in the regime known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

He was charged with managing a United Nations-sponsored reconciliation process with Aung San Suu Kyi which broke down in May when she was arrested after her supporters were attacked by a pro-junta mob during a political tour.

In a clear jibe at Washington, Khin Nyunt blasted outside interference in Myanmar’s political affairs.

“The dialogue between the NLD and the SPDC collapsed due to external pressure and the NLD’s subsequent refusal to collaborate with the military,” he said in the speech addressed to the cabinet and media representatives among other invited guests.

“If any superpower continues to bully us, there will be regional unrest. External pressures will only distance us from democracy.”

The speech came two days after new US sanctions came into effect against Myanmar, including a ban on all imports from the impoverished country.

And it followed Monday’s announcement that in a sweeping reshuffle Khin Nyunt was appointed premier but lost his role as Secretary One in the SPDC.

Witnesses said Khin Nyunt, who also has a key role as Myanmar’s chief of military intelligence, was dressed in full military uniform for his 80-minute address at Parliament House. —AFP