Burma: 14 years later, a constitution

In Burma, a hand-picked "special assembly" has convened its final session, and expects to have a new national constitution finalized within a couple of months.

Don't start sending congratulations telegrams to the NLD quite yet, though. The constitution, which has taken 14 years to write, is merely step 1 in the 7-step "Roadmap to Democracy".

A few interesting points included in the constitution:

1. It guarantees the armed forces 25% of the seats in parliament.

2. It requires the president to have significant military experience.

3. It allows the commander of the armed forces to declare a state of emergency without government approval.

4. It outright bans the president from having a foreign spouse or children.

Number 4 is clearly intended to keep Aung San Suu Kyi, widow of an Oxford don and mother of two mixed-race boys who live in England, from ever leading the country.

Not that it matters, of course. The military is going to own Burma for the rest of my life anyway.

One other note from the Golden Land: Today is Martyr's Day, the 60th anniversary of the assassination of Suu Kyi's father, independence hero General Aung San. For the 5th consecutive year, Suu Kyi did not attend the ceremony in Rangoon, although her estranged older brother, Aung San Oo (a US resident), made an appearance.