Thailand to host Myanmar 'road map' forum April 29-30

Asian Political News, April 5, 2004

BANGKOK, March 30 Kyodo

Thailand will host two days of second-round international talks on democratization in Myanmar on April 29-30, with the hope that democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will soon be released, Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said Tuesday.

''I think the release of Aung San Suu Kyi is (likely)...the national convention for drafting a constitution and the release of Suu Kyi are likely to happen soon,'' Surakiart said.

The minister said last week he expected the Myanmar junta to release Suu Kyi and convene a national convention by the middle of this year.

Surakiart said officials from China, India, some countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, France, Germany, Austria and representatives from the Myanmar junta have agreed to attend the forum, dubbed ''Bangkok Process.''

New participants Bangladesh, Laos, Switzerland and Norway will also join.

The first Bangkok Process in December last year was participated in by 12 countries, including Myanmar, but yielded no substantial results.

The April forum aims to have Myanmar explain to the international community the progress of its plans for national reconciliation and transition to democracy since December, Surakiart said.

''I hope the Bangkok Process will be a push for Myanmar to announce the national (constitutional) convention,'' he said.

Myanmar announced during the last meeting that it planned to reconvene the national convention this year and would invite political parties, including Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, ethnic minorities, academics, bureaucrats, soldiers and farmers to join in drafting a new constitution.

But it has offered no date for calling the groups together.

The junta called a general election more than a decade ago, but then refused to vacate office when Suu Kyi's party won in a landslide over junta-supported candidates.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi has been detained since May last year following what the junta says were clashes between her supporters and pro-government demonstrators.

The members of ASEAN are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.