No date set yet for referendum on Myanmar's unfinished constitution

No date set yet for referendum on Myanmar's unfinished constitution AP Posted: 2007-07-03 08:09:12 YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar's acting prime minister called on the public Tuesday to use wisdom when voting in a referendum on the country's unfinished draft constitution, but did not say when it will be held, state-run media reported Tuesday. "When the time comes to do so, it is important people make their decision based on wisdom and be able to distinguish right and wrong," the New Light of Myanmar quoted Lt. Gen. Thein Sein saying. Thein Sein did not say when the draft constitution will be ready. A National Convention that is drawing up guidelines for the constitution is scheduled to resume July 18. The junta says the convention is the first of seven steps on a "roadmap to democracy" which is supposed to culminate in free elections. The junta hand-picked most of the convention's 1,000 delegates. Critics say the proceedings have been manipulated and should not be taken seriously because opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is under house arrest and cannot attend. Her National League for Democracy party has boycotted the convention to protest her detention and that of other NLD leaders. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi has been in prison or under house arrest for more than 12 of the past 18 years. The current junta, which took power in 1988 after crushing pro-democracy demonstrations, held general elections in 1990 but refused to cede power after a landslide NLD victory. Myanmar has been without a constitution since 1988, when its 1974 charter was suspended. The junta first convened the convention in 1993, but it was aborted in 1996 after NLD delegates walked out in protest, saying it was undemocratic and the military was manipulating the proceedings. The convention was resurrected in 2004. Myanmar, also called Burma, has been military-ruled since 1962. Thein Sein, a top-ranking member of Myanmar's junta, is performing the prime minister's duties for ailing Gen. Soe Win, who reportedly has acute leukemia