Beyond the National Convention

Abstract

Burma’s ceasefire groups look ahead.

It is never wise to try and second-guess the turn of events in Burma, but it’s safe to say that the current constitution-drafting National Convention is widely perceived as illegitimate—both inside Burma and abroad. This perception won’t change unless the process is broadened to include meaningful participation on the part of the National League for Democracy, or NLD, and the United Nationalities Alliance, or UNA, a coalition of ethnic nationality parties elected in 1990, which has always worked closely with the NLD.

Despite the legitimacy deficit of the constitution-drafting exercise, the convention has emerged as the most important political arena since the 1990 election—and perhaps even since the military takeover of 1962. For Burma’s ethnic nationalist communities in particular, it represents a milestone in efforts to have their concerns registered on the national political stage.