National Convention Closes; Proposed Flag Criticized

Burma’s National Convention on Monday wrapped up its work on adopting basic principles for a new constitution, after 14 years of deliberation, according to sources inside the meeting.

Burmese Buddhist monks walk under a billboard advertizing the National Convention in down town Rangoon. [Photo: AFP]

The closing ceremony, which differed from the opening one, was a quiet affair, conducted in the absence of the media and foreign diplomats, one source said.

The convention is the first step of the seven-step road map, launched by the regime in 2003 as its program to lead the country to a “discipline-flourishing democracy.” No timeframe has been set for the remaining six steps of the road map.

Even the details of the next, second step remain a mystery to the convention. This stage of the road map is officially described as “step by step implementation of the process necessary for the emergence of a genuine and disciplined democratic system.”

The convention started on January 9, 1993, but was interrupted at the end of March 1996 because of the boycott by the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy led by Noble Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is in her fifth year of house arrest.

The regime reconvened the national convention in May, 2004, inviting their hand-picked delegates and totally ignoring the frequent calls from the UN, US, EU and the international community for the inclusion of all parties concerned, including candidates elected in the 1990 election, the NLD and ethnic minority parties.

Proposed New Flag in Burma Stirs Controversy

By Aye Lae

A new Burmese flag that critics say signifies a unilateral government was included in the document marking the end of the National Convention on Monday.

Proposed New Flag

The government-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported on Monday that the final convention document designates the national flag, state seal, national anthem and the capital.

The national seal was changed, the national anthem remains the same and the new capital was designated as Naypyidaw.

"The State Flag shall be prescribed as follows: The Flag is marked with yellow, green and red stripes in a proportionate ratio. on the green stripe in the centre of the State Flag is a large white star covering all the three stripes directing upwards," the document said.

“I felt very sad,” said Cin Sian Thang, a Rangoon-based ethnic leader and chairman of the Zomi National Congress. "Only one star in the new flag shows clearly that the military leaders want to drive the country as a unilateral state."

Burma's current flag was adopted in the 1974 constitution. The flag has a red field with a blue canton in the upper left corner. The canton pictures 14 white, five-pointed stars encircling a white cog-wheel and a white stalk of rice.

The 14 stars in the flag represent the seven administrative divisions and seven states of Burma, the cog-wheel symbolizes workers and the rice symbolizes farmers. The red color signifies courage; the white color represents purity and the blue color signifies peace.

One Burmese blogger wrote on his blog: "I don’t like the newly proposed flag either. When I first saw the flag, it first reminded me of African flags, because of its colors."