Myanmar's military government has scheduled a referendum on an army-drafted constitution for May 10, state television said on Wednesday. Copies of the charter-which Western governments have dismissed as a sham to entrench more than four decades of military rule-would go on sale immediately, the announcement also said.
The constitution, which has officially been made public, is a key step in the junta's seven-point "roadmap to democracy" meant to culminate in multi-party elections in 2010.
One version of the former Burma's new charter was leaked recently with four key words omitted that had analysts wondering whether if was a typographical error or part of plan by the military junta to keep power indefinitely. In an earlier widely published outline, Myanmar's voters had been led to believe changing the constitution would need approval from 75 percent of parliament and then a simple majority-"more than half of all eligible voters"-in a referendum.