BANGKOK -- It was ridiculous to hear Myanmar's prime minister, Gen. Khin Nyunt, call on the literati to collaborate with the government in building a military-dominated nation.
Addressing the third meeting of the Central Body of Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association (MWJA) -- held at the Union Hall in Kyaik-ka-san Compound in Yangon from May 11-13 -- Khin Nyunt urged public support of the junta's road map to democracy. He said he hoped all invited parties would attend the national convention that resumed May 17 to frame a new constitution. But key opposition and ethnic group leaders are not participating.
In his speech to the MWJA, the prime minister said, "Nowadays, the government, based on national strength, is implementing, step by step, a seven-point policy program that will raise the prestige of the nation and enable it to stand tall among the nations of the world as an independent and sovereign union."