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NLD denounces conscription law
Irrawaddy - January 20, 2011
Ba Kaung – The military regime should not have enacted a military conscription law without public consensus, according to Burma's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).
"This law is directly related to the public," said an NLD statement issued on Wednesday. "Therefore, it should be roundly debated by the the country's parliamentarians and should only be enacted if there is public consensus."
The military conscription law will force every man between the age of 18 and 45 and every woman between 18 and 35 to serve in the military for two years or face prison sentences.
The law, dated Nov. 4, 2010, and signed by Burmese junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe, is yet to be made public, and will come into force when proclaimed by the ruling military council, according to an official gazette which was recently circulated.
"The Parliament for the new government is going to emerge soon and it can exercise its legislative powers," said NLD spokesman Nyan Win. "But since the law will only come into effect when proclaimed by the military regime, this shows the Parliament will not enjoy full legislative powers."
Those who fail to report for military service could get three years in prison and those who intentionally avoid conscription through illnesses or inflicting injury on themselves could be imprisoned for up to five years, fined or both, according to the law.
Students, government servants, persons serving prison sentences or those who have to take care of elderly parents can postpone their military service, but can be called up at a later date.
Members of religious orders, married women or divorcees with children, and disabled persons will be exempted from the draft.
In an apparent attempt to offer a loophole to the military elite and their cronies, the law also exempts anyone whom the military has designated as free from military service. In a separate statement issued on the same day, the NLD also criticized the new parliamentary laws and bylaws were made available to the public only this month although they had been issued by the junta in October.
The NLD, which is led by Aung San Suu Kyi, boycotted the general election last year and has since been disbanded. It will have no presence in the upcoming Parliament which is scheduled to be convened on Jan. 31 in the remote capital Naypyidaw.
On Monday, Burma's Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Suu Kyi's latest appeal against the dissolution of her political party. Nyan Win earlier said that he and other lawyers representing Suu Kyi would have to present their arguments for a special appeal to Naypyidaw.
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