Army still rules as Burma opens parliament

BANGKOK: Burma's ruling generals convened the first meeting of parliament in more than 20 years yesterday, a move they say completes the transition to a multiparty democracy.

Reporters were barred from the parliament building when the session was convened under tight security in the capital, Naypyidaw.

Officially the opening of the two-chamber parliament will mean the dissolution of the junta that has ruled Burma since 1988.

But a quarter of the seats are reserved for the military, and a military-backed party controls more than 80 per cent of the rest, allowing the generals to retain their power, albeit in a less hierarchical system.

One key question is whether Burma's top general, Than Shwe, will become president, the most powerful job under the new constitution.

Than Shwe, who has successfully crushed uprisings and purged potential rivals inside the military during his nearly two decades in power, turns 78 tomorrow, according to a government booklet published three decades ago.

Burma's new system will resemble a democracy more in form than in substance, analysts say, but with the possibility of more debate and inclusiveness than under the junta's top-down rule.

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