A mass rally in support of the just-ended constitutional national convention was held in a suburban sports ground in Yangon on Saturday.
Backed by the government, tens of thousands of people from different walks of life participated in the rally in the capital.
Similar rallies in support of the national convention have been held outside Yangon since early this month.
Speakers in the Yangon rally voiced support for the constitutional national convention and the forthcoming emergence of a new state constitution.
Other speakers criticized the recent widespread demonstrations by Buddhist monks and residents in Yangon, Mandalay and several other parts of the country, stressing the need for peace, stability and development.
Myanmar completed on Sept. 3 its national convention, laying down all detailed basic principles for drafting the new constitution.
The end of the convention also marked the end of the first part of a seven-step roadmap to democracy announced by the military government. The remaining steps are to draw up the new state constitution based on the detailed basic principles, hold a national referendum and general election, and then form a new democratic government.
The authorities have time and again reiterated continued implementation of its seven-step roadmap as a follow-up of its constitutional national convention.
On the other hand, since Sept. 18, thousands of Buddhist monks and residents had taken to the streets to stage demonstrations in Yangon and other parts of the country, demanding for bringing down commodity prices, improving people's living conditions and seeking national reconciliation.
The authorities charged the demonstrations and later unrest with being stirred up by anti-government internal and external groups as well as some leading West broadcasting stations.
To deal with the situation, the authorities imposed a night-to-dawn curfew and imposed a ban on gathering of more than five people in the city for 60 days from Sept. 25 to Nov. 23.
In an urgent mission, Ibrahim Gambari, Special Envoy of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, paid a four-day visit to Myanmar from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2, meeting with Senior-General Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, in Nay Pyi Taw and twice with Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained general secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD), in Yangon.
Than Shwe then released a message through Gambari offering to meet and talk conditionally with Aung San Suu Kyi. With regard to this matter, the NLD prefers unconditional talks to solve the critical issues which the country is facing.
As a follow-up, as proposed by Gambari, the Myanmar government appointed on Oct. 8 Deputy Minister of Labor U Aung Kyi to act as liaison minister to contact Aung San Suu Kyi.
After Gambari's presentation at the U.N. Security Council on the situation in Myanmar, a presidential statement on Myanmar was unanimously adopted on Oct. 11 calling for efforts to achieve an inclusive national reconciliation in the country.
In responding to the presidential statement adopted by UN Security Council, the Myanmar government expressed regret but said the government will consistently adhere to and implement the basic principles of its foreign policy of maintaining close cooperation with the U.N..
U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has announced that he is sending Gambari back to the region this weekend to consult with regional partners on the situation in Myanmar. Gambari will begin his tour with Thailand, followed by Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China and Japan, before returning to Myanmar.
Source: Xinhua
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