Some ethnic organizations based in Rangoon have reaffirmed that they will not attend the National Convention unless the military government changes its proceedings, said an ethnic leader today.

“The game is over,” said Hkun Htun Oo, chairman of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, or SNLD, when asked what will happen if the junta doesn’t change the convention’s proceedings and objectives. He spoke by telephone from Rangoon.

The junta announced on April 19 that it will hold the upcoming National Convention in accordance with the previous proceedings and objectives that were used when it first started in 1993. The objectives include a leading political role for the military in a future state.

The eight ethnic-based political parties that make up the Rangoon-headquartered United Nationalities Alliance, or UNA, are sticking to their policy of tripartite dialogue between ethnic, democratic and military leaders, said Hkun Htun Oo.

The UNA is composed of Shan, Karen, Chin, Arakan, Mon and Karenni ethnic groups. It is currently holding discussions on whether to participate in the National Convention, scheduled to start on May 17. Hkun Htun Oo said the UNA will announce its decision on the matter in one or two days.

The convention, charged with drafting a new constitution, is part of Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt’s seven-step road map to democracy, unveiled last August. The convention was suspended in 1996 after the National League for Democracy walked out, saying its proceedings were undemocratic.

Meanwhile, other ethnic ceasefire groups have taken a different stance, saying they will participate in the convention.

Five delegates of the Kachin Independence Organization, or KIO, are currently in Rangoon ready to attend the convention, according to Col Gun Maw, vice-general secretary of the KIO. However, he added that the KIO has some proposals concerning provisions to be included in the constitution, such as ethnic rights and the formation of a federal union, which it will submit to the junta.

“I think we can compromise on our demands [with the military leaders],” Col Gun Maw told The Irrawaddy this afternoon by telephone from Rangoon. He confirmed that next Friday, the KIO delegation will travel to the convention, to be held in Nyaung Hnapin village, 32 km north of Rangoon in Hmawbi Township.

Another ceasefire group, the New Mon State Party, or NMSP, decided yesterday that it will also participate in the assembly. The organization has appointed five delegates to attend.

According to the junta, all 17 ceasefire groups that have reached agreements with the government since 1989 have agreed to take part in the convention.