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YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party urged voters Wednesday to reject a military-backed draft constitution, saying it was undemocratic and drafted under the junta's direct control.


The National League for Democracy said people should participate "without fail" in a referendum next month on the proposed constitution and vote against it.


It is the first time the party has taken a clear position on the referendum since it was announced by the junta in February, although it has previously criticized the proposed charter. No exact date has been set for the May vote.


"We urge the people from all walks of life, ethnic nationalities and their organizations to go to the polling stations without fail and to decisively cast a 'no' vote," the party said in a statement.


It said the draft constitution was drafted unilaterally by a group hand-picked by the military government, not by elected representatives, and did not guarantee the democratic and human rights.


Critics of the proposed constitution, which is supposed to lead to general elections in 2010, say it aims to perpetuate military rule. Most of the points listed by the party's statement as undemocratic were ones giving the military special rights and powers under a future civilian government.


Other opponents of the junta also have urged a rejection of the charter, including the 88 Generation Students group and the All Burma Monks' Alliance, which were instrumental in organizing mass pro-democracy protests last year.


The leaders of the two groups are mostly under arrest or in hiding, so much of the campaign against the constitution has been conducted underground, with leaflets being left at public places.


In an apparent effort to encourage wary voters to join its side, the NLD also issued a separate statement stressing that a "No" vote does not violate a law issued by the junta that says anyone who distributes leaflets or makes speeches against the referendum can be imprisoned for three years.


The law and guidelines for the vote have not been widely circulated.


The text of the proposed constitution has not been publicly released, but according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press, its clauses enshrine the military's dominant role in politics, bars Suu Kyi from public office, and protect members of the ruling junta from prosecution for past actions.


Myanmar has been without a constitution since 1988, when the current junta took power and scrapped the previous charter after violently quashing mass pro-democracy demonstrations.


In the last elections in 1990, the military refused to hand over power to the National League for Democracy when it won a landslide victory. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, who is currently under house arrest, has been in detention without trial for more than 12 of the past 18 years.


After gaining independence from Britain, Myanmar, also known as Burma, experimented with democracy until 1962, when the military seized power.


The junta has been under strong international pressure to make democratic reforms, especially since it quashed peaceful pro-democracy protests last September. The U.N. estimates at least 31 people were killed and thousands more were detained in the crackdown.


On Tuesday, an NLD spokesman said that six activists who participated in a protest against the proposed new constitution were detained earlier this week.


Nyan Win said the six _ three of them members of the party's youth wing _ were taken from their homes in Yangon by the authorities without any explanation.


He said they were detained Monday, four days after taking part in a demonstration outside the party's headquarters. The protest of about 30 people, held on Armed Forces Day, urged a "no" vote in the May referendum.


Nyan Win described the detention of the six as an act of "intimidation" against opponents of the draft constitution.


AP
3 April 2008