THE government enacted a law last week detailing procedures for the May referendum on whether to adopt a new constitution, and also appointed a commission to oversee the balloting, which it said would be free and fair.

The Referendum Law for Approval of a Draft Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar 2008, announced on February 26, said all Myanmar citizens over 18 years of age – apart from clergy, the mentally disabled, convicted criminals and those who have gone abroad illegally – were eligible to vote in the referendum.

A 45-member commission to oversee the referendum, headed by Chief Justice U Aung Toe, was formed on the same day. Other members of the commission include eminent legal experts and representatives of various national groups.

The new law on the referendum, which was signed by Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Senior General Than Shwe, said the commission would announce the exact date of the vote 21 days in advance and would release a voter list one week before.

The law said offences such as tampering with ballot papers, destroying polling booths and voter lists, and “lecturing, distributing papers, using papers or disturbing the voting in any manner” would be punishable by three years’ imprison-ment, a fine not to exceed K100,000, or both.

“A person eligible to vote shall obtain the ballot paper from the Polling Booth Officer or the person assigned by the Polling Booth Officer, express his wish secretly at the stipulated place in the polling booth and put it into the ballot box,” a provision in the law said.

The law also gives authorities the option of postponing the date of the referendum one time in areas where polling cannot be conducted in free and fair manner.

“The relevant township sub-commission may postpone once to a suitable date for enabling voting at all polling booths or some polling booths … if the free and fair referendum may not be held stably due to a natural disaster or situation affecting security or any other disaster,” the law said.

The drafting of the constitution, which the government says will pave the way for Myanmar to make the transition to a parliamentary democracy under an elected president, was completed in February.

Work on the draft document was started in December based on principles agreed at the National Convention, which was finalised three months earlier.

If accepted by voters, the new constitution will be the third for Myanmar since independence 60 years ago and will be followed by parliamentary elections slated to be held in 2010.