General constitution (editorial)
The cyclone in Myanmar has killed 37,000 people. Another 1.5 million have been rendered homeless. The people badly need help but the rulers, a military junta, have been refusing it. Instead they have gone ahead with a referendum held to legitimise permanent military rule. Already, the military has been in power for 46 years. The new, army-drafted constitution is anything but democratic. It favours a presidential system, and the president has to be an army officer. No woman can be president.