New Mon State Party (NMSP) will continue to send not the delegates but the observers to the National Convention to be resumed on 17th. July 2007 in Nyaung-na-pin near Rangoon, Secretary-General of the NMSP Nai Hantha told the VOA.
Although the chairman of the convening committee of National Convention Lt-General Thein Sein has said that alterations may be made to the basic principles and procedures of the convention if necessary, the Mon leader wants to wait and see if the generals keep their words.
NMSP lower the status of their representative to observers when the freedom of discussion were limited in the convention three years ago.
Meanwhile some of the delegates from the remote areas have arrived in Rangoon for the convention, which the military said is the first step of the seven-step road map towards democracy.
The NC started in 1993 with intermittent adjournments and this session is supposed to be the last one. The last step of the road map will be the general elections, and the military will transfer power to a civilian government according to Lt-Gen Thein Sein. The opposition groups however do not trust the military.
The previous general elections were held in 1990 and the Natioanl League for Democracy won a landslide victory, but the military has not honored the result.