Burma's junta lies because

The new dispensation would make the president a military appointee, and the generals will have the right to seize power if they feel national security is threatened.
A quarter of the parliamentary seats will be reserved for military appointees who will also control the key ministries.
It is also unlikely the May referendum on this travesty will be a plebiscite in any recognizable sense.

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Responsibility for organizing the referendum and the 2010 elections is being given to the United Solidarity and Development Association.
The USDA is an organization of paid thugs and off-duty civil servants which claims to have 24 million members, almost half the population of Burma.
It has experience in arranging referendums, such as the 1994 outpouring of popular support for the constitutional convention. People were bribed or intimidated to attend mass rallies and thus "approve" the work of the convention.
The USDA will not only vet and select the candidates for the 2010 parliamentary election, it is also set to become a political party and the only one whose victory the generals will accept.
Sun International Affairs Columnist
jmanthorpe@png.canwest.com