Burma's military government has unveiled a timetable for the country's first elections in two decades, but it is unclear if detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be allowed to stand.
The surprise announcement this weekend of a constitutional referendum in May to set the stage for elections in 2010 appeared to catch her National League for Democracy off guard.
If held, the elections would be the first since 1990, when Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD swept to victory - only for the military to refuse to accept the result.
Western nations have been pressuring the hardline regime in Burma, or Myanmar, to reform since it bloodily suppressed mass pro-democracy protests in September.
The rallies, spearheaded by Buddhist monks, posed the biggest challenge to military rule in nearly 20 years, and the United Nations estimates at least 31 people were killed in the ensuing crackdown.
The military announcement on state media did not give an exact date for the May referendum on the new constitution, or the 2010 elections.
The junta has yet to unveil the final version of its proposed constitution, but the guidelines produced by the secretive convention that drafted the text appear to bar Aung San Suu Kyi from running for president.
One clause bars anyone married to foreigners from standing - Aung San Suu Kyi was married to Briton Michael Aris, who died in 1999.
Another clause requires the president to have a 'military vision' of state affairs.
The charter would also reserve one quarter of all seats in parliament for serving officers, who would be appointed by the military commander-in-chief.
The NLD, which boycotted the final sessions of the constitutional talks to protest Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest, said it was surprised the military had set an election date before knowing the outcome of the referendum.
Former colonial power Britain gave a guarded response to the announcement, noting that the government continued to detain key political leaders and the election process was decided without any consultation.
