[JURIST] Myanmar's military junta announced Thursday that it has adjourned talks to draw up a new democratic constitution for the country. Military officials blamed high temperatures and the upcoming monsoon season for the closing of the National Convention, suggesting the talks will not restart until November at the earliest. Western critics have labelled the move a mere device to preserve the military's power, especially as opposition figures such as Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile] remain under house arrest. The Army, which has run Myanmar [official website] – formerly known as Burma – for the better part of four decades, was in talks to implement a seven stage roadmap to democracy laid out by recently ousted Prime Minister Khin Nyunt. The move also allows the military government to take the chair of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) [IGO website] in mid-2006 without ratifying a new constitution. ASEAN fears however, that such a move will tarnish the regional group's image worldwide. Reuters has more.