The iron-fisted military rulers of Myanmar are now promising a "road map to democracy" — a new constitution that will be put to a nationwide vote in May.

It's a road map, all right, but hardly to a healthy democracy. More likely, it's a cynical attempt to legitimize a repressive, anti-democratic regime.

While the constitution is still being written — without transparency or inclusion of those who may disagree with the regime — some details have emerged from the state-controlled media.

They are depressingly predictable. The military would control 25 percent of parliament; the army could assume emergency powers "in times of emergency"; the army chief would choose key ministers.

The U.S. has rightly condemned the referendum as a sham, to be conducted in "a pervasive climate of fear."

But the response of some international organizations, anxious for any progress, is more muted.

The United Nations urged the junta to make the constitution-writing process more inclusive, and to hold talks with Nobel laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under detention.

The Association of South East Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, told the Reuters news agency that it's a "clear, definite beginning."

But the beginning of what?

"We have to see how things transpire and whether that direction of development is going to meet the expectations of the people of Myanmar," ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan told Reuters.

If it's democracy that is promised, the direction is clear. Opposition parties must be allowed to participate fully and freely in politics. That includes Suu Kyi, who must be released. And the military must be willing to surrender power to a civilian, democratically elected government.

Only then can Myanmar call itself a democracy.