YANGON : Myanmar's leader on Tuesday accused western countries of using sanctions to derail the military's "road map" to democracy, as the regime prepares for a constitutional referendum.

After years of delays, the military on Saturday unexpectedly announced that it would ask voters to approve a new constitution in May, setting the stage for multiparty elections in 2010.

The United States, which last week tightened sanctions against the regime, denounced the military's plan as a "sham" vote that makes a mockery of global calls for democratic reforms.

"They are imposing sanctions against the nation to create a large-scale disruption to national progress," Senior General Than Shwe said in a statement read out by another military official on national television.

The regime's foes are "driving a wedge among national races, misleading the people, and aiding and abetting anti-government groups to weaken and break up the union," it said.

Than Shwe's statement also said that the people of Myanmar were "pursuing the state's seven-step road map with a solemn determination in harness with the government for a transition to a modern, developed democratic nation with flourishing discipline."

The statement was read during a ceremony in the remote capital Naypyidaw to mark Union Day, which commemorates a declaration of unity among Myanmar's many ethnic groups during the struggle for independence from Britain.

Than Shwe did not attend the ceremony himself. The 74-year-old military supremo, whose health is believed to be weakening, is rarely seen in public.

He also missed celebrations last month marking the 60th anniversary of independence.

If held, the proposed elections would be the first since 1990, when Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory that was ignored by the military.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years, while other key democracy leaders are in prison.

The regime announced its timetable for elections amid mounting international pressure over its crackdown on peaceful demonstrations led by Buddhist monks in September, when the United Nations says at least 31 were killed.

But the generals have ignored calls to free Aung San Suu Kyi and open a political dialogue, instead sticking to their own "road map" plan, which critics say will enshrine the military's rule.

- AFP /ls