Some 88 percent of approximately 20,000 participants at a public event in Naypyidaw hosted by the National League for Democracy (NLD) said they wished to see the 2008 constitution amended rather than completely rewritten, the Burmese opposition party says.

The conference featured a speech by NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and was held on Monday morning despite an original denial of permission to stage the event by authorities in the Burmese capital.

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However, local authorities relented and eventually gave permission for the conference to go ahead, said NLD lower house MP Sandar Min of Zabuthiri constituency in Naypyidaw, adding that the NLD had surveyed the attendees on whether they wanted the constitution amended or completely rewritten.

“After refusing permission to stage a public event to hold the survey, some officials recommended that we submit an appeal, which we did,” she said. “Approval was given on Sunday, and we were allowed to hold the survey at the same venue and on the same date we had planned.”

Burma’s main opposition party has been conducting a road trip of public events in Rangoon and other cities in recent weeks, talking to public gatherings and NLD supporters about the 2008 constitution and the party’s desire to have it either amended or rewritten.

The NLD has claimed that their opinion polls show that 99 percent of 20,000 Rangoon voters interviewed said they favoured amending the constitution.