Dual protest will target 'undemocratic' charter, PR system

 

MP Aung Soe Myint, who represents the constituency, said that those who want to amend the military- drafted charter and those who oppose the move by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) to suddenly switch the way MPs are elected in the country will hold a joint rally in the township.

He said the 2008 charter must be amended because it violates democratic values. The same is true of the proportional representation (PR) system, he added, explaining that it could prevent candidates who won the most votes from getting seats in Parliament while others who won just a handful of votes could be given seats by their party. 

Aung Soe Myint claimed that it would be possible under the PR system for a candidate who won just 1 per cent of the vote to become an MP. “Even if [a candidate] is not elected [by voters], he can be an MP, he said, adding: “It is quite difficult to explain this system to the people.”

Under the current system the candidate who wins the most seats in a constituency represents that constituency in Parliament. A proportional representation system can allow parties to allocate seats based on the proportion of votes they receive nationwide. This system could come in handy for the ruling USDP, but disadvantage smaller parties – particularly those who represent ethnic minorities – who field candidates in just one or two of the country’s 14 states and regions. 

Aung Soe Myint noted that the PR system even violated the current Constitution. He also said it put the interests of political parties ahead of the voters. “Under this system the party’s influence exceeds that of the people,” he said.

The 2008 charter is undemocratic because it gives the military the right to appoint 25 per cent of Parliament’s MPs, Aung Soe Myint said. Consequently, MPs who represent the people comprise just 75 per cent of all MPs, which is insufficient for amending the charter without support from the military that drafted it, he added.