Myanmar's ruling party backs change to charter's Section 436
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The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) supports amending Section 436 of the constitution, the key part which controls changes to other clauses, according to the Constitutional Amendment Committee.
It said a report on this would be submitted to the Union Parliament.
Committee member Tin Maung Oo, also chairman of the commission reviewing an electoral system appropriate for Myanmar, revealed the news about Section 436 when reporters questioned if the ruling party supports changing that article.
“This time our party must change with the times and circumstances,” Tin Maung Oo said. “The constitution is not difficult to amend. So we made a proposal here in parliament.
“Every country always amends their charter. It happens in the US and Canada as well. People think it will be difficult to amend a constitution. It is not so. Our party submitted a proposal to amend the charter.
“Every parliament in the international community writes their constitution the way we do. Without any control, national sovereignty will be lost.
“A section like 436 has control over amending the whole constitution. After we have amended Section 436, we have to consider percentages. Then a precise solution will emerge. Every law should have a certain clause that can control it.”
He said the report had been finished and would be submitted to parliament when it resumes after the Thadingyut festival this month.
On February 19, Aye Mauk, chairman of the Constitutional Amendment Committee, also told reporters that Section 436 must be amended.
Union Parliament Speaker Thura Shwe Mann told a press conference on August 11 that the petition campaign for amending Section 436 could have a certain impact on the Constitutional Amendment Committee.
Section 436 (a) states that amending a provision in a spate of sections required the approval of more than 75 per cent of the Union Parliament, after which a nationwide referendum would be held and more than half the eligible voters would have to support it for the amendment to occur .
Section 436 (b) states that provisions other than those mentioned in sub-section (a) shall be amended only if more than 75 per cent of the Union Parliament supported it.
