FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

NLD must give a little on oath in order to get ahead

NLD must give a little on oath in order to get ahead

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) and the government under President Thein Sein appear to be caught up in an unnecessary rift and if this dispute continues for much longer, it will certainly not be very conducive to true reforms.

The NLD refused to show up when the Myanmar Parliament convened on Monday – the first time since the April 1 by-elections – because the authorities would not let them say that they would “respect” the military-sponsored 2008 charter instead of vowing to “safeguard” it in the swearing-in ceremony.
During its campaign, the NLD promised voters that it would work hard to amend the Constitution, even though the party knows very well that its 43 seats in Parliament will never be enough to rewrite the charter. The only way for the NLD to make changes would be to seek cooperation from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party and other members in the chambers.
However, the NLD might find it difficult to get much cooperation until it changes its political strategy.
Intellectually speaking, the NLD has raised a good point – the military-sponsored Constitution should not be safeguarded. In fact, it should not be “respected” either. Actually, Myanmar citizens should be given the right to create their ideal Constitution themselves, without any military domination.
In reality, though, Myanmar has been run by the military for about half a century, with the Tatmadaw, or armed forces, sitting at the core of the country’s politics.
Since the uprisings by the people of Myanmar have failed to move the military out, perhaps the best and most practical move now would be to negotiate and expand the political space for other stakeholders, while slowly reducing the military’s role in politics. And introducing amendments through the Parliament would be a peaceful way to rearrange the political space.
Every constitution, once it is written, needs to be safeguarded, though it is silly to think that a “safeguarded” charter cannot be amended. After all, each and every president of the United States swears to protect the American Constitution, yet this very charter gets amended occasionally.
If the NLD refuses to budge where safeguarding the charter is concerned, then perhaps President Thein Sein could come up with some other alternatives to resolve the situation.
Maybe he could do what the British have done and let the NLD come up with its own version of the oath. In 2010, Northern Ireland’s Sinn Fein MPs who refused to take the oath of allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II were allowed to come up with their own version before taking their rightful seats in Parliament.
In fact, a truly democratic country should allow members of the parliament to swear allegiance according to their own ideologies. It is very undemocratic to force purely secular members to repeat some religious words or force republicans to swear allegiance to a monarchy.
Perhaps the Tatmadaw needs to accept that its constitution will not be protected by the NLD, but then again the military probably has little to worry about as long as it retains its power and nobody takes this oath too seriously, even though its ceremonial words sound sacred.

RELATED
nationthailand