New proposals on charter changes floated

 

In the suggestion sent to the Speaker of the House of Nationalities, MP Banyar Aung Moe said, “The six-party talk will be about amending Section 436. If we can amend the section, it will be easy for the amendments of other sections. If we cannot amend all sections in this parliamentary term, we will continue to do it in the next.”

Section 436 demands approval from more than 75 per cent of MPs. Banyar Aung Moe suggested the amendment can be approved by two thirds of representatives.

Twenty five parliamentary seats are now controlled by the military. Earlier, military MPs showed their opposition to the amendments before the 2005 general election. 

Brigadier General Kyaw Lwin Oo said: “Candidates from over 100 ethnic groups cannot be represented in the political dialogue, and it is not respectful to appoint just one representative for all ethnic groups. At least a representative from each of the seven major ethnics groups should be included in the political dialogues.”

MP Myint Tun of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) also backed the modification of Section 436.

Parliament has so far tried to hold a six-party talks to win supports for the amendment process. Yet, President Thein Sein only gave a conditional response to the invitation.

In his letter to Union Parliament Speaker Thura Shwe Mann, President Thein Sein said, “Such a meeting would be good as long as it represents all people, including civic organisations and political forces.” 

The meeting would involve the president, the lower house speaker, the upper house speaker, the chairperson of the National League of Democracy (NLD), a representative for all ethnic groups and the commander-in-chief of the defence services in order to discuss amending the constitution to make it more applicable to the current state of affairs in Myanmar.

NLD chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi last week renewed the push for the discussion. 

“We should hold the talk. Whether it is held or not depends on the president. But I want to be clear. I think it should happen sooner rather than later. In a democracy, the government must welcome such discussion,” she said.

Myint Tun also said that the talk must take place as soon as possible. 

“The situation will be better if six leaders discuss the future of the country,” he said.

“All seem to accept their instructions. A six-party talk allows for more discussion as there are fewer people to be heard. A six-party talk would not need to last more than five minutes. The Commander-in-Chief of the defence services would only take ten minutes to attend a six-party talk. A six-party talk needs to be held once every week or two. If they want to invite ethnic representatives, they can invite them. But if more people are involved in these political talks, there will be no warmness. It would be better the country if all parties were friendly. The whole country is expecting it.”

Khin Aung Myint, Speaker of House of Nationalities instructed the MPs to submit the points they want to discuss in the six-party talks before January 24.

The Constitutional Review Joint Committee will soon submit a bill to amend the Constitution, after winning supports from 20 per cent of MPs, according to committee secretary Aye Mauk.