Constitutional review for Myanmar

After years of advocacy efforts, the Myanmar government is beginning to act on its 2008 constitution.

By NEHGINPAO KIPGEN
Muslim woman in Mayanmar 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Muslim woman in Mayanmar 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
After years of advocacy efforts, the Myanmar government is beginning to act on its 2008 constitution.
The parliament formed a 109-member committee on July 25 to review the country’s constitution.
The committee includes lawmakers from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) and President Thein Sein’s Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), along with representatives from the 25 percent of seats allotted to the military.
The proposed constitutional amendment, among others, is an attempt to address the lingering concerns surrounding the two most-pressing needs of the country – to remove or modify the clause that prevents Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president, and allowing states to choose their chief ministers.
I will argue why Myanmar needs constitutional changes for its own good on two fronts: domestic and international.
Firstly, Myanmar’s historical problems largely stem from ethnic minorities’ demand for self-determination or autonomy and the opposition to such demands from the Burman ultranationalists/chauvinists.
During British rule, Burma was administered separately as “Burma Proper” and “Frontier Areas.”
Guaranteeing equal treatment to all ethnic nationalities was one condition for granting independence to Burma (now Myanmar). The 1947 constitution contained a right to secession for states, unless otherwise stated, after 10 years of the country’s independence The Union of Burma was established after an agreement was reached with Gen. Aung San for autonomy to the frontier people. The denial of this political right has been the fundamental reason behind more than six decades of armed conflicts in the country.
Amendment of the 2008 constitution would allow states (ethnic minorities), among others, to choose their chief ministers, who are currently appointed by the central leaders. The right to choose their own chief executive will motivate the people to participate in elections, which is one essential tenet of democracy.
More important, having a chief minister elected by their own people will be viewed as a beginning in the quest for federalism, the very cause many people have sacrificed their lives for.
Secondly, a change in the constitution is necessary for Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition party, to be eligible for president. A clause in the 2008 constitution specifies that anyone whose spouse or children are foreign citizens are ineligible for the post.
Suu Kyi, who spent about 15 years of her life in some form of detention, will be 70 in June 2015. If she is denied a chance in the upcoming presidential election, she will be in the declining stages of her life when the next election comes.
Since she is willing to work with the military, her former political adversary, leaders of the military-backed USDP and the Myanmar people should give her a chance to lead the country she dearly loves.
Though she has recently been criticized for not doing enough in the conflicts in Rakhine and Kachin states, Suu Kyi still remains a leading figure who can bring together people of this multi-ethnic country that has been plagued by decades of distrust and conflicts.
With Myanmar to assume the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2014, it is important for the government and its leadership to show the international community that the country is committed to building a genuine democracy.
In his recent visit to the United Kingdom and France, President Thein Sein told his hosts that all political prisoners will be released by year-end and guns will go silent in the near future for the first time in the country’s history.
These words must come to a reality for Myanmar to gain the trust of the international community. While it is still premature at this stage, gradual improvement of diplomatic relations could eventually lead to the lifting of arms embargos by the European Union and the United States.
As long as Myanmar has a constitution that is directly or indirectly controlled by the military, or by any elite group, the country will remain a “defective” or “incomplete” democracy.
It is in the interest of Myanmar to find a compromise similar to the one reached between the government and the NLD before the 2012 by-elections which allowed the latter to contest the elections.
While the parliament should be applauded for taking the initiative to form a constitution review committee, it must also be understood that the amendments, if they materialize, will be a victory for millions of people, including the military.
Making the constitution more democratic and inclusive is for Myanmar’s own good. And solving the decades-old minority problems is essential for peace and prosperity.
Nehginpao Kipgen is general secretary of the US-based Kuki International Forum. His research and writing focuses on the politics of South and Southeast Asia, with a concentration on Burma/Myanmar.