{"id":46,"date":"2020-11-25T00:32:05","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T00:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=125092"},"modified":"2020-11-25T00:32:05","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T00:32:05","slug":"reelected-myanmar-leader-faces-calls-for-constitutional-change-peace-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/11\/25\/reelected-myanmar-leader-faces-calls-for-constitutional-change-peace-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"Reelected Myanmar Leader Faces Calls For Constitutional Change, Peace Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"
Myanmar\u2019s ethnic political parties and armies have called on Aung San Suu Kyi to use her fresh election mandate to work toward her stated goal of federalism by amending the constitution to increase states\u2019 rights and ramping up peace talks to end the multiethnic country\u2019s long-running armed conflicts.<\/p>\n
Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, and her ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) won the Nov. 8 general elections by a landslide.<\/p>\n
The NLD followed the victory with a call for unity with the small parties, while the country\u2019s powerful military and some ethnic armies weighed in with gestures toward peace talks aimed at ending various ethnic insurgencies that have plagued Myanmar since its independence from Britain in 1948.<\/p>\n
Ethnic minority political parties, some of which fared well in their states but did not win many national seats, say they want the NLD and the largest opposition force, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), to amend the constitution to give their states the right to appoint their own chief ministers.<\/p>\n
The parties want the NLD to amend Article 261, which grants Myanmar\u2019s president, rather than local legislators, the authority to nominate chief ministers in the country\u2019s 14 states and regions. Lawmakers from the majority winning party in each state should name their own chief ministers as a first step towards the formation of a federal union, say the parties.<\/p>\n
NLD lawmakers proposed amending the article when the USDP controlled the government from 2011-2016, but the military-backed ruling party opposed it.<\/p>\n
Similarly, the USDP called for changing the article during the NLD government\u2019s current term, but NLD lawmakers who control the majority of seats in the national parliament opposed the measure.<\/p>\n
Naing Lal Tama, secretary of the Mon Unity Party in southeastern Myanmar, said political parties comprised mostly of the majority ethnic Bamars, who make up 68 percent of Myanmar\u2019s 54 million people, use the Article 261 issue to win votes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI conclude that major parties are playing around with this issue,\u201d he told RFA. \u201cWhen they were the ruling party, they opposed changing that section of the constitution, but when they became the opposition, they raised the issue to get support from ethnic minorities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sai Kyaw Nyunt, secretary of Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) from northern Myanmar, said his party\u2019s stance on amending Article 261 is different from those of the NLD and the USDP.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe support the efforts to amend Article 261, but we also want a political landscape without the non-elected lawmakers appointed by the military,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
25 percent for army<\/strong><\/p>\n Myanmar\u2019s constitution, written by a military junta that ruled the country, guarantees military lawmakers 25 percent of parliamentary seats and gives them an effective veto over proposed charter changes.<\/p>\n The USDP wanted to amend Article 261 only while it had the backing of military lawmakers in parliament, Sai Kyaw Nyunt suggested.<\/p>\n NLD spokesman Monywa Aung Shin said the NLD has opposed changing the article because military MPs would block the measure.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been paying attention to ethnic minorities\u2019 rights since our first parliamentary sessions, but we cannot ignore the issue of the 25 percent of military MPs whenever we talk about ethnic groups\u2019 rights,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis right could be misused by the alliance of the 25 percent of military MPs and the political party that condones backsliding toward a military regime,\u201d Monywa Aung Shin said.<\/p>\n Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the pro-military think tank the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, rejects the NLD\u2019s reasoning.<\/p>\n \u201cThe issue of the 25 percent of military MPs is just an excuse,\u201d he said. \u201cIf they genuinely want to bring development for ethnic states and work together, this should not be a roadblock.\u201d<\/p>\n A review of past parliamentary sessions shows that military legislators did not block development projects in the states, he noted.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been statistically proven that the presence of the 25 percent of military MPs is not a problem for the states,\u201d Thein Tun Oo said. \u201cThis is a pretext for them not wanting to fight for that cause.\u201d<\/p>\n