What Constitution do the people of Burma want?

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_ By Taisamyone

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“The Ethnic Nationalities Council believes that the SDPC’s seven-point ‘road map’ and its National Convention will not lead to democratization and the establishment of a federal union. The current NC as it stands will only serve to legitimize the military dictatorship.”

Recently, the ENC held their 6^th seminar on states constitutions. With support from the ENC, several ethnic state constitutions have been drawn up for different states. As I understand this matter, all of these presuppose a truly Federal Union of Burma that comprises 8 states (Arakan, Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, Mon, Shan and Central (Burman) states) with a central government dealing with treasury, defence, foreign relations and other national issues. The division of responsibilities is subject to discussion and detailed negotiation.

Each state has developed its own guidelines for drawing up a state constitution; for instance, the Shan State Constitution Drafting Commission (SSCDC) agreed upon:

• Sovereign power derives from the people of Shan State
• Every national group in Shan State enjoy equal rights
• The new Shan State must be based on a genuine federal structure
• The Shan State shall practise secularism
• It advocates a democratic and decentralized system of administration
• It shall practise a multi-party system
• It shall also guarantee minority rights

What this process has demonstrated is that dialogue and constitution writing can take place without the over-bearing coercion of the military. It seems that a constitution should be drawn up that excludes the armed forces and serving forces personnel from government. In fact the armed forces should be obedient to central government and do what they are told to do – after all, obedience and discipline should be paramount in the professional armed forces.

In writing a constitution it is deemed appropriate to look to best practice, and adapt it to local conditions; this is exactly what the ENC has aimed for. Starting with universal and basic human rights we can draw on the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent UN declarations as the basis on which to establish a constitution that embodies best practice and enshrines the principles of freedom and democracy.

Burma’s first constitution was developed in a hurry to help gain independence as quickly as possible; it achieved that aim, but in the rush did not reflect the agreement and the spirit made between the groups who signed the Panglong Agreement, which set the scene for the federal union.

Any new constitution must adhere to the spirit of Panglong and establish a federal union where each state can achieve self-determination, maintain individual cultural identity without swamping or being swamped by majority groups. Burma is such a wide ranging ethnic, cultural and religious mix of peoples that this is paramount to avoid any continuance of the antagonism and protracted armed resistance that has characterised the last 60 years.

A workable and enduring constitution for Burma will be drawn up when the SPDC relinquish their total control of every process, when a dialogue is held between the incumbent SPDC government and all democratic parties; those like the NLD and SNLD working inside Burma (with their leaders released from illegal imprisonment and house arrest) and those who have sought refuge from persecution and imprisonment elsewhere, including the ceasefire and non-ceasefire armed resistance groups.

As the NC session began this week the UN Secretary-General stated that he “wishes to encourage the Government of Myanmar to seize this opportunity to ensure that this and subsequent steps in Myanmar’s political road map are as inclusive, participatory and transparent as possible, with a view to allowing all the relevant parties to Myanmar’s national reconciliation process to fully contribute to defining their country’s future.” I concur.

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RESOURCES

• The 6th Seminar on the State Constitutions gets kicked off
• The 6th State Constitutions Seminar / Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC)
• Non-Shans propose autonomous homelands
• Equality first priority: Mon state constitution
• As Myanmar’s National Convention Resumes, Secretary-General Urges Inclusive Participatory, Transparent Political Process