Signature campaign for charter change concludes
Signature campaign for charter change concludes
Eleven Media, 19 Jul 2014
URL: http://elevenmyanmar.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6849:signature-campaign-for-charter-change-concludes&catid=32:politics&Itemid=35
The signature campaign to petition for amending Section 436 of the 2008 Constitution draws to a close today.
The campaign co-organisers, the National League for Democracy and the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, will submit the signatures to Parliament within a week.
The 54-day campaign lasted from May 27 to today. It was designed to raise political awareness and show the public support for amending the charter.
“We will compile signatures collected from different parts of the country. The signatures tallying will be from July 19 to 26. We will do the counting at NLD headquarters. Afterwards, the count would be released to the public. The NLD central executive committee is to give instruction on the next move. In general, the signatures will be presented to Parliament,” said Tun Tun Hein, NLD executive member.
“Regarding the constitutional amendment, the compliance of the people’s will should decide the trust worthiness of Parliament,” said NLD chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi.
Throughout the campaign, leading and high-profile figures, like artists, poets and the disabled, joined hands to solicit the support.
The NLD and the 88 Generation said the campaign is a crucial first step to revise Section 436, seen as the main obstacle to rewrite the charter in order to enhance the democratic rule.
The charter change is seen as the means to deepen democracy, to improve on the ethnic equality and to introduce the federal Union system.
“We can see some political forces collecting signatures for the constitutional amendment. We are keeping a close watch on efforts on necessary amendments to meet democratic value,” said President Thein Sein in a previous statement.
The Section 436 is seen as written to block rather than to facilitate charter change.
The Section 436 of Chapter 12 states: “If it is deemed necessary to amend the constitution, this shall be done by the approval of more than 75 per cent of all representatives of Union Parliament (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw) after which the referendum approval is needed to pass by more than half of eligible voters.”
Suu Kyi said constitutional amendment could not be carried out without the approval of defence service representatives. She added that it was undemocratic and unfair to grant special privileges to the military in blocking the will of the people.
Thura Aung Ko, executive member of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, said in a warning on May 28 that the country might plunge into crisis if the government ignored the demand for charter change.
He also said the peace deal with ethnic groups might collapse.
The campaign co-organisers, the National League for Democracy and the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, will submit the signatures to Parliament within a week.
The 54-day campaign lasted from May 27 to today. It was designed to raise political awareness and show the public support for amending the charter.
“We will compile signatures collected from different parts of the country. The signatures tallying will be from July 19 to 26. We will do the counting at NLD headquarters. Afterwards, the count would be released to the public. The NLD central executive committee is to give instruction on the next move. In general, the signatures will be presented to Parliament,” said Tun Tun Hein, NLD executive member.
“Regarding the constitutional amendment, the compliance of the people’s will should decide the trust worthiness of Parliament,” said NLD chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi.
Throughout the campaign, leading and high-profile figures, like artists, poets and the disabled, joined hands to solicit the support.
The NLD and the 88 Generation said the campaign is a crucial first step to revise Section 436, seen as the main obstacle to rewrite the charter in order to enhance the democratic rule.
The charter change is seen as the means to deepen democracy, to improve on the ethnic equality and to introduce the federal Union system.
“We can see some political forces collecting signatures for the constitutional amendment. We are keeping a close watch on efforts on necessary amendments to meet democratic value,” said President Thein Sein in a previous statement.
The Section 436 is seen as written to block rather than to facilitate charter change.
The Section 436 of Chapter 12 states: “If it is deemed necessary to amend the constitution, this shall be done by the approval of more than 75 per cent of all representatives of Union Parliament (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw) after which the referendum approval is needed to pass by more than half of eligible voters.”
Suu Kyi said constitutional amendment could not be carried out without the approval of defence service representatives. She added that it was undemocratic and unfair to grant special privileges to the military in blocking the will of the people.
Thura Aung Ko, executive member of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, said in a warning on May 28 that the country might plunge into crisis if the government ignored the demand for charter change.
He also said the peace deal with ethnic groups might collapse.