Draft Constitution Surfaces, Stirring More Debate

Burma’s draft constitution surfaced last week and, as expected, doesn’t honor basic democratic principles, excluding pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and others in exile from seeking elected office.

The referendum debate continues with some observers saying the only way forward is to approve the constitution while others say the entire process is a sham and should be boycotted.

Protesters in front of the National League for Democracy headquarters in Rangoon on March 27, 2008.

A copy of the draft constitution, obtained by The Irrawaddy on Friday, includes 15 chapters with 194 pages.

The document still hasn’t officially been made public though some copies were apparently distributed among high ranking government officials in February.

The draft constitution includes slight changes from the principles and guidelines that were published previously following the conclusion to the National Convention.

Nyan Win, a spokesperson of the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, said there are three basic points which the NLD finds unacceptable: that power derives from the commander in chief, instead of coming from the people in accordance with democracy principles; that the draft constitution would be hard to amend by elected members of the people’s assembly; and the authorization of the military government to assume power whenever it deems appropriate.

The most controversial section of the draft constitution is in Chapter 1, titled “State Fundamental Principles.” Section 2 authorizes the tatmadaw [armed forces] to participate in the political leadership of the state, calling for the military to occupy 25 percent of the seats in both houses of parliament. Military members would be appointed by the commander in chief. Opposition groups and Western countries led by the US have called the proposal undemocratic.

A Rangoon-based senior Burmese journalist, who asked to remain anonymous, said, the draft constitution, while controversial, offers a way to put an end to the current standoff between the military and opposition groups.

“The situation here is so terrible,” he said. “The opposition currently has zero percent of power sharing while the military regime has 100 percent, but if they [the opposition] accept the constitution, then it will probably have a percentage of power higher than zero.”

“If the opposition doesn’t cleverly find a way to end the standoff, the current deadlock will go on and on,” the journalist said.

However, Nyan Win, the NLD spokesperson, said, “If this draft constitution isn’t approved, the people of Burma will have to struggle for some decades. But if it is approved, the people will have to suffer for many generations.”

The NLD party, which was given a mandate to govern by the 1990 election, has yet to take a clear stand by calling for a “Vote Yes” or “Vote No,” or calling for a boycott of the referendum. Nyan Win said the party will announce its position at a later date.

Several leading pro-democracy groups, such as the 88 Generation Students group, called for a “Vote No” shortly after the government announced the referendum on February 9.

Tun Myint Aung, a leader of the 88 Generation Students group, said the “Vote No” campaign is gaining momentum among the public.

Many pro-democracy groups inside and outside Burma say the draft constitution is too undemocratic to be accepted.

They note that detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi is denied the right to run for office because she was married to a British citizen and has two sons who are British.

The draft constitution also requires that amendments be approved by more than 75 percent of the members of both houses before being approved in a referendum. Opposition groups say that it would be impossible to get more than 75 percent approval since the military would hold 25 percent of both houses of parliament.