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Parliamentary News 2012

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Laws proposed and enacted during 2012

New Light of Myanmar - 27 December 2012

In a major address on 26 December 2012 in Nay Pyi Taw, President Thein Sein reviewed the achievements of his government over the last 19 months. He also laid particular emphasis on combating red tape and corruption, concluding: "I would like to draw your attention to the fact that governance in Myanmar falls short of international good governance standards. Of all the measures we need to undertake to create good governance, I would like to ask you all to eradicate bribery and corruption in the country. In bribery cases, both givers and takers are responsible for it. If the government is tainted with bribery, it will seriously damage the image of the country and its national and international prestige." The full text of his speech is at this link.

Reuters - 26 December 2012
Myanmar's President U Thein Sein called on Wednesday for a shake-up in the running of his fast-changing country, which he said was still mired in corruption and inefficiency and lagging behind its international peers. Thein Sein, the unlikely reformer to emerge from within a military junta 19 months ago, called for big improvements across Myanmar's outdated bureaucracy to strengthen democracy and theeconomy  , as foreign firms weigh whether to invest in the resource-rich country. "When it comes to measuring good governance, our country still falls far short of the international standards," the former general told a meeting of cabinet ministers, regional leaders and civil service chiefs aired on television and radio. 

President Thein Sein announces Cabinet reshuffle

BBC News Asia - 27 August 2012

President Thein Sein has announced a reshuffle of ministers in his cabinet. In a statement on his website, the president said he had changed nine of the 29 cabinet posts. The ministries of information, industry and national planning and economic development are among those affected. The reshuffle is the largest since Thein Sein's government took office in March 2011 after the military junta ceded power.

One of the most prominent hardliners, former Information Minister Kyaw Hsan, is among those who have been moved. He has been shifted to a more minor ministry, which may eventually be shrunk or abolished. The new information minister is the more moderate Aung Kyi, who was the military's negotiator with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi while she was under house arrest. 

Thein Sein meets minority party leaders
The Irrawaddy - 19 July 2012
Twelve leaders of ten Democratic and Ethnic Alliance parties met Burmese President Thein Sein for the first time in the capital Naypyidaw on Wednesday.The representatives, who all contested the 2010 general election, discussed a wide range of issues including the rule of law and peace building in Burma as well as mooted changes to the electoral system for the next popular ballot in 2015.
         
The Democratic and Ethnic Alliance - comprised of the NDF, DPP, Democratic Party (Myanmar), Shan Nationalities Democratic Party, Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, Chin National Party, Phalon-Sawal Democratic Party, AMDP, Union Democracy Party, and Union and Peace Party - was formed before the 2010 general election. The six ethnic parties in the alliance also separately formed the Parties of Democratic Friends group.

Myanmar parliament's agenda: reshaping the economy
Reuters - 3 July 2012
A review of legislation likely to be enacted during the parliamentary session starting on 4 July, including laws on corruption, foreign investment, Special Economic Zones, capital markets and media regulation. The session is expected to run until September.

G8 Summit: Paragraph on Burma/Myanmar in the Camp David Declaration
US State Department - 19 May 2012
"34. We pay tribute to the remarkable efforts of President Thein Sein, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and many other citizens of Burma/Myanmar to deliver democratic reform in their country over the past year. We recognize the need to secure lasting and irreversible reform, and pledge our support to existing initiatives, particularly those which focus on peace in ethnic area[s], national reconciliation, and entrenching democracy. We also stress the need to cooperate to further enhance aid coordination among international development partners of Burma/Myanmar and conduct investment in a manner beneficial to the people of Burma/Myanmar."

Waxed ballot complaint a sham
New Light of Myanmar - 9 May 2012
The Union Election Commission has issued a report on a complaint lodged by the National League for Democracy that voters in the the 1 April by-elections had been issued waxed ballot papers, making it impossible to put a tick on the paper. An investigation by the UEC in 10 townships concerned concluded that there had been no case of waxing ballot papers and that the complaint was groundless. "In accord with the law, the UEC has warned the secretary of the party concerned against stating such groundless information, leading to misunderstanding among the people, for taking action if necessary."

NLD Spokesman Nyan Win: “Regarding a claim that our [allegation] was wrong, we wouldn’t deny it because we made the allegation based on hearsay, since we couldn’t go inside the polling stations or get a hold of [sample] ballots."

Latest News and Comment

Suu Kyi to swear oath in Parliament
Agence France-Presse - 30 April 2012
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi today said she will swear an oath in parliament "as soon as possible", after a political impasse that saw her delay her debut in the legislature. In a dramatic climbdown, the Nobel laureate told reporters at her National League for Democracy (NLD) party headquarters in Yangon that she would pledge to "safeguard" the army-created constitution. "We will go as soon as possible to attend the parliament," she said, ending a dispute seen as the first sign of tension with the government since she won a parliamentary seat in historic April 1 by-elections. "Some people might ask, given that we didn't accept the wording of 'safeguard' in the beginning, why we accept now. The reason we accept it, firstly is the desire of the people. Our voters voted for us because they want to see us in parliament."

Derek Tonkin writes: This was a battle Suu Kyi could not hope to win because of time constraints - NLD seats could have been declared vacant under Article 130 of the Constitution if representatives were absent for more than 15 days. Clearly considerable pressure has been exerted on her from many quarters to compromise. The nature of the deal should shortly be apparent, and could include an understanding to review several inconsistencies and anomalies in the Constitution which need rectification.

The present oath (text in Schedule Four of the Constitution) includes the following phrase transliterated from the Burmese text which alone is authoritative: "I will safeguard (htein thein), protect (ka gwe) and uphold (saun shau) the Constitution and abide by (lai na) the laws." The official English translation reads: "I will uphold and abide by the Constitution of the Union".


Substitution of nominated  Military Representatives in the Assemblies
New Light of Myanmar - 23 April 2012
The State daily publishes on Pages 1 and 2 the texts of two Announcements by the Union Election Commission recording the substitution of 59 nominated Military Representatives, 39 in the Lower House (Pyithu Hluttaw) and 20 in the Upper House (Amyotha Hluttaw). In all cases the substitution affects representatives with the rank of Major by representatives of higher rank, from Lieutenant-Colonel to Brigadier-General.

Derek Tonkin writes: The changes would seem to reflect the increasing importance which the military attach to the parliamentary process. 


Myanmar Parliament stand-off a "technical matter": Suu Kyi 
Reuters - 26 April 2012
In her most detailed explanation of the NLD's thinking on the issue so far, Suu Kyi told reporters in Yangon on 26 April that the party was seeking to iron out "inconsistency" between the oath and the country's election laws."This is why I say it is a technical matter ... You can't say one thing in one place and another thing in another place. There has to be consistency. You mustn't forget that this is one of the major issues that prevented us from entering the 2010 elections."

Derek Tonkin comments: There is indeed a clear inconsistency between Schedule Four of the Constitution (the oath), Article 405(b) of the Constitution (requirements laid on political parties) and Article 6(c) of the Political Parties Registration Act (which repeated the language of the oath until it was changed and made consistent with Article 405(b) ).

Article 405(b) of the Constitution requires political parties to "abide by (lai na) and respect (lei za) this Constitution and the existing laws".

Unfortunately until recently the NLD seem to have forgotten about the oath, though whether by mistake or by design is not yet clear. The oath in Schedule Four has different language from the requirements in Article 405 for political parties wishing to register. A transliteration of part of the oath reads: "keep/safeguard (htein thein) protect/defend (ka gwe) look after/uphold (saun shau) the Constitution and abide by (lai na) the laws" while Article 405 (b) has only "respect (lei za) and abide by (lai na) the Constitution and the laws". However, as the Constitution also contains a Chapter XII on the amendment of the Constitution, this clearly envisages the lawful right to propose changes to the Constitution,  however the oath might be interpreted.

It should be noted that the official English version of the oath does not use the word "safeguard" which has appeared in many foreign media reports as the basis of the dispute: "safeguard versus respect".

It  had seemed to many that the NLD had decided that the current Constitution was the only game in town, and that if they were to seek revision of the Constitution, this should be done within the system, by joining the parliamentary fray. Their hubris though is defiance of authority, and just as they rejected the constitutional process set out by the military regime prior to the 1990 Elections, so they would now seem to be rejecting entry to Parliament except on their own terms. The 2,686,633  or 66% of the voters who supported NLD candidates in the recent by-elections and who had such high hopes of NLD action in Parliament to achieve their aspirations might now be wondering whether they did the right thing. 

Burmese expatriate commentators who have in the past been very supportive of the NLD have been united in their criticism of the NLD position. They agree that  the oath needs amendment. But they feel that the timing of the NLD's negative action can only damage the growing entente between the NLD and the reformist government and possibly strengthen the position of hard-liners.  

The NLD, litigious by nature, do not like backing down. The pressure on them though is to compromise. The NLD seem confident that the matter will be resolved shortly. President Thein Sein however is reported to have said in Tokyothat no change will be made to the oath to accommodate the NLD.

Picking the wrong battle - The NLD and the parliamentary oath
Foreign Policy - 20 April 2012
Min Zin, who studied at Berkeley University, sees the problem of the oath as "an unfortunate strategic blunder for the leader of the NLD. She has put herself in an unnecessary dilemma. First of all, the point at hand is largely symbolic. Semantic issues in politics are usually about saving face. Vowing to "uphold and abide" the constitution does not mean that the opposition can't try to amend it later..... Second, the timing is bad. When she reached her pre-election deal with the regime to change the Party Registration Law so that the NLD could run, Aung San Suu Kyi should have known that the language of the oath appears not only in the Party Registration Law but also in the constitution. If she wanted to make an issue of it, she could have done so then......Third, Suu Kyi has picked the wrong person as her interlocutor. She is relying too heavily on the president and the executive branch. Amending the constitution is a job that should be carried out by parliamentarians.

"By participating in the election Aung San Suu Kyi chose to play by the regime's rules; now she needs to pick her battles rather than wasting valuable energy in a fight over symbolism. There's an old Burmese proverb: "If you choose to live like a bug inside a chili pepper, you can't really complain if you start feeling hot."

Myanmar's President considers Cabinet shift
Financial Times - 19 April 2012
Myanmar’s president is contemplating cabinet changes that could reduce the power of some anti-reform ministers in the wake of his party’s crushing election defeat earlier this month. Suspension rather than removal of restrictions amounts to highly qualified support that could still deter western business from substantial investment. Fresh doubts among hardliners about the value of the reform process underline reports of an intensifying power struggle within government and parliament.

With Ms Suu Kyi and her team of MPs to enter parliament when it reconvenes next week, one adviser said the relationship between Mr Thein Sein, Shwe Mann, the influential house speaker and USDP head, and Ms Suu Kyi was providing a “new equilibrium” that was the emerging driver of reform. Read more.....

West must lift sanctions 'without delay' - International Crisis Group
Agence France-Presse - 10 April 2012
Myanmar is unlikely to backtrack on reforms and the West should lift sanctions "without delay" to help the process, the International Crisis Group said in a report just released. "Myanmar has turned away from five decades of authoritarianism and has embarked on a bold process of political, social and economic reform," the ICG said in "Reform in Myanmar: One Year On," released in Jakarta and Brussels. "Those in the West who have long called for such changes must now do all they can to support them. The most important step is to lift the sanctions on Myanmar without delay." Noting the April 23 European Union meeting on whether to renew sanctions, the ICG said "the value of the coercive measures must be reconsidered."

President Thein Sein comments on the by-elections
The New Light of Myanmar - 26 March 2012
In a speech at Pathein on 24 March 2012 devoted to rural development and poverty alleviation, President Thein Sein concluded with remarks about the forthcoming by-elections. He noted that: "As there are unnecessary errors in the ballot lists, the deadline for confirmation was postponed to 24 March 2012, bestowing favour to political parties and voters.

"Winners and losers will emerge in the by-elections as per usual. We all need to work together to ensure that the outcome is accepted by all the people. Respecting the decision of the people, we need bear to loss. All political parties need to understand that the decision made by the people is key decision.

"As the commission is doing its best to make the by-elections free and fair, our government has invited international monitors to offer testimony. Attention of the whole world has focused on the by-elections to be held for the first time while the incumbent government is in office. All our citizens need to support the bid to hold the free and fair by-elections to be watched by the international community......"

Burma's Parliament emerges from the shadows
Inside Story (Australia) - 26 March 2012
Our correspondent in Yangon writes: Just as views of the Burmese government have shifted dramatically over the past twelve months, perceptions of the parliament in Naypyidaw have undergone their own transformation. Shortly after convening for the first time on 31 January last year, it was dubbed the “fifteen-minute parliament” by opposition activists because of the brevity of the initial sessions, which saw Thein Sein elected president.

One year on, when the third session began on 21 January, the Reuters news agency published a feature article with the headline, “In Myanmar, a Sham Parliament Stirs to Life,” describing how MPs were drafting anti-corruption legislation and preparing to discuss the national budget. 

Yet the parliament is rarely mentioned when the international community, Aung San Suu Kyi or activists laud Burma’s reforms. Lacking the drama of NLD campaign rallies or mass releases of high-profile political prisoners, it is the hidden success story of the “Burmese spring.”

Myanmar President vows more democratic reform
Associated Press - 1 March 2012
Full text of the President's Address
Myanmar President Thein Sein has said that his government will build on the sweeping reforms it has begun over the last year, and will work hard to convince skeptics at home and abroad that it is truly committed to democratic change. "There are many more steps to be taken. We have to continue to work hard, as there are many people within and outside the country who are skeptical and suspicious of our government."

Thein Sein said those steps include strengthening the rule of law, boosting private sector businesses and improving the impoverished country's basic infrastructure, which lags far behind much of the rest of Asia.

"There is no hard-liners camp or soft-liners camp in our government. Except for some difference in administration, depending on individual personality, attitude and behaviour of the person, we are implementing our duties in strict adherence with the government policy."  

Derek Tonkin writes: This was a major address to the Union Parliament (a combined meeting of both Lower and Upper Houses) explicitly given in commemoration of the first anniversary of the Government's inauguration. The President readily acknowledged that "we still have much more to do, we will have to take many more strides", tackled head-on the challenges in Kachin State where "the question here is why the ceasefire cannot be in force even though I myself have ordered the Armed Forces to terminate military offensives or attacks" other than in self-defence, revealed that a new exchange rate "had been set temporarily according to the outside market situation" while seeking a permanent solution, paid glowing tribute to civil society organizations, mentioned economic sanctions only in passing and made commitments across the board on media rights, good governance, the rule of law, social welfare and the economy. (Suu Kyi claimed during her recent televised discussion with the Carleton University in Ottawa that Myanmar's leaders "are always asking for sanctions to be removed." Not so on this occasion.)

Reform in Myanmar is irreversible - Presidential Adviser
The Nation (Bangkok) - 29 February 2012
President Thein Sein's chief political adviser, Ko Ko Hlaing, says Myanmar's political reform is "irreversible" because of the president's strong will, the specific constitutional stipulation towards democracy, the Burmese people's taste of new-found freedom, and the need for the country to follow the international trend. 

In an exclusive interview with The Nation, the man known as Burma's "political insider" said he was certain that former military leader Senior General Than Shwe was not running the country from behind the scenes and would not make a comeback."As a Buddhist, you can understand the mentality of an elderly Buddhist. You should understand also the mind of a soldier - which is always the desire to accomplish his mission. After the mission is accomplished, he can take a rest." Read more.....

Latest Parliamentary News

Myanmar tackles first budget in decades
Agence France-Presse - 12 February 2012
Myanmar's fledgling parliament is slaving over its first budget, a daunting task for the inexperienced body in a country where the army has long been used to dipping into state coffers at will. For the novice lawmakers in the nation's twin-chamber parliament - dominated by soldiers and former military personnel - that means once impenetrable dossiers are now open to fierce debate. 

Although the army-backed ruling party holds an overwhelming majority, lawmakers have embraced their new-found power, debating laws, voting and shuttling bills between the two chambers. Some of the spending plans will surely please the West. According to the Ministry of Planning and Development, the plan is to double the education budget and spend four times as much on health as in the last fiscal year. But the government is also seeking to spend 15.33 percent of the budget on the armed forces. 

Parliament receives an unlikely visitor - Vidar Helgesen
The Myanmar Times - 6-12 February 2012
It says a lot about how expectations of Myanmar’s democratic experiment have changed that an international organisation dedicated to strengthening democracy and holding fair elections can today visit parliament and it barely raises an eyebrow. And as if that wasn’t enough, the organisation was invited to Nay Pyi Taw by Pyithu Hluttaw Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann, the former number three in the State Peace and Development Council. “The fact that we were invited is a very positive indication,” said Mr Vidar Helgesen, the Norwegian secretary general of the Sweden-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA)."

In Myanmar a 'sham' parliament stirs to life
Reuters - 26 January 2012
Derided as a well-choreographed sham in one of the world's most authoritarian countries when it opened a year ago, Myanmar's parliament began a third session on Thursday with feisty stirrings of democracy, under pressure to accelerate economic and political reforms that could soon convince the West to lift decades-old sanctions.

The main legislation up for debate requires the government to seek parliamentary approval for its budget. That alone is a significant change for Myanmar, where past military regimes drew up spending plans in secrecy, often carving out largesse for the army, which handed power to a nominally civilian government in March last year.

President Thein Sein gives his first foreign interview
Washington Post - 20 January 2012 
During the interview in Naypyitaw which the President gave to veteran Washington Post correspondent Lally Weymouth, he discussed the issues facing the present government, noting that there is a lot of encouragement from the people; that he believes the government has already accomplished the steps sought by Western countries (on release of political prisoners, allowing Suu Kyi to participate in the political process, holding elections); that it will take time to secure 'eternal peace' in the country; that sanctions have harmed the interests of the people and did not affect the previous government; that Suu Kyi could become a minister if appointed and agreed by parliament; that he would like to see sanctions eased and eventually got rid of altogether; that they have no nuclear program or military cooperation with North  Korea and are in the process of signing the additional IAEA protocol; that the two main requirements are peace and stability, and economic development; that investors will come only when sanctions have eased.

Message by President U Thein Sein on Independence Day
The New Light of Myanmar - 4 January 2012
Extract: "All the people will be well aware of the fact that today, some powerful nations are attempting to influence weaker ones resorting to various ways and means. So, the entire people of the Union need to join hands in safeguarding and maintaining independence and sovereignty. Only Myanmar people can bring peace, development and prosperity to the nation. It should be noticed that the nation would fall again under the alien subjugation if national unity broke up. Therefore, it is especially important for all the national people to try to ensure non-disintegration of the Union, non-disintegration of national solidarity and perpetuation of sovereignty." 

In the Hluttaws, more green shoots
The Myanmar Times - 2-8 January 2012
Military representatives occupy 110 seats in the 440-seat Pyithu Hluttaw, 56 out of 224 seats in the Amyotha Hluttaw and more than 200 seats in the 14 state and region hluttaws. They were appointed by the then-commander in chief, Senior General Than Shwe.

In the lead up to the convening of the first session of parliament in Nay Pyi Taw on January 31, there was much speculation among elected representatives about what role the appointed military personnel would play: Would they try to hinder attempts at reform? Would they be able to work independently? Would they vote as a bloc?

Ten months on, representatives say that the military personnel face few restrictions when participating in parliamentary discussions or voting on bills and proposals. “There are no instructions for discussions and voting. We decide ourselves,” confirmed Colonel Zaw Min Maung. “We have studied political subjects at the Defence Services Academy,” he said, referring to the exclusive officer training school in Pyin Oo Lwin.

         

Lee Jones 1

RT NW 1