Alternative charter guidelines proposed

Politics

Alternative charter guidelines proposed

Exiled opposition representatives have reached a preliminary agreement on key guidelines for the constitution of future Burma, according to a report submitted and discussed at the Ethnic Nationalities Council Strategic Consultation Meeting held on the Thai-Burma border, 28-30 October:

The six-point "Basic Principles for a Future Federal Constitution" agreed by representatives from the National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB), Supporting Committee for State Constitutions (SCSC) and Women's League of Burma (WLB) on 10-11 September and 22-23 October meetings are as follows:

• Equality among nationalities both politically and racially
• Sovereign power derives from the people
• A multi-party democracy that guarantees basic human rights including gender rights
• Self determination for all nationalities in matters such as politics, administration, economy and culture
• Enactment of adequate safeguards for minorities in each member state
• Restructuring of the Union based on federal principles

"It is the product of painstaking examination of past and present legal and authoritative documents", said Khun Manko Ban, MP of Shan State's Faikhun (Pekon) township and one of the principal authors of the draft.

The said instruments include Panglong Agreement, Aung San's 7-point constitutional directives, the 1947 union constitution, the 1990 NLD-UNLD Joint declaration and the CRPP (Committee Representing People's Parliament)'s stand on the issue of Nationalities and the Future of the Union, among others.

The 'Basic Principles' are the result of a brainstorming seminar in Chiangmai organized by the Danish Burma Committee, 23-28 May 2004, according to Dr Lian Hmung Sakhong, General Secretary of the Ethnic Nationalities Council and a participant in the meetings.

Two more enlarged meetings are expected to be held later in the year before the adoption of the principles, which the opposition trusts will serve as a substitute to the military government's declared Six Objectives particularly the sixth, namely:

• Non-disintegration of the Union
• Non-disintegration of national unity
• Stability of sovereignty
• Development of genuine multi-party democracy
• Promotion of social truths such as justice, freedom, equality and others
• Participation of the military in the leading role of national politics

Related Report: Dissidents mull over National Accord rough, S.H.A.N., 18 August 2004

Editor's note: The term "National Accord", originally used for an anticipated agreement among three principal parties: SPDC, democratic opposition and ethnic opposition, was later abandoned to be replaced by "Basic Principles for a Future Federal Constitution", a joint platform of the opposition, both democratic and ethnic.

Authors of the draft

U Thein Oo

Hkun Okker

Salai Lian Hmung

Nang Hseng Noung

Ms Linda