3 August
OUR MPS are currently debating amending the 2008 Constitution in the parliament, as part of our nation’s transition to democracy.
Efforts to amend the constitution are being made to fix weaknesses and provisions that have no relevance in the present era. No law is perfect, or flawless.
There are 3,765 points which have been suggested by the Joint Committee on Amending the 2008 Constitution. The debate over the proposed amendment has reached a certain stage, with all stakeholders marching towards the goal, within the legal framework, and through unbiased dialogue. Democ-racies don’t happen overnight, and it takes time to strengthen democratic foundations.
In a democracy, everyone values their own rights as much as those of others, while adopting an attitude of responsibility amid different opinions.
A constitution, the life-blood of a nation or State, can be considered as a set of directives which help the other pillars of the democ-racy work in the right way. Still, there are times when the need arises to amend it.
We hope that the second effort for amending the 2008 Constitution brings fruitful results for the country and the people.
Our Constitution was hurriedly written at the time of independence and ap-proved by the parliament on 24 September, 1947. In 1974, a new constitution was drawn up, based on a one-party system, as the country em-braced socialist democracy. But, that constitution was abolished in 1988 with the fall of the single-party system.
After the Tatmadaw rule was established, the then military government convened a National Convention in 1993, which continued until until 2007, and resulted in the emergence of the 2008 Constitution. It took 14 years to finish the 2008 Constitution. We have seen the strong and weak points of the constitution during the 14-year period of nation building. Now, the time has come to assess and review whether the 2008 Constitution is apt for the situation we have experienced for 25 years, starting from the year it emerged.
The amendment of the constitution is one of the goals of the incumbent government. The completion of our democratic transition must necessarily involve the realization of a truly democratic constitution.
Today, the duty of making the transition to democracy is resting on the shoulders of the MPs. We would like to urge the MPs to take this opportunity to fulfill their responsibilities as representatives of the people, and build a federal democratic country aspired by the people.
GNLM
