Discussions only a tentative step in revising Myanmar constitution

Opening up a dialogue is 'the right move', says opposition.

Mandalay:  Opposition politicians appear cautiously optimistic about a proposed political summit to discuss changing Myanmar’s controversial constitution — which effectively bars opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president — but it remains to be seen whether any amendments would come in time for an election slated for next year.

Myanmar’s parliament on Tuesday unanimously endorsed holding talks among key political leaders to amend the constitution, which was drafted by the then military-led government in 2008.

While Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party has long demanded revisiting the constitution, the proposal to hold the talks came from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

NLD spokesman Nyan Win welcomed this latest development.

“It is the right move to have a meeting and dialogue among the key players, but it is important to discuss openly about the political situation of the country,” he told ucanews.com on Wednesday.

This week’s parliamentary move comes only days after lower house speaker Shwe Mann suggested that any changes to the constitution could not be implemented until after the next general election, which is tentatively scheduled for late 2015.

But Nyan Win said he believed Shwe Mann was speaking in a personal capacity; this week’s developments represented the will of the country’s parliament.

“I see that we have hopes for amending the constitution before the 2015 elections,” he said.

No date has been set for the talks, which, according to the NLD, would involve Suu Kyi, president Thein Sein, speakers of the upper and lower houses, the military’s top general and a parliamentarian from an ethnic minority community.

Observers said any discussions about amending the constitution would need to bring about concrete results to overcome what may be a looming “political crisis”.

“We would welcome the talks if it really brings results and shows signs for the development of the country and the people through transparency and long-term vision,” Yan Myo Thein, a Yangon-based political analyst, said on Wednesday.

But he also urged caution, suggesting that this week’s USDP-led move could well be part of a political game plan or simply the result of recent lobbying from the international community.

During a state visit this month, US President Barack Obama urged the government to review the constitution.

The 2008 constitution stipulates that Myanmar citizens with spouses or children who are foreign citizens are not allowed to hold the office of president, though they can run for public office otherwise.

Suu Kyi was elected to parliament after winning a seat in a 2012 by-election. Her two sons are British, as was her late husband.

Source: ucanews.com