Led by British legal consulting firm Bingham Center in cooperation with the Rangoon Lawyers Union and Mon State Lawyers Union, participants discussed Burma’s 2008 Constitution in the lead-up to a December 31 deadline to submit proposed revisions to the Constitution Amendment Analysis Committee.

 “We do not have much time to discuss the whole constitution, so five topics have been chosen for discussion. Outcomes of the workshop will be submitted to Hluttaw [Parliament],” said attendee U Ko Ko Zaw.
 
Among the topics of discussion were administration, justice, politics, laws and other transitional concerns. Parliamentary representation was also discussed.

“First, we should amend the section requiring 75 percent support to amend the constitution and the part that grants the army 25 percent of parliamentary seats,” said Min Aung Ze, chairman of Rahmonnya Peace Foundation and workshop participant.

Min Aung Ze added that local attendees and legal consultants generally agreed on proposed amendments. Due to the difficulties of amending the current constitution most would like to write a new one, but are hesitant to do so because of the 2008 Constitution’s legally enshrined protection.

“We are worried about a coup, because the Constitution says that the army protects the current document if we write a new one,” said Min Aung Ze.

Workshops have also been conducted in Karen State capital Pa’an and in Pegu town. They will continue in Nay Pyi Taw on Nov. 7, followed by Mandalay on Nov. 8, Shan State capital Taunggyi on Nov. 10, Meiktilar Town on Nov. 11 and Rangoon on Nov. 12.

The workshop in Mon State follows a public opinion poll conducted by the National League for Democracy (NLD) to determine whether citizens favor amendment or rewriting of the Constitution. While there were some obstacles to conducting the survey, the NLD reported that 90 percent of participants preferred amendment.