Ba Shein, a Member of Parliamentfrom Rakhine State, Kyauktaw constituency, who is working on the bill, told Mizzima, “The existence or non-existence of the Protection of Ethnic Rights bill has nothing to do with amending or not amending the constitution. Ethnic nationalities badly need a law for the protection of their rights whether the constitution is amended or not. Under this new law, the needs of states and regions can harmonize and the rights of the people can develop.”

Lower House MP Nan Wah Nu from the Kunhein constituency of Shan State told Mizzima that the Protection of Ethnic Rights bill is needed to enable ethnic nationalities to exercise their rights ratified in the constitution.

“In our constitution, the rights of ethnic nationalities were stipulated but there are no specific provisions on how we can exercise them. We can exercise them only if we can get a specific law for this purpose, otherwise our rights will only exist on paper,” she said.

Ye Tun, another MP crafting the bill, told Mizzima in September that a law for protecting ethnic rights would not be needed if precise provisions on ethnic rights were added as amendments to Myanmar’s constitution.

“The current constitution is weak in terms of the power of local governments. In some cases, the union ministries don’t want the local governments to practically exercise the powers conferred by the constitution. Under these circumstances, I thinkthe Protection of Ethnic Rights bill is needed,” he said.

In drafting this bill, the involved MPs discussed and coordinated with international organizations, the ethnic affairs ministers of local governments, and speakers of legislative assemblies. They plan to hold further discussions and coordinate with domestic political parties and ministers in order to addadditional points and provisions tot he bill.