The constitution is the foundation and the essence of all the nation’s laws, said the leader of the military bloc in the Amyotha Hluttaw, who asked not to be identified.

“The people must follow the existing law; the 2008 Constitution is the existing law, it is the ‘mother law’ among the laws,” he said.

The leader of the military bloc in the Amyotha Hluttaw made the comments when asked if the military had sent a submission to the joint parliamentary constitution review committee to request that Section 436 of the charter be amended.

He said a request to amend Section 436 was most likely not included in suggestions from the military to the committee, which presented a report to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw in early February on the submissions it had received.

Section 436 stipulates that constitutional amendments require the support of more than 75 percent of all members of the Union Parliament, in which military appointees hold 25 percent of the seats.

Constitutional amendments must also be backed by a national referendum.

A member of the constitution review committee, U Hla Swe (Amyotha Hluttaw, Magway, Union Solidarity and Development Party), said that in his opinion, military MPs should not vote on constitutional amendments if they go before the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw.

“The constitution can be amended by a vote of more than 38 percent of the 75 percent of elected MPs,’ he said. “If this issue goes to the hluttaw, it will not hestitate to discuss it.”