The petition signed by five million citizens in support of amending Section 436 of the Constitution will receive the consideration it deserves in parliament, the Speaker of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, Thura U Shwe Mann, said on August 11.
Addressing a news conference at the Zabuthiri Hall in the parliamentary compound in Nay Pyi Taw, Thura U Shwe Mann said the petition represented "the voice and aspirations of the people".
The petition is expected to be submitted to parliament at its sitting next month.
The signatures were gathered during a 54-day joint campaign by the National League for Democracy and the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society movement which ended on July 19, Martyrs' Day.
Section 436 stipulates that an amendment to the constitution needs the support of more than 75 percent of the Union parliament and gives its unelected military MPs an effective veto over charter change because they hold 25 percent of hluttaw seats.
Thura U Shwe Mann said the 31-member constitution amendment implementation committee appointed by the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw on February 5 to consider proposed changes to the charter had completed about 80 percent of its work.
He said the committee's report would be submitted to the coming hluttaw session and form the basis for a draft law to amend the constitution.
On February 18, Thura U Shwe Mann instructed the committee to ensure that any draft law it proposed to amend the charter must be submitted to parliament at least six months before the general election due to be held in late 2015.
A central committee member of the NLD, U Aung Kyi Nyunt, acknowledged that the five-million signature petition may not be considered by the committee.
