During the recent Federalism and Ethnic View Discussion, organized by Former Political Prisoners (FPPs), making amendments to the 2008 Constitution was part of the discussion.
One common concern raised during the June 2 meeting in Yangon was achieving national reconciliation when the constitution doesn’t include sufficient provisions for federalism.
“We cannot truly get national reconciliation until details about federalism is included in the Constitution; our country is not Unitary. All the ethnics share these views,’’ said Pu Chin Sian Thang, the president of the Zomi Congress for Democracy party (ZCD) . Federalism. Civic rights in the 2008 Constitution are also very vague, according to the ZCD president.
Kyaw Win recently told Burma News International (BNI) that true federalism in Myanmar can unify the country. The famous writer, whose work on federalist theory is a regular feature in The Voice Weekly newspaper, originally accepted the constitution in 2010. But since 2012 he has criticized it for shortcomings. Central and regional power is not well defined in the constitution; their roles are ill-defined and often overlap, according to Kyaw Win.
The government should also utilize national funds collected from natural resource extraction to even out the economic disparity that exists in the country. One example is using this to elevate Chin state that is the poorest state in the Union, according to Kyaw Win.
All of the ethnic groups are asking for amendments to the 2008 constitution, but they need to clearly define what their “their needs and wants” to know what changes to make.
