Adopting ethnic state constitution and the issue of secession
Within these
few days a lot of political maneuvering have been going on, like Kachin
Independence Organization (KIO), Wa National Organization (WNO) resignation
from United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC); Karenni National Progressive
Party (KNPP), New Mon State Party (NMSP) and Arakan National Congress (ANC)
confirmation to stick to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA)-based peace
negotiation process, provided their nine-point alteration proposal of the NCA
is accommodated; China’s Special Envoy on Asian Affairs Sun Guoxiang meeting
with the NCA-non-signatory five Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) in Kunming;
Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing receiving a delegation led by
Jonathan Powell from Inter Mediate group, who is said to be an adviser to State
Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi on peace process; and Union Peace Dialogue Joint
Committee (UPDJC) making public that the ethnic states and regions would now be
able to individually draw their own constitution, which has to be in line with
the 2008, Military or Tatmadaw-drafted constitution.
Out of all the
issues, the UPDJC's decision that ethnic states being allowed to draft their
constitutions is worth emphasizing, as the crux of the whole peace process
dwells on the ability of whether or not a genuine federal union constitution is
going to be formulated and agreed upon. In other words, the constitutional
crisis that has plagued the country since independence from the British in 1948
would now be addressed, in a serious manner, which has been the cause of
ongoing ethic conflict and shelved for more than five decades.
While the move
is hailed by Zaw Htay, the director-general of the State Counselor's Office,
including Hkun Okker of Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO) and Kwe
Htoo Win of Karen National Union (KNU), as a breakthrough, some are skeptical
if this is going to be really beneficial to the ethnic states and their people.
“All are based
on federal principles. It is an agreement that has never been made in our
country. We will allow adoption of constitution in states and regions and all
has agreed. That is why the forthcoming convention will be a historical
milestone for Burma,” said Zaw Htay, according to the recent Irrawaddy report.
However, a
condition that the ethnic states would not seek to secede from Burma was attached, which was said to be the
guarantee the Military has asked for, in drafting the ethnic states
constitutions. Furthermore, a federal right to adopt their own constitutions
should not contradict the 2008, Military-drafted constitution, as it would take
precedence in any possible disputes.
“Due to our
[Burma’s] geopolitical status, it is strategically imperative that we do not
break into pieces,” said Zaw Htay. “We
reached a consensus with ethnic delegations that they will be granted the right
to draft their own constitutions, provided unity is maintained,” according to
the DVB report of May 15.
Some members
of the tripartite UPDJC, that includes representatives of the government
(including the Tatmadaw), political parties and eight signatory armed groups to
the NCA, said the agreement to let the ethnic states adopt their own
constitution is “extraordinary”, and hoped that the conference which will
commence on May 24 would produce good results, according to the Myanmar Times
recent report.
But against
such optimism, there were reservation from some quarters, involving experts and
ethnic politicians.
Than Soe Naing, a political analyst, pointed out that in
addition to granting states and regions a chance to draw their own charters,
stakeholders should come up with a plan to make changes to the 2008
constitution, according to Myanmar Times.
“It seems that the Tatmadaw is changing its stance by allowing these
matters to a certain extent. However, the truth is that the military wants the
least amount of constitutional changes as possible. We cannot have a functional
federalism unless we have effective power sharing. This is different from just
letting the states or regions write their own charters,” he said.
In the same vein, Sai Nyunt Lwin secretary general of the Shan
Nationalities League for Democracy said such an important agreement, which in
effect would encompass the whole country, needs a wider range of participants.
“What if the other groups are not involved in UPDJC’s meeting, like the
non-signatory groups or those that have not yet held national-level dialogues,
then it would be a problem at a later time,” he said.
But a more precise argument comes from Twan Zaw joint-secretary general
of the UNFC, in an interview with the Radio Free Asia on May 14.
Regarding the question on what he thought of the UPDJC's endorsement of
the ethnic states adopting their own constitution, he said: “This opportunity
to draft its own constitution would not make much of a difference. The main
point is that if this country is to be built as a federal union, there has to
be a federal constitution and the ethnic states would need to have
constitutions that cater to it accordingly.”
He said that the Military had maintained that its 2008 self-drawn
constitution has federal characteristics, but everyone knows that it is not the
case. And if the ethnic constitutions were to be drawn under this prevailing
condition, it wouldn't make much difference.
“During Thein Sein's government tenure, there were well publicized
claims that `federalism is being accepted´, but it still hasn't been turn into
reality. Likewise, the allowance of `ethnic states adopting their own individual
constitution´ would be just a meaningless thing on the paper, if real norms of
federalism wouldn't be included and materialized,” he said.
Concerning the non-secession demand of the Military, he said that it was
like shadowy ghost haunting, as far as the Military is concerned.
The Military staged a coup in 1962 with the pretext that the ethnic
nationalities' Federal Amendment proposal would tear the country apart and
labeled that it would lead to disintegration. This wrong indoctrination is
still very much alive and he said this false thinking need to be corrected, as
federalism depicted unity or fusion and
not disintegration, adding secession issue didn't even need to be discussed.
However, Dr Tu Ja, a Kachin leader who took part in the recent UPDJC meeting
seems to be quite optimistic, as he said that although under the 2008
constitution equal ethnic state constitutions would not be able to be drawn,
according to the seven-stage peace road-map of NCA, the stage four, Union Peace
Conference, could be used to amend the constitution.
“And if the stage five of “Union (Pyidaungsu) Accord” would take the
form of federal, the 2008 constitution must be amended. After that a new
federal constitution would have to be promulgated by the parliament,” Tu Ja
said, according to the Irrawaddy recent report.
To sum up, the move to let the ethnic states have their own constitution
is, no doubt, a positive move. But as mentioned by observers and ethnic
leaders, first of all the federal constitution at union level needs to be
agreed upon, after which ethnic states' constitutions could be drafted, with
proper power-sharing between federal and state governments.
Regarding the demand of the non-secession from the Military, it is
better to be left untouched, as the ethnic nationalities' political-historical
legacy of “1947 Panglong Agreement; 1948 Union of Burma Constitution; and
1961 Ethnic Federal Amendment Proposal” are all intertwined and cannot
be separated or nullified. The first two are legal bonds between the Bamar State
and the ethnic states, and the third one, the only legal approach that would
have resolved the ethnic conflict in 1962.*
The termination of the parliamentary, national conference on Federal
Amendment Proposal by the Military coup in 1962 has pushed us further into a
more deeply divided society, which we are still witnessing after more than five
decades.
Apart from the fact that the issue of secession is the sole
responsibility of the individual ethnic people concerned, in short, securing
non-secession promise or signature won't be doing the trick to live together,
which the dominant ethnic group sees – in this case the Bamar majority - it as
a lost of territory, but more sincerity and trust-building will definitely do.
As the late General Aung San said, “The
right of secession must be given, but it is our duty to work and show (our
sincerity) so that they don’t wish to leave”. It is
Burma’s, or shall we say the government and Tatmadaw, responsibility to prove their sincerity so
the states do not wish to secede.
*For detailed explanation on ethnic
nationalities' historical-political legacies please read “Jump-starting the
stalled peace process - Is Revitalization of the 1961 Federal Amendment
Proposal the Way to Go?”, in Transnational Institute.
Link: https://www.tni.org/en/article/jump-starting-the-stalled-peace-process
Tags: Opinion
