Khun Htun Oo : National reconciliation impossible without amending constitution
Khun
Htun Oo, the Chairman of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD),
has said that national reconciliation can only be possible with significant
changes being made to Burma's 2008 constitution. Khun Htun Oo, who is also the
Chairman of the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), a grouping of ethnic
political parties, made the comments at a meeting of the UNA and the Ethnic
Nationalities Affairs Center (ENAC), held in Rangoon on June 30th.
“We will
not have peace without amending the 2008 Constitution. Also, we will not be
able to aim towards national reconciliation. The important thing is that the
2008 Constitution must be fixed,” said Khun Htun Oo, during a speech delivered
at the opening of the meeting.
The
veteran politician and former political prisoner was responding to remarks made
last month by the Lower House Speaker, U Win Myint of the NLD, indicating
that the constitution will only be amended after “internal peace” has been
achieved. Khun Htun Oo disagrees with this view and maintains that the
constitution needs to be changed first to include democratic standards, in line
with the desire of the majority of ethnic people.
“This
constitution needs to guarantee the right for self-determination for ethnic
people and for the Burmese. Trust must be gained first amongst each other, each
group, and each race, in order for all citizens to live peacefully under the
rule of law without discriminating who is powerful or weak, or which group is
bigger or smaller,” Khun Htun Oo added.
Reached
for comment, the SNLD’s spokesperson Sai Leik explained that the SNLD leader
and his party hold the view that the constitution is the main issue in Burma
and it must amended. According to Sai Leik, the meeting was held to prepare for
the upcoming 21st Century Panglong Conference, which is expected to be held in
late August.
“The
workshop was held to discuss what kind of federal system is suitable for the
future of Burma and how to obtain ethnic rights and equal standards of all
ethnic people,” said Sai Leik.
The
upcoming conference is being organized by the National League for Democracy
(NLD) government, and will be closely watched by many ethnic people, as it aims
to follow a historic conference convened by Aung San Suu Kyi's father, General
Aung San and ethnic leaders in 1947. It remains unclear at this point if
representatives from all of Burma's various ethnic armed groups will attend the
conference or just those that have signed ceasefire agreements with the central
government.
BY: Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)
Tags: News, Politics
