Constitution for Sale

By WAI MOE
The Burmese military junta has started to sell copies of the draft constitution to the public for the first time, according to sources.

A journalist based in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy today that copies of the draft constitution had been available from this morning at government bookstores, owned by the Ministry of Information. A copy costs 1,000 kyat (nearly US $1).

“I am surprised after scanning the draft because in chapter 12—“Amendments to the Constitution”—it says the constitution can be amended by 50 percent of voters in a national referendum,” he said. “That is different from the draft constitution in the e-version.”

However, a pro-military website, www.myanmarforum.net, said on Tuesday that copies of the draft constitution went on sale at government bookstores starting Monday and were available to the public for 1,000 kyat.

The website also reported that the constitution could be amended by 50 percent of voters. In the previous e-version of the draft constitution, the constitution could only be amended by “all the voters.”

A lawyer from Rangoon confirmed that copies of the draft constitution have been selling at government bookstores. “However, after I read the draft, I realized that this is a kind of militarization by constitution. It is fascism,” he said.

“The constitution should be free because it represents the future for Burmese people,” said a housewife in Rangoon. “The constitution is free in all other countries.”
There are 194 pages in the 15-chapter draft constitution. A summary of the constitution in chapter one, “State Basic Principles,” contains 48 articles.

Under the draft constitution, military officers, appointed by the commander in chief of the Tatmadaw (the Armed Forces) would constitute 25 percent of both the National Assembly (Upper House) and the People’s Assembly (Lower House). There would therefore be 56 military officers out of 224 members in the National Assembly and 110 military officers out of 440 in the People’s Assembly.

Military officials would also hold 25 percent of seats in the upper and lower houses at state and regional level. To declare a state of emergency, the president, the Tatmadaw and the commander in chief (of the Tatmadaw) would have to agree to intervene, whether in states, districts or self-administered areas.

The draft also states that executive, legislative and judicial heads of states, regions and autonomous areas could be dismissed immediately by the president, the Tatmadaw and the commander in chief under a state of emergency.

The draft constitution also says that any citizen who is married to a foreigner cannot run for election. As such, Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi would be barred from involvement in politics because she was previously married to a British academic who died in 1999.

The military government announced on February 9 that the national referendum on the draft constitution would be held in May. Exactly two months later, on April 9, copies of the draft constitution went on sale. The Burmese generals are known to consider the number nine auspicious.