The principles No 1 to 14 for Role of Tatmadaw the Work Committee discussed should be adopted

YANGON, 24 Jan—The following is a translation of the Union Pa-O National Organization’s proposal for the clarifications, made by National Convention Convening Work Committee Chairman U Aung Toe at the National Convention, to the detailed basic principles that should be adopted for the Citizenship, Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens, and the Role of Tatmadaw to be included in the State Constitution submitted by U Aung Khin representing the Union Pa-O National Organization from the delegate group of political parties.

Law experts of constitution define that essence of every constitution shall be based on justice, liberty and equality, and every citizen shall have justice of social relations, justice of economy, justice of politics, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, freedom of faith, freedom of profession, freedom to organize, and freedom of action. In reality, genuine sovereignty is justice, and that calls for check and balance among the three branches of power and no exceptional exercise of sovereignty. Nothing, except justice and reasoning power, can conceive sovereignty. It is needed to recognize freedom of an individual, but no one has the right to oppose sovereignty. Only when there prevail laws, rules and regulations that are acceptable to the majority of people in food, clothing and shelter, relations, and international relations, will people be able to cooperate in a peaceful way in the interests of mankind.

Regarding human rights or fundamental rights of people, priority was given to conditions and freedom of an individual in the late 16th Century and early 17th Century. In 1240 Myanmar Era, there emerged a treatise “Raja Dhamma Singaha” compiled by Yawmingyi U Po Hlaing that was the first-ever treatise of Myanmar. The treatise called for replacement of absolute monarchy with constitutional monarchy, formation of a senate to practise constitutional monarch, and a house of representatives. The sector “Fundamental rights” was stipulated in every constitution drawn in the 20th Century. The 1947 Constitution of the Union of Myanmar comprised 14 headings or chapters, and it stated “Fundamental Rights” instead of “Citizenship, Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens”. And the 1974 Constitution consisted of 16 headings or chapters and it stated “Citizenship, Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens”.

The Constitution we are drawing consists of 15 headings of chapters, and a decision was made on 7 April 1993 to use “Citizenship, Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens”. The preamble of the 1947 Constitution says “We the people of Burma including the Frontier Areas and the Karenni States, determined to establish in strength and unity a sovereign independent State, to maintain social order on the basis of the eternal principles of justice, liberty and equality and to guarantee and secure to all citizens justice social economic and political; liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action; equality of status, of opportunity and before the law in our constitutent assembly”.

We also found that the preamble of the 1974 Constitution says “We, the working people, firmly resolved that we shall build a socialist economic system by the Burmese Way to Socialism, for the country to be peaceful and prosperous, opposing all pernicious systems characterized by exploitation of man by man, and of one national race by another, with a view to promoting justice and goodwill among the people, and to freeing them from apathy and callousness, ignorance, backwardness and want of opportunity; build a socialist democratic social order which will afford an opportunity to the people to shape their own destiny, by the Burmese Way to Socialism; live forever in harmony, unity and racial equality sharing joys and sorrows through weal and woe in the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma; efficiently perform all duties and fulfil all obligations in the interest of the State and for the cause of Socialism while enjoying the democratic rights and personal rights and freedom bestowed by this Constitution; constantly strive to promote international peace and friendly relations among the nations.

Citizenship means the one who is loyal to the State, conscientiously discharges duties assigned by the State, and has the rights bestowed by the State. Fundamental rights of citizens is the inborn right. It will be virtually impossible to exist as human if each and every citizen has no fundamental rights. The Union of Myanmar is a member of the United Nations, and it participated in the drawing of rules and regulations of UN Charter and the 1948 Human Rights Declaration paper. And it is a signatory to UN conventions, and the conventions and agreements of the International Labour Organization. At the 49th UN General Assembly (1994), the representative of the Union of Myanmar said that not only as a duty-conscious member of the UN but also a nation that had been steadfastly abiding by the principles representing UN, Myanmar had been constantly practising UN Charters, and fundamental rights stated in the international declaration. Lessons are to be taken to avert the recurrence of incidents that occurred in Myanmar in 1962 and 1988. The NC Work Committee has laid down the detailed basic principles for chapter-wise headings for the future State Structure to be free from loopholes and weak points. They are four principles for the State, six principles for the State objectives, one principle for multi-party democracy, seven principles for State Constitution, two principles for the Head of State, two principles for State sovereignty, five principles for legislature, five principles for executive, five principles for judiciary, six principles for Role of Tatmadaw, three principles for national races, two principles for peasants, one principle for workers, one principle for intellectuals and intelligentsia, two principles for State service personnel, one principle for national culture, four principles for education and health, one principle for agriculture, one principle for industry, one principle for profession, two principles for maternal and child and elderly persons, one principle for youths, two principles for religion, seven principles for economy, three principles for land, waters and natural resources, two principles for election, one principle for political parties, three principles for emergency times, three principles for foreign relations, two principles for crimes, one principle for environment, three principles for general provisions, and nine principles for citizenship, fundamental rights and duties of citizens, totaling 104.

If one takes a careful study on the six objectives of the National Convention and the 104 basic principles, one will notice that they represent equal rights for all citizens, fully grant rights of the citizens, and lead the Myanmar to a discipline-flourishing democratic nation. The Work Committee has given instructions on referring already-laid down basic principles in discussing matters on headings, and adopting basic principles as detailed basic principles if necessary. The Work Committee Chairman said that citizens are to uphold ‘non-disintegration of the Union, non-disintegration of national solidarity, and perpetuation of sovereignty’ in enjoying the fundamental rights prescribed in the Constitution; that steps are to be taken in order not to harm culture, customs, fine arts and literature of national races and to practise them righteously; and that the words basic principles on citizenship, naturalization and revocation of citizenship should be changed to the detailed basic principles.

The noblest and worthiest of worldly values namely justice, liberty and equality are the rights the citizens enjoy in building a democratic nation. Then, the citizens will have the freedom of speech, the freedom of publication, the right to assemble, freedom of procession, the freedom of association, the right to settle and reside in any part of the Union, the right to acquire property, and the right of privacy and security of premises. In practising democracy system, I would like to suggest that the enslaving of human and trafficking in person shall not be allowed. In enjoying the right of faith, measures should be taken to avoid the association of the freedom of faith with politics, offering and taking bribes, and conflicts between two sides in the interests of the nation and the people. There are more than one hundred national races in our nation, so there should be the right to develop language, literature and culture of national races. Moreover, encouragement should be given to the education sector in every sector as the education standard of the citizens plays an important role in building a modern and developed nation.

It is impossible that more than 50 million people of the nation handle matters on State sovereignty in a single place, so citizens are to have the right to vote and to be elected to Hluttaws. There should be a principle to revoke the responsibilities of Hluttaw members who fail to discharge their duties. The State is now practising the market-oriented economic system. So, the State shall help citizens have access to technical know-how, investments, machinery and raw materials. Moreover, no citizen shall, except matters on precautionary measures taken in accordance with law for the security of the State or prevalence of law and order or the peace and tranquillity and interests of the people or matters permitted under an existing law, be held in custody for more than 24 hours without the remand of a competent magistrate. The power to issue writs shall be vested in the Supreme Court to effectively remedy deprivation of fundamental rights of citizens. Each citizen has access to fundamental rights. So, duties that all citizen have to perform duties without fail shall be prescribed. So, of the points in the Citizenship, Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens the Work Committee Chairman has discussed, (1) two points on citizenship, (2) six points on equality, (3) five points on liberty, (4) two points on enslavement and forced labour, (5) seven points on freedom of faith, (6) three points on rights of culture and education, (7) two points on election, (8) three points on economy, (9) four points on the rights of criminals, (10) six points on enforcement of remedies for loss and damages, (11) seven points on duties of citizens, and (12) one point on the word “The State” numbering 48 points should be adopted.

Now, I would like to discuss the Work Committee Chairman’s clarifications to the detailed basic principles that should be adopted for the Role of Tatmadaw to be included in the Constitution. Each and every citizen is duty bound to protect and safeguard the nation and the people. According to the provisions of the constitution, the major task of every government is to safeguard lives and property and to crush all forms of dangers to the citizens. Things everyone loves and cherishes most are one’s own life and property. So, the duty to protect the lives and property of citizens from dangers is noblest. Natural disasters and dangers posed by acts of people are of most destructive to lives and property of human. The Tatmadaw was conceived with the lofty motto “Nation is not for the Tatmadaw, but the Tatmadaw is for the nation”. At the military officer graduation ceremony held on 13 March 1944 in Mindalagon, national leader General Aung San said, “The duties of we soldiers are to protect and safeguard independence, territory and sovereignty of our nation at risk to our lives. Is there any duty that is more noble than that? Our Tatmadaw is for the entire nation. Even if our nation is weak, we are not afraid of a superior nation if it unjustly insults us, and we do not want to unfairly treat weaker nations. So, the Tatmadaw is the basis of the nation”.

In the time of King Anawrahta, all the men had to serve as soldiers. In the time of King Bayintnaung, there formed fifty forces, each of which consisted of 15,000 troops. In the time of King Alaungphaya, there formed forty forces, each of which consisted of 10,000 troops. In the time of King Mindon and King Thibaw (1880 Myanmar Era) the number of soldiers stood at 26,329. The number of 30,000 soldiers was not enough to safeguard sovereignty of the motherland. It was evidenced by the point that the nation fell under alien subjugation.

The National Convention held on 16 September 1993 laid down 16 principles. At the 60th Anniversary Armed Forces Day Parade, the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services gave guidance, saying that a capable and modern Tatmadaw was to be established to protect the gradually developing nation. The Tatmadaw has to take a leading role in crushing dangers of all internal and external destructive elements, enlisting the mighty strength of the people. According to the 1947 Constitution and basic principles the ongoing National Convention has adopted, every citizen shall undergo military training, and discharge military services under the control of the Tatmadaw. The Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services is head of all the armed forces, and his position should be designated as the post equivalent to the Vice President. The administrative head is the President of the nation, so he shall appoint the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services with the approval of the defence and security council. Separate military acts are enacted and courts formed as the Tatmadaw is an armed force. The Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services is well-versed with military acts and code of conduct, so his decision shall be final. The Tatmadaw shall take all necessary measures whenever the nation comes under natural disasters.

The conditions of world nations today have indicated that when loopholes of a constitution are associated with social and economic crises alongside alien instigation, it leads a nation to collapse. So, I would suggest that the principles No 1 to 14 for the Role of Tatmadaw the Work Committee discussed on 10-1-2006 should be adopted.