State and Region Parliaments News Bulletin Issue (30) _ Thursday, 18th May 2017 Ethnic States Win Right to Draft Constitutions th 12 May 2017 tion, federal Union principles, and a multi-party democratic system. Myanmar ’s seven ethnic states have UPDJC participants had to agree that won the right to draft their own constitu- their state constitutions do not contra- tions, an unprecedented breakthrough in dict the Union’s 2008 Constitution, - which would take precedence in any nation, according to the leader of an possible disputes. armedtheir fight ethnic for group. equality and self-determi The state parliaments, governments, After the Friday morning meeting of and courts will come under the state the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Com- constitutions, whose authority will be mittee (UPDJC), Col. Hkun Okkar of the protected from Union government in- Pa-O National Liberation Organization terference. (PNLO) told reporters “the government “If the mandates are unclear, our has acknowledged the right to self-de- country could not develop any further. termination for the state as we are al- If the state’s mandates are clear, the lowed to draft the state constitution.” Union level governance cannot revoke “We were able to agree that we could it,” said Col. Hkun Okkar, referring to a draft our own state constitutions, time when his group asked the Shan which has never been done in the histo- state government to regrow trees, but ry,” he said. “The states under the Union the state government replied that they have never had such rights as to draft should ask the Union Ministry of Minis- their own constitutions, but we have try of Environmental Conservation and earned it today.” Forestry. The meeting on Friday approved the On the topic of self-determination, basic principles covering political, eco- nomic, social, security, and land and en- words “no secession” from the Union. vironment sectors. the 21st Century Panglong peace confer- Thethe meetingsTatmadaw participant’s requested saidto add “no these- The UPDJC has so far agreed to six of ence to begin on May 24. These princi- cession” shared the same meaning as seven principles of the federal Union to ples are: sovereignty, the practice of “non-disintegration” of the Union. be negotiated in the second round of - (Ref: https://www.irrawaddy.com) sovereignty, equality, self-determina Photo News “Performance Analysis of State and Region Hluttaws (Local Legislatures) in Myanmar (2010-2015)”, conducted by Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation (EMReF), is now available for download in both Myanmar and English: http://www.mypilar.org/en/ A coordination meeting of “Kayin State Reform Priorities and Budget” was publication/performance- organized by the Kayin State Government and The Asia Foundation (TAF), and the analysis- state- and-re- Ministers and the Hluttaw Committee Chairpersons attended the meeting. gion-hluttaws-local-legisla- (Ref: Kayin State Hluttaw Facebook Page) tures-myanmar- 2010-2015 -1- State and Region Parliaments News Bulletin Issue_30 Mon State Hluttaw Budget, Planning and Economic Affairs Review Committee Makes Field Investigation 9th May 2017 On 9th May, the Budget, Planning and Economic Affairs Review Committee of the Mon State Parliament went to in- vestigate hotel construction in the Southern Myanmar Football Field, Mawlamyine, Mon State. Eight mem- - ferent government departments in- cludingbers of thethe Committee, General Administrationofficials of dif Department (GAD), the State Municipal Body, the State Hotel and Tourism De- partment, and the State Sports Depart- ment had a meeting with the represen- tatives of the Southern Myanmar F.C. During the meeting, the committee members asked stages of the hotel con- struction, design and size of the hotel and revenue of the F.C. (Ref: www.monhluttaw.com) Mon Chief Minister Will Hold Four Public Meetings a Year th 10 May 2017 He added the public must be a part of the decision-making process for Maw- Dr. Aye Zan announced the upcom- The Mon State Chief Minister, Dr. Aye lamyine and Mon State to be developed. ingholders, meetings the meetings during awill public yield gathering benefits. Zan, announced on 7th May that he “We would like to meet him, but I on May 7th at the State Hall in Maw- would hold four public meetings every think he needs to be very deliberate lamyine. He has also held meetings in year to get input and build cooperation about the meetings; what information Chaungzon, Kyaikmaraw and Thanbyu- with voters in the State. He made the does he want to share and what does he zayat townships. want to learn. Often at these meetings he has held, which focused on corrup- politicians just talk and don’t listen, so I chief minister made promises of trans- tionannouncement and the illegal at the sale first of such public meeting land. want to know, will he be willing to lis- parency.This is Shortly not the after first his time appointment that the The meetings will be held in the Mon ten?” said U Maung Maung Zaw Tun, a in early March, the Chief Minister prom- State capital, Mawlamyine. businessman from Mawlamyine. ised to hold weekly press conferences U Maung Maung Zaw Htun added that to keep the media informed of his work. chance to meet with the public in Maw- if the Minister wants the state to be devel- So far though, no such press confer- lamyine,“This andis the I plan first to time do it I’ve four had times the a oped, he should come up with a theme ences have been held. year to build consensus with the pub- and invite all the stakeholders. If there (Ref: Mon News Agency http://burmese. lic,” he said. are extensive discussions with the stake- bnionline.net/) State and Region Collected and Presented by -Contact - Parliaments Enlightened Myanmar +95 9 261654045 News Bulletin Research Foundation www.emref.org www.facebook.com/emrmyanmar -2- State and Region Parliaments News Bulletin Issue_30 Approximately 370 GAD Staff Transferred to State/Region Parliament Offices th 13 May 2017 taking into the staff’s will into account newly arrived staff had to learn ever- as the parliaments need to be indepen- thing again. From now on, the parlia- Three hundred and seventy-two ments can perform better,” said U Soe staff of the General Administration De- Since some GAD staff who were al- Thura Tun, a Pyithu Hluttaw MP partment (GAD) have been transferred dent, according to an officer of the GAD. (Kungyangon Constituency). are now permanently transferred to the “A parliament will be more compe- it was announced by the Pyidaungsu ready working at the parliament offices tent if run by its own staff. To me, the to the State/Region Parliament Offices, and MPs commented that the capacity GAD staff at hluttaws were really Union Government. willhluttaw improve. offices, some political analysts - Hluttaw Office in accordance with the “Pyithu, Amyotha, and Pyidaungsu tionable since their mother depart- Hluttaws have their own staff. In the mentgood. However,was not hluttaw, loyalty might but the be GAD,”ques haveAccording been transferred to the notification according by theto previous term, often State/Region said U Ye Myo Hein of Tagaung Insti- theirPyidaungsu original Hluttaw ranks with Office, the same the salastaff- Parliaments Office staff were trans- tute of Political Studies. ries. ferred after they had learned pro- (Ref: 7daydaily - http://www.7daydaily.com/ The transfer was carried out after cudures at the parliaments. And the story/95996) Photo News Short News On 3rd May, the Second Kayah State Hluttaw held an emergency session (1/2017), during which two new mem- bers were added to the Com- plaint Letters Review Commit- tee. (Ref: Kayah State Hluttaw Facebook Page) Bago lawmaker U Zaw Lin Htike (Thegon Constituency 2) attended “the Action Plan for National Education Strategic Plan” at the Pyay University on 11th May, which was present- ed by the Professor and the As- sociate Professors from three A meeting of “the Kachin State Municipal Law Amendment draft” was held on 5th universities in Pray. May, and the State Hluttaw Bill Committee members and government department (Ref: Bago Region Hluttaw Facebook Page) (Ref: U Kyaw Kyaw Tun’s Facebook Page) officials attended the meeting. -3-.