A constitution' s response, hope for a united Burma

A constitution' s response, hope for a united Burma Reported by Christa M. Thorpe Two hundred thirty-one years ago today the United States declared independence, and over the next decade, the Founding Fathers were drafting a document that would provide the checks and balances that they deemed necessary to create their own constitutional democracy. From the first articles of the U.S. Constitution, a strong focus on the structural foundation of a central government implied that the former struggles under foreign governors had been the catalyst for the creation of a new democracy. The Bill of Rights, among the twenty-seven amendments to the Constitution throughout history gradually responded to problematic holes in the system, including racial inequality and gender discrimination. The written constitution of a nation-state is a document that is often indicative of the past struggles and reactive concerns of the people who are choosing to enact a new improved system, as is clearly the case with the current drafting of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of the Union of Burma. The Federal Constitution Drafting and Coordinating Committee (FCDCC) is a group supported by the Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC), regarded as the largest state-based alliance in Burma. The drafters have one eye boldly fixed ahead toward a goal of national reconciliation and establishment of democracy in Burma, and the other focused on the unforgotten principles of the 1947 Panglong Agreement, and on the past and present failings that have left Burma in a state of civil war and turmoil for fifty years. The first draft of the Constitution, released in the last year, begins with a preamble that briefly shares the history of the land that is to be the Federal Republic of the Union of Burma. It is a clear, determined statement emphasizing the democratic and human rights of all people, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion. If a Constitution is indeed a peoples' response, then what does this hopeful document for the Federal Republic of the Union of Burma reveal about the past and present struggles of the people? Hinting at their priorities, the thirty-six articles of the Bill of Rights, Guarantees, and Duties, which empower the citizens, are listed early in the document, before any mention of the details of government structure. In the succeeding chapters outlining the Assembly of the Federal Union, the presidency, and various branches, power distribution in the proposed democracy proves to be very decentralized, a stark contrast to the current regime. As a reaction to the human rights abuses and anti-democratic dictatorship that have loomed throughout Burma since 1962, the new Constitution is aimed to amend the entire system and create democracy. Hopefully, once a democratic constitution has been implemented in Burma, the document will have the flexible capability to respond to what future problems might arise, and leaders will not let the nation's dark history repeat itself. The first draft of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of the Union of Burma was adopted by the opposition on 8 April 2006. For full details, please visit www.encburma. org. URL: http://www.shanland .org/politics/ 2007/a-constitut ions-response- hope-for- a-united- burma