Only the federal system and federal constitution can actually guarantee the rights of our ethnics in the long-run, said Col Khun Okkar, Patron of the PaO National Liberation Organization (PNLO) told media after the opening ceremony of Pa-O National Youth Conference (Mon State) on September 7.
“Currently, there are no significant facts that can guarantee the rights of ethnic people in the 1947 Constitution, the 1974 Constitution and the 2008 Constitution. There are a few points that protect the rights of ethnics. It will be included in the federal democratic Union. We are working on the ways of marching towards the federal democratic union,” Col Khun Okkar added.
“The NLD-led government said that it needs to build the federal democratic union aspired by the ethnic people. The NLD wants to implement it through the parliamentary path and political dialogues. Its effort should achieve a 50-per-cent success. On the other hand, the charter amendment should halve it. The ruling party would achieve its goal by doing this way,” he added.
“Holding political dialogues outside parliament without the amendment of the 2008 Constitution will stop halfway through the journey. Amending the 2008 Constitution without taking account of the results that come from the political dialogues will go the same way. This process may take about 15 to 20 years,” he said.
“Currently, the peace processes have stopped halfway through. Efforts are being made to amend the constitution in the parliament by the 45-member committee. But it may face difficulties. Another hindrance is that all MPs in parliament are not elected by the people’s votes.
