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Myanmar parliament vetos almost all amendment bills for constitutional change

Xinhua, June 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Myanmar's parliament on Thursday vetoed almost all six sections of amendment bills except one for the 2008 constitution after three-day debate.

The only one section, which was voted in favor, is Section 59(d) dealing with the qualification of a presidential candidate.

The amendment bill proposes that the candidate shall be well acquainted with the affairs of defense instead of military.

Other amendment bills for the remaining five Sections -- 59 (f) , 436(a), 436 (b), 60 (c) and 418 (b) were turned down as the number of voters stood less than 75 percent, the percentage required to pass the bill.

The amendment bill for the Section 59(f), which deals with the eligibility to become president, proposes lifting ban only on a presidential candidate whose son-in-law or daughter-in-law shall not be foreign citizen and enjoy the privileges of a foreign government, but continues ban without change on a candidate whose spouse or one of the legitimate children is a foreign citizen and enjoy the privileges of a foreign government.

The unchanged Section is still restricting a person of the same family status to become president.

The amendment bill for the Section 436(a), which deals with the requirement for a change for a number of designated key sections, proposes a change to at least 70 percent of MPs' consent from 75 percent originally stipulated and to over 50 percent of the on-the- spot voters' in the referendum from the same percent of eligible voters originally prescribed for change the provisions of a number of designated key sections of the constitution.

The amendment bill for Section 436(b), which deals with provisions other than those mentioned in Section 436 (a) shall be amended by a vote of more than 75 percent of all the MPs.

The amendment bill for Section 60 (c), which deals with the eligibility for presidency, proposes to revise that election of a vice president or president shall be from among people-elected parliament representatives and not from among persons who are non- elected or directly-appointed military representatives.

The amendment bill for Section 418 (b) deals with transfer of power to the Commander-in-Chief in case of declaration of state of emergency in the country deems termination of duties of local administration.

The voting was done by 583 MPs out of 633 through a secret ballot system.

Voting on other Sections of amendment bills for the 2008 constitution will continue later, according to the parliament.

The constitution was promulgated in May 2008 to serve as a base for November 2010 general election.

The present term of the government which started from March 2011 is to expire in March 2016. Endi