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Myanmar parliament speaker seeks holding of referendum on approved amendment bill along with election

Xinhua, July 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Myanmar's Parliament Speaker U Shwe Mann sought on Wednesday to hold a nationwide referendum on one parliament-approved section out of six in the amendment bill for 2008 constitution along with the upcoming general election.

The parliament will inform the Union Election Commission to prepare for the move which will save the spending, Shwe Mann said.

Myanmar's upcoming general election is preliminarily set for the end of October or the beginning of November.

Last Thursday, through a secret ballot system, the parliament 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 its favor, is Section 59(d) dealing with the qualification of a presidential candidate.

The amendment bill, submitted by the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), 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 voting was done by 583 MPs out of 633. Of the 583 MPs, 166 are directly appointed by the military without being elected by the people.

Voting on other sections of the 2008 constitution in the USDP- submitted amendment bill will continue after debate in the parliament in these days. Endi