Myanmar army MPs slam bill to create Suu Kyi �advisor� role

Myanmar military MPs yesterday said a plan to bolster Aung San Suu Kyi’s power with a special advisory role was unconstitutional, as the new civilian government tussled with the army just days after taking office, reports AFP from Yangon. The Southeast Asian nation was dominated by the military for more than half a century until Wednesday when Suu Kyi and her pro-democracy party took power. The Nobel laureate, whose party secured a landslide election win in November, has vowed to rule the country despite a constitutional block on her becoming president. In a surprise early act of parliamentary business by the new government, Suu Kyi’s party proposed a bill to grant her a special “state counsellor” position. If passed it would give the 70-year-old a steering role over parliament, buttressed by the four ministerial posts she already holds in the new cabinet. But in a sign of early turbulence between her party and the still hugely influential army, military MPs challenged the move in an upper house debate Friday that saw the bill pass its first legislative hurdle. Colonel Myint Swe raised fears the plan would place the “president and the advisor at the same level”. “This is in opposition to the constitution. So I would like to suggest the bill be amended according to the constitution,” he told lawmakers. Another army lawmaker, Colonel Hla Win Aung, also decried the naming of Suu Kyi in the bill and warned it could “destroy” the balance of power between government branches. The army is reserved a quarter of all parliamentary seats by a junta-era charter. The bill passed the upper house vote but still needs approval from the lower house and combined parliament, which are similarly dominated by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). NLD MP Zaw Min, chairman of the upper house bill committee, dismissed concerns that the proposal was unconstitutional, saying that judgement lies with the newly formed Constitutional Tribunal.

Myanmar army MPs slam bill to create Suu Kyi �advisor� role

Myanmar military MPs yesterday said a plan to bolster Aung San Suu Kyis power with a special advisory role was unconstitutional, as the new civilian government tussled with the army just days after taking office, reports AFP from Yangon. The Southeast Asian nation was dominated by the military for more than half a century until Wednesday when Suu Kyi and her pro-democracy party took power. The Nobel laureate, whose party secured a landslide election win in November, has vowed to rule the country despite a constitutional block on her becoming president. In a surprise early act of parliamentary business by the new government, Suu Kyis party proposed a bill to grant her a special state counsellor position. If passed it would give the 70-year-old a steering role over parliament, buttressed by the four ministerial posts she already holds in the new cabinet. But in a sign of early turbulence between her party and the still hugely influential army, military MPs challenged the move in an upper house debate Friday that saw the bill pass its first legislative hurdle. Colonel Myint Swe raised fears the plan would place the president and the advisor at the same level. This is in opposition to the constitution. So I would like to suggest the bill be amended according to the constitution, he told lawmakers. Another army lawmaker, Colonel Hla Win Aung, also decried the naming of Suu Kyi in the bill and warned it could destroy the balance of power between government branches. The army is reserved a quarter of all parliamentary seats by a junta-era charter. The bill passed the upper house vote but still needs approval from the lower house and combined parliament, which are similarly dominated by Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD). NLD MP Zaw Min, chairman of the upper house bill committee, dismissed concerns that the proposal was unconstitutional, saying that judgement lies with the newly formed Constitutional Tribunal.