Yanghee Lee, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, on Thursday welcomed the establishment of a parliamentary committee to amend the country’s problematic constitution.
“The establishment of this committee is a positive development that I hope will aid Myanmar to truly transition to democracy.
“The people wish the constitution to be amended and I encourage the new joint committee to carry out their will,’’ Lee said.
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Her statement followed a 414 to 191 parliamentary vote in favour of the committee on Wednesday.
The move was backed by members of the ruling National League for Democracy, which is headed by de facto Head of Government, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Charter change was one of her party’s main campaign promises before they won a parliamentary majority in the 2015 election.
However, the proposal was denounced by military lawmakers, who are guaranteed a quarter of seats in parliament by the current constitution, which was enacted in 2008 by Myanmar’s then-ruling generals.
The constitution also places three security-related ministries under military rather than civilian control and bars citizens with foreign relatives from the presidency, including Aung San Suu Kyi.
“The current constitution is not democratic and Myanmar cannot be considered a democracy without it being amended,’’ Lee said.
Lee has been a harsh critic of Myanmar’s violent expulsion of over 800,000 Rohingya Muslims from the country since 2016.
In December 2017, the Suu Kyi-headed Foreign Ministry banned her from entering the country. (NAN)
