As the struggle against military rule continues, there is no denying that the peoples of Burma/Myanmar are faced with a formidable array of challenges in trying to achieve the constitution of a federal democratic union. These include the creation of new federal ‘constituent units’ (CUs) that are demanded by a diversity of ethnic nationalities and groups. This is in addition to the issue of an ethnic ‘Bamar State’ to be drawn up on an equal basis with the seven other nationality states at present: i.e., Chin, Kachin, Karen, Kayah (Karenni), Mon, Rakhine (Arakan) and Shan.
Nowhere is the demand for the creation of new constituent administrative units presently more pronounced than in Shan State, followed by Kachin State and, to a lesser extent, Sagaing Region. Here many of the smaller nationality peoples or movements that may be termed ‘sub-groups’ in these territories are also under arms or in resistance, such as Kokang, Ta’ang and Wa. This makes the challenge of creating new federal CUs more daunting since the solutions lie in political dialogue and agreements and not through ‘zero-sum’ or ‘win-lose’ armed confrontations. Because of this, we need to explore successful solutions through a given political framework, most probably or preferably in a federal democratic union, with a set of criteria to govern the process of the creation of new CUs.
For this reason, it goes without saying that all stakeholders that are already constituent units – as well as those aspiring to become one – should sit together to write a set of rules and regulations which will reflect the desires and aspirations of local, regional and federal-level populations in a constructive way. In such a consultation, there should be no exclusions.
Before moving on to this, it is first necessary to look at how such a reform process has been conducted in a variety of countries around the world, and then briefly look at the particular issue of CU creation in the three constitutions of 1947, 1974 and 2008 drawn up or employed by successive civilian and military governments in Myanmar since independence. In addition, we need to recognise that over the decades there have been other constituent models by opposition groups, such as the 1961 Shan Federal Proposal. Most recently, these include a 2008 constitution drafted by the Federal Constitution Drafting and Coordinating Committee (FCDCC), an anti-military alliance of National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmakers and ethnic armed organisations (EAOs); and a 2021 Federal Democracy Charter (FDC) drafted by the National Unity Consultative Council/National Unity Government (NUCC/NUG). Different points of view need to be considered to cover the whole spectrum.
After this review, we need to look at the historical backdrop to the creation of constitutions and CUs, linking them to contemporary challenges facing the peoples. Finally, we need to consider why and how to go about dealing with this issue in order to benefit the whole country while resolving the decades-old conflicts that have continued since the British departure in 1948. Political solutions are integral to future peace and stability.
