'Politics Outside the Parliament Must Exist'

With Burma's new Parliament having recently completed its first session, there is now an ongoing debate as to whether the country's first legislative branch in 20 years will promote an agenda that benefits the people and where the nation's democratic transition is heading. To get a first-hand account of the parliamentary session and perspective on how effective the new legislature has been and will be in the future, The Irrawaddy reporter Htet Aung interviewed Dr Myat Nyana Soe, a member of the National Democratic Force (NDF) who was elected to the Amyotha Hluttaw (Upper House) of Parliament.

Dr Myat Nyana Soe

Answer:  The parliamentary sessions lasted for two months, but it should be noted clearly that this Parliament took place during the rule of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). Only in the last days of the session was the new president sworn into office. There has still been no parliamentary session to be held under the new government. Therefore, the discussions on the questions and proposals happened under the rule of the SPDC and the answers were given by the SPDC ministers. Because of that, there were questions and answers that weren't clear and often derailed the points.

However, as I intended before, I was personally able to sound out the parliament on the concerns of the people. In reviewing the parliamentary sessions, I think we were able to bring the people's voice to the parliament to some extent, but how effective was it?

Let me give an example. I asked about the mobile phone system, but didn't get a clear answer from U Thein Zaw, who was then the minister of communications, posts and telegraphs. However, after the new government took power, U Thein Htun, the new minister, outlined a five-year plan for expanding mobile phone lines by up to 30 million. He said that within the first fiscal year the expansion will be about 5 million, which is more than double existing numbers. It means that the discussions in parliament didn't just evaporate into the air after the sessions. According to Article 445 of the Constitution, the new government has the obligation to continue what the SPDC and the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) [the former name of the SPDC] had done. Because of that, it can be concluded that the new government will continue to carry out what the previous government said.

Another point is that we can't say that we have been away from the parliamentary landscape for 22 years. We need to add another 26 years [of the one-party socialist system], so we haven't had such a parliamentary democratic system for nearly 50 years. Because everybody is at the stage of just testing the water at this time, there have been some questions that only focused on a region and are not suitable for the sessions of the Union Parliament, where only the policy issues of national-level matters should be questioned. It was because we did not have experience with this before.

Regarding the submission of the proposals, I raised the issue of the Burmese migrants in my proposal and U Aung Kyi, then the minister of labor for the SPDC, responded to it. There has now been an appointment of a Burmese labor official in Korea. Also, the state media has never before reported the news of the Burmese migrants working overseas, but as you may know, the state media carefully reported the news of the car accident (which caused the deaths of several Burmese migrants in the car) that recently happened in Thailand.

What I mean is that there has already been a shift, but I would say no if asked about whether it is enough. I think this shift needs to move ahead momentously and transparently. I would like to conclude that some people might think that they didn't see any significance from the previous parliamentary discussions, but as for me, I saw a shift in there. As a people's representative, I spoke out for the people's desires in parliament and saw some responses from the government in return.