PuttingTheir Guns on the Scale: Constitution-Making in Burma/Myanmar under Military Command

Abstract

Abstract The process of making the present Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar in Burma/Myanmar under the military dictatorship State Law and Order Restoration Council/State Peace and Development Council (SLORC/SPDC) from 1993 through to 2007 is rightly viewed as an undemocratic, repressive process. Both the citizens of Myanmar and the international community generally had no say in the whole process. Thus, the process may be viewed as one of resistance by the SLORC/SPDC against global constitution-making norms and practices, on the one hand, and local democratic politicians and groups, on the other hand. The Constitution that came into operation in January 2011 admittedly has highly undemocratic content. However, it undeniably has some democratic content that started bearing fruit, eventually culminating in the winning, in the November 2015 general election, and the coming to power of, the National League for Democracy party in March 2016. I trace the constitution making in Burma/Myanmar by expanding the time frame of analysis until 2016 and revisit the ‘resistance’ argument. Then I posit that the process is a double-pronged strategy by the SLORC/SPDC to, first, resist global and local pressures with the intention of, later, engaging with them when the time was perceived to be right and conducive to their interests.