Organizers seek amendments of Art. 436, which gives the military the power to veto reforms, and Art. 59 (F) that would prevent Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president. The campaign began May 27 and ends on July 19. At least 600 thousand signatures in one area of Yangon.

Yangon (AsiaNews) - More than three million Burmese citizens have signed the petition calling for the military to remove its veto on reforms or amendments to the Constitution. And many more are expected to come out in support of a radical change for Myanmar, ruled by a military junta for decades, and still today, led by a semi-civilian government that in reality is headed by the upper echelons of the army. The petition campaign began May 27 and ends July 19. It has been gaining ground across the nation, finding consensus in the seven states and many regions that make up the nation.

In an interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA) Tun Tun Hein, spokesman for the National League for Democracy (NLD), explains that not all signatures already received have been counted. "We have collected over 600,000 in Yangon Region, which is the most," Tun Tun Hein said, referring to results coming in from the country's commercial center and former capital.  "The second largest number comes from Mandalay Region and Ayeyawaddy Region," he said, adding that to avoid irregularities in the poll, "we have requested that people sign only once."

The petition, organized jointly by the NLD and the 88 Generation students group, calls for amendments to Article 436 of the constitution, which allows effective veto power by the military over proposed constitutional amendments. Under Article 436, charter reform can take place only with the support of 75 percent of lawmakers, and the constitution-written in 2008 under Myanmar's former military junta regime-reserves 25 of the seats in the country's parliament for military members who are appointed without election.

Election officials have warned  NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and some other deputies that their support for the petition is in violation of their oath to "uphold and abide by" the constitution. However, the Nobel Laureate has claimed the right of Burmese citizens - including  herself - to sign petitions or join popular initiatives calling for fundamental reform of the Charter. Moreover, the current Charter was approved by the military in May 2008, with a sham referendum held during an emergency caused by the devastation of Cyclone Nargis. " Getting rid of the military's veto is the first step needed to pave the way for other amendments", she said

The petitioners are also calling for amendments to Article 59(F), which prohibits Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president because her two sons are not citizens of Myanmar (they are English, like her husband Michael Aris who died in 1999). The campaign is due to end on July 19 and organizers are still awaiting waiting for numbers from places such as northern Sagaing [Region] and Kachin State, which are "hard to reach". However, the path of reform is fraught with difficulties since the parliamentary committee tasked with reviewing public proposals for revising the charter has already decided against amending the clause in the charter barring Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president but calling for an amendment to Article 436.

• myanmar
• petition
• consitutional
• reform
• military
• junta
• aung
• san
• suu
• kyi
• democracy