Federalism, ethnic conflict and the politics of national reconciliation - general studies and sources

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Websites/Multiple Documents

Title: Burma Lawyers? Council website
Description: Contains a number of Burma law-related documents including the BLC journal of "Legal Issues on Burma Journal" (English) and "Journal of Constitutional Affairs" (Burmese) as well as texts in English and/or Burmese of laws/decrees, constitutions and associated documents. The BLC site is down at the moment (permanently?) but the BLC archive is acessible to 2011 in Archive.org via the primary link here.
Source/publisher: Burma Lawyers? Council (BLC)
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English, Burmese
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Title: Shan State Progress Party (SSPP)
Description: "...The Shan resistance was born on May 21, 1958. On April 25, 1960 the Shan State Independence Army (SSIA) was formed in Loi La, Mong Yawn, Kengtung state with Hkun Maha as chairman and Sao Hso Hkarn as secretary general. On April 24, 1964 Shan resistance forces formed the Shan State Army (SSA) with Sao Nang Hearn Kham (Mahadevi of Yawnghwe) as chairman. In 1971, the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) was established and its first congress was held on August 16, 1971. The SSPP signed a ceasefi re agreement with Myanmar government in 1989. Burma army gave a pressure on the SSPP to transform into BGF in 2010. The SSPP/SSA brigade 3 and 7 transformed into BGF in the following year but brigade 1 led by Col. Pang Fa (now Lt. Gen) rejuvenated the SSPP/SSA and have kept the ceasefire agreement even though the Shan army has been some clashes with Burma army...."
Creator/author: SSPP
Source/publisher: ssppssa.org
Date of publication: 00-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-11
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
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Title: Tai Freedom
Description: "...Tai Freedom website is from Information Department of Restoration Council of the Shan State and Shan State Army. Our website is publishing general news from Shan State, RCSS/SSA statement and activities. Especially news about human right abuse from any arms groups in Shan State..."
Creator/author: Tai Freedom
Source/publisher: Tai Freedom website
Date of publication: 00-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-11
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
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Title: The Forum of Federations,
Description: "The Forum of Federations, ?an international network on federalism”, seeks to strengthen democratic governance by promoting dialogue on and understanding of the values, practices, principles, and possibilities of federalism..." Includes a link to the International Conference on Federalism, St Gallen, Switzerland, August 2002.
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Individual Documents

Title: Freedoms Way Vol.5
Sub-title: "Special Issue"
Description: "Contents: Earnest Request to our readers, The shan national flag, Excerpts from T.R.C president's speech, Excerpts from Gen. Khun Sa's speech, Quotes, U.S and U.N accept and help the Burmese government to eliminate that mong Tai (Shan State) people under the cover of drug suppression, Joint communique, A speech given by the representative from, Mong Karn at the 19th graduation ceremony, our nationalism, on leadership, behind the scenes (or) the real M.X, letters to the editor, our aspirations in polictis......"
Source/publisher: Kham Koo Website
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-19
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : PDF
Size: 15.11 MB
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Title: Gen Khun Sa Hi Life and His Speeches
Description: "Khun Sa is the seventh generation descendant of his ancestors who immigrated in the 18th century fro Nawng- sae (Talifu), and ancient Shan principality in China. One ot them won chieftainship (Zao- Maung in Shan) of the Loimaw territory in Hsenwi Principality through meritorious service to the princedom. Khun S, also know as Chang Si - Fu, was born in Hpa - perng Village, Loimaw Ward, Tang Yan Township, Lashio Proviince on 17th February 1934......"
Source/publisher: Kham Koo Website
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-19
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : PDF
Size: 6.18 MB
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Title: The distorted truth about Shan State and its people
Description: "Shan history was written in Thai Language. The contents included what is Tai or Shan, history of Shan revolution such as The Shan United Front, Shan State Army...."
Source/publisher: Kham Koo Website
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-12
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : PDF
Size: 8.67 MB
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Title: RCSS rule of law
Description: "The contents included RCSS objectives and aims, governance, rights, RCSS's policy on opium issues, and policy on environmental issues...."
Source/publisher: Kham Koo Website
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-12
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : PDF pdf
Size: 339.67 MB 339.67 KB
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Title: Shan State Army Policies
Description: "The contents included army recruitment policy, education, health, religion, social and culture policies....."
Source/publisher: Kham Koo Website
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-12
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : PDF
Size: 2.75 MB
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Title: Who Lie to Whom?
Description: "This book was written about Panglong agreement; the contents included first Panglong conference in 1946 also know as Saophas or Chaofa meeting, Pang Long agreement, and after independents from British ....."
Source/publisher: Kham Koo Website
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-12
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : PDF
Size: 19.06 MB
Local URL:
  1. PDF icon who_lie_whom.pdf
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Title: Sao Korn Jerng
Sub-title: His Life and His Speeches
Description: "Sao Korn Jerng also know as Moe Heaing the founder of Shan State United Patriotic Council (SSUPC) and this book is about his life in the arm group...."
Source/publisher: Kham Koo Website
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-28
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : PDF
Size: 8.73 MB
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Title: Shan State's Question at Issues on Minority Group by SSUPC
Description: "The populace of Shan State comprises of multi ethnic group who have lived harmoniously through together period of hardship and prosperity in the past up until the present time....."
Source/publisher: Kham Koo Website
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-28
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : PDF
Size: 2.93 MB
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Title: Sequencing Peace Agreements and Constitutions in the Political Settlement Process
Description: "This Policy Paper focuses on sequencing peace agreements and constitutional arrangements within the broader political settlement processes in fragile and conflictaffected settings. Political settlements comprise the underlying agreed understandings about how power is to be held and exercised. It is often assumed that there is a specific sequence to reach a political settlement: typically, a ceasefire or peace agreement that includes (or is followed by) transitional political arrangements or an interim constitution that culminates in some form of long-term constitutional arrangement. According to this assumption, the political settlement is understood to develop as part of the peace and constitution-building process. In practice, matters are likely to be much more complicated. Peace agreements and constitutional arrangements often fail to reflect a broadly shared political settlement, and require further negotiations to resolve conflict and start building sustainable peace. Political settlements can be understood, on the one hand, as distinct from peace agreements and constitutional arrangements, but on the other hand as part of the same jigsaw puzzle, which may be arranged in different ways that often depart from the linear model. For instance, while both peace agreements and constitutional arrangements may reflect an underlying political understanding between the parties at the negotiating table, the connection between these documents and any shared political settlement can vary significantly. While peace agreements primarily aim to end a conflict, and are the result of negotiations between most (if not all) parties to the conflict, they can take different forms, including (a) ceasefires or other pre-negotiation agreements; (b) framework peace agreements that also address the core issues of the conflict; and (c) implementation agreements. Transitional political arrangements, interim constitutions and final constitutions will often be intermingled with ceasefire or peace agreements in complex sequences. Whether or not the process starts with a ceasefire/peace agreement, the parties often reach some form of transitional political arrangement that sets the stage for how power is to be held and exercised for a limited time. Transitional political arrangements only provide an attenuated legal framework, either working outside the former legal structures or within the arrangements of the pre-existing constitution. Interim constitutions can form an additional step towards a final constitution by providing a clearer constitutional structure with legal supremacy, sometimes enabling elections, and providing a roadmap for negotiating and drafting a final constitution. Since 1990, a total of 23 political settlement processes in fragile and conflict-affected settings have concluded in a ‘final’ constitution (see Chapter 3). Based on an analysis of these processes, this paper identifies four broad sequencing patterns..."
Christine Bell, Kimana Zulueta-Fülscher
Source/publisher: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA)
Date of publication: 2016-11-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-05-26
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 247.48 KB
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Title: Sequencing Peace Agreements and Constitutions in the Political Settlement Process - နိုင်ငံရေးဖြေရှင်းချက်လုပ်ငန်းစဉ်တွင် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးသဘောတူညီချက်များနှင့်ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေများကို ရှေ့နောက်စီစဉ်ဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်း
Description: "ဤမူဝါဒစာတမ်းတွင် ထိလွယ်ရှလွယ် အခြေအနေများနှင့် ပဋိပက္ခသက်ရောက်မှုရှိသည့် နယ်မြေများ၌ ပိုမိုကျယ်ပြန့်သော နိုင်ငံရေးဖြေရှင်းချက် လုပ်ငန်းစဉ်များအတွင်း ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေး သဘောတူညီချက်များနှင့် ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေဆိုင်ရာအစီအမံများကို ရှေ့နောက်စီစဉ်ခြင်း အကြောင်း အဓိကတင်ပြထားပါသည်။ နိုင်ငံရေးဖြေရှင်းချက်ဆိုသည်မှာ လုပ်ပိုင်ခွင့်အာဏာ လက်ဝယ်ထားရှိပုံနှင့် ကျင့်သုံးပုံဆိုင်ရာ အခြေခံ နားလည်သဘောပေါက်မှုများကို သဘော တူညီထားခြင်း ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ နိုင်ငံရေး ဖြေရှင်းချက်ရရှိရေး လုပ်ငန်းစဉ်မှာ လုပ်ဆောင်ရမည့် လုပ်ငန်းများ ရှေ့နောက်အစီအစဉ် အတိအကျရှိသည်ဟု ယူဆကြလေ့ ရှိပါသည်။ များသော အားဖြင့် အပစ်အခတ်ရပ်စဲရေး သဘောတူညီချက် သို့မဟုတ် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးသဘောတူညီချက်ကို ဦးစွာ ရယူပါသည်။ ယင်းသဘောတူညီချက်တွင် အကူးအပြောင်းကာလ နိုင်ငံရေးအစီအမံများ သို့မဟုတ် ကြားဖြတ် ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေ တစ်ပါတည်း ပါဝင်သည်လည်း ရှိပါသည်၊ ယင်း သဘောတူညီချက် ရရှိပြီးနောက်မှ ဆက်လက်၍ စီမံသည်လည်း ရှိပါသည်။ နောက်ဆုံးတွင် ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေဖြင့် အုပ်ချုပ်မည့် ကာလရှည်အစီအမံ တစ်မျိုးမျိုး ပေါ်ပေါက်လာစေရန် အပြီးသတ် လုပ်ဆောင်ပါသည်။ ဤယူဆချက်အရ နိုင်ငံရေးဖြေရှင်းချက်သည် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးနှင့် ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေ တည်ဆောက်ရေးလုပ်ငန်းစဉ်၏ တစ်စိတ်တစ်ဒေသအဖြစ် ပေါ်ထွက်လာ သည်ဟု နားလည်ထားကြပါသည်။ လက်တွေ့တွင် ထို့ထက်ပိုလွန်၍ များစွာရှုပ်ထွေးမှု ရှိနိုင် ပါသည်။ ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးသဘောတူညီချက်များနှင့် ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေဆိုင်ရာ အစီအမံများသည် ကျယ်ပြန့်စွာ လက်ခံထားသော နိုင်ငံရေးဖြေရှင်းချက်ကို ထင်ဟပ်လျက် စီစဉ်ဆောင်ရွက်ထားခြင်း များမဟုတ်ဘဲ ပဋိပက္ခကို ဖြေရှင်းရန်နှင့် ရေရှည်တည်တံ့ခိုင်မြဲမည့် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးကို စတင်တည် ဆောက်နိုင်ရန် နောက်ထပ်ဆွေးနွေးညှိနှိုင်းမှုများ လိုအပ်နေတတ်ပါသည်။ နိုင်ငံရေးဖြေရှင်းချက်များသည် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးသဘောတူညီချက်များ၊ ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေ အစီအမံများနှင့် မတူညီဘဲ သီးခြားစီဖြစ်သည်ဟု ယူဆမည်ဆိုက ယူဆနိုင်သော်လည်း ဖြစ်စဉ် တစ်ခုတည်း၏ အစိတ်အပိုင်းများအဖြစ် ရှေ့နောက်အစီအစဉ် တစ်မျိုးတည်းမဟုတ်ဘဲ အမျိုးမျိုး လုပ်ဆောင်နိုင်သော ဆက်စပ်လုပ်ငန်းများဟုလည်း ယူဆနိုင်ပါသည်။ ဥပမာ ဆွေးနွေးပွဲတွင် ပါဝင်ဆွေးနွေးခဲ့ကြသော အစုအဖွဲ့ အသီးသီးအကြား အခြေခံနိုင်ငံရေး နားလည်မှုကို အခြေခံ လျက် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေး သဘောတူညီချက်များချုပ်ဆိုပြီး ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေ အစီအမံများ လုပ်ဆောင်ခြင်း ဖြစ်နိုင်သော်လည်း ယင်းတို့နှင့် နိုင်ငံရေးဖြေရှင်းချက်အကြား ဆက်စပ်ပုံမှာ များစွာ ကွဲပြားခြားနားနိုင်ပါသည်။..."
Christine Bell, Kimana Zulueta-Fülscher
Source/publisher: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA)
Date of publication: 2019-05-23
Date of entry/update: 2019-05-26
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 2.1 MB
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Title: Sequencing Peace Agreements and Constitutions in the Political Settlement Process - နိုင်ငံရေးဖြေရှင်းချက်လုပ်ငန်းစဉ်တွင် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးသဘောတူညီချက်များနှင့်ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေများကို ရှေ့နောက်စီစဉ်ဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်း
Description: "This Policy Paper focuses on sequencing peace agreements and constitutional arrangements within the broader political settlement processes in fragile and conflictaffected settings. Political settlements comprise the underlying agreed understandings about how power is to be held and exercised. It is often assumed that there is a specific sequence to reach a political settlement: typically, a ceasefire or peace agreement that includes (or is followed by) transitional political arrangements or an interim constitution that culminates in some form of long-term constitutional arrangement. According to this assumption, the political settlement is understood to develop as part of the peace and constitution-building process. In practice, matters are likely to be much more complicated. Peace agreements and constitutional arrangements often fail to reflect a broadly shared political settlement, and require further negotiations to resolve conflict and start building sustainable peace. Political settlements can be understood, on the one hand, as distinct from peace agreements and constitutional arrangements, but on the other hand as part of the same jigsaw puzzle, which may be arranged in different ways that often depart from the linear model. For instance, while both peace agreements and constitutional arrangements may reflect an underlying political understanding between the parties at the negotiating table, the connection between these documents and any shared political settlement can vary significantly. While peace agreements primarily aim to end a conflict, and are the result of negotiations between most (if not all) parties to the conflict, they can take different forms, including (a) ceasefires or other pre-negotiation agreements; (b) framework peace agreements that also address the core issues of the conflict; and (c) implementation agreements. Transitional political arrangements, interim constitutions and final constitutions will often be intermingled with ceasefire or peace agreements in complex sequences. Whether or not the process starts with a ceasefire/peace agreement, the parties often reach some form of transitional political arrangement that sets the stage for how power is to be held and exercised for a limited time. Transitional political arrangements only provide an attenuated legal framework, either working outside the former legal structures or within the arrangements of the pre-existing constitution. Interim constitutions can form an additional step towards a final constitution by providing a clearer constitutional structure with legal supremacy, sometimes enabling elections, and providing a roadmap for negotiating and drafting a final constitution. Since 1990, a total of 23 political settlement processes in fragile and conflict-affected settings have concluded in a ‘final’ constitution (see Chapter 3). Based on an analysis of these processes, this paper identifies four broad sequencing patterns..." "ဤမူဝါဒစာတမ်းတွင် ထိလွယ်ရှလွယ် အခြေအနေများနှင့် ပဋိပက္ခသက်ရောက်မှုရှိသည့် နယ်မြေများ၌ ပိုမိုကျယ်ပြန့်သော နိုင်ငံရေးဖြေရှင်းချက် လုပ်ငန်းစဉ်များအတွင်း ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေး သဘောတူညီချက်များနှင့် ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေဆိုင်ရာအစီအမံများကို ရှေ့နောက်စီစဉ်ခြင်း အကြောင်း အဓိကတင်ပြထားပါသည်။ နိုင်ငံရေးဖြေရှင်းချက်ဆိုသည်မှာ လုပ်ပိုင်ခွင့်အာဏာ လက်ဝယ်ထားရှိပုံနှင့် ကျင့်သုံးပုံဆိုင်ရာ အခြေခံ နားလည်သဘောပေါက်မှုများကို သဘော တူညီထားခြင်း ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ နိုင်ငံရေး ဖြေရှင်းချက်ရရှိရေး လုပ်ငန်းစဉ်မှာ လုပ်ဆောင်ရမည့် လုပ်ငန်းများ ရှေ့နောက်အစီအစဉ် အတိအကျရှိသည်ဟု ယူဆကြလေ့ ရှိပါသည်။ များသော အားဖြင့် အပစ်အခတ်ရပ်စဲရေး သဘောတူညီချက် သို့မဟုတ် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးသဘောတူညီချက်ကို ဦးစွာ ရယူပါသည်။ ယင်းသဘောတူညီချက်တွင် အကူးအပြောင်းကာလ နိုင်ငံရေးအစီအမံများ သို့မဟုတ် ကြားဖြတ် ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေ တစ်ပါတည်း ပါဝင်သည်လည်း ရှိပါသည်၊ ယင်း သဘောတူညီချက် ရရှိပြီးနောက်မှ ဆက်လက်၍ စီမံသည်လည်း ရှိပါသည်။ နောက်ဆုံးတွင် ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေဖြင့် အုပ်ချုပ်မည့် ကာလရှည်အစီအမံ တစ်မျိုးမျိုး ပေါ်ပေါက်လာစေရန် အပြီးသတ် လုပ်ဆောင်ပါသည်။ ဤယူဆချက်အရ နိုင်ငံရေးဖြေရှင်းချက်သည် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးနှင့် ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေ တည်ဆောက်ရေးလုပ်ငန်းစဉ်၏ တစ်စိတ်တစ်ဒေသအဖြစ် ပေါ်ထွက်လာ သည်ဟု နားလည်ထားကြပါသည်။ လက်တွေ့တွင် ထို့ထက်ပိုလွန်၍ များစွာရှုပ်ထွေးမှု ရှိနိုင် ပါသည်။ ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးသဘောတူညီချက်များနှင့် ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေဆိုင်ရာ အစီအမံများသည် ကျယ်ပြန့်စွာ လက်ခံထားသော နိုင်ငံရေးဖြေရှင်းချက်ကို ထင်ဟပ်လျက် စီစဉ်ဆောင်ရွက်ထားခြင်း များမဟုတ်ဘဲ ပဋိပက္ခကို ဖြေရှင်းရန်နှင့် ရေရှည်တည်တံ့ခိုင်မြဲမည့် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးကို စတင်တည် ဆောက်နိုင်ရန် နောက်ထပ်ဆွေးနွေးညှိနှိုင်းမှုများ လိုအပ်နေတတ်ပါသည်။ နိုင်ငံရေးဖြေရှင်းချက်များသည် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးသဘောတူညီချက်များ၊ ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေ အစီအမံများနှင့် မတူညီဘဲ သီးခြားစီဖြစ်သည်ဟု ယူဆမည်ဆိုက ယူဆနိုင်သော်လည်း ဖြစ်စဉ် တစ်ခုတည်း၏ အစိတ်အပိုင်းများအဖြစ် ရှေ့နောက်အစီအစဉ် တစ်မျိုးတည်းမဟုတ်ဘဲ အမျိုးမျိုး လုပ်ဆောင်နိုင်သော ဆက်စပ်လုပ်ငန်းများဟုလည်း ယူဆနိုင်ပါသည်။ ဥပမာ ဆွေးနွေးပွဲတွင် ပါဝင်ဆွေးနွေးခဲ့ကြသော အစုအဖွဲ့ အသီးသီးအကြား အခြေခံနိုင်ငံရေး နားလည်မှုကို အခြေခံ လျက် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေး သဘောတူညီချက်များချုပ်ဆိုပြီး ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေ အစီအမံများ လုပ်ဆောင်ခြင်း ဖြစ်နိုင်သော်လည်း ယင်းတို့နှင့် နိုင်ငံရေးဖြေရှင်းချက်အကြား ဆက်စပ်ပုံမှာ များစွာ ကွဲပြားခြားနားနိုင်ပါသည်။..."
Christine Bell, Kimana Zulueta-Fülscher
Source/publisher: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA)
Date of publication: 2016-11-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-05-26
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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Title: Shan Federal Proposal (Federal Amendment Proposal)
Description: Document containing proposals For the REVISION of the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNION OF BURMA submitted by THE SHAN STATE, translated by Sao Singha. This document was ratified by the Convention, attended by delegates from the entire Shan State, which was held in Taunggyi on Saturday, 25th of February, 1961.
Trans. Sao Singha
Source/publisher: Shan State Steering Committee
Date of publication: 1961-02-25
Date of entry/update: 2017-05-06
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Title: BCES Report, March 2012 - March 2014
Description: "The Burma Centre for Ethnic Studies (BCES) is an independent think tank and study centre founded in 2012 to generate ideas on democracy, human rights and federalism as an effective vehicle for ?Peace and Reconciliation” in the Union of Burma. The root cause of sixty years of ethnic armed conflict in Burma is a constitutional problem due to the failure of implementing a federal system as it was envisaged when the Union of Burma was founded at the Panglong Conference in 1947. After the military coup in 1962, the constitutional crisis was compounded by the lack of democracy and violation of human rights in the country. The Burma Centre for Ethnic Studies therefore views the promotion of democracy, human rights and a federal system as essential for ending ethnic armed confl icts and building peace in Burma..."
Source/publisher: Burma Centre for Ethnic Studies Peace and Reconcilition (BCES)
Date of publication: 2014-02-28
Date of entry/update: 2015-08-11
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Language: English
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Title: Democratization and Containing Ethnic Conflicts in Transitional Myanmar: A Study through Federalism Typologies and Model
Description: Introduction: "This paper aims to conceptualize Myanmar?s current political system in federalism context by viewing relevant typologies, and models. It also intends to produce a new federalism typology/model that can be applicable to analyzing and predicting Myanmar?s political architecture. The paper argues that transitional Myanmar is considered as a presidential-devolutionary federation with hybrid characteristics, combining various unitary and federal elements. More specifically and in dimensions relating to democratization and ethnic conflict management, which are significant in viewing the country?s current politics, Myanmar is an oscillating state, pivoting on two different extreme poles (strong unity and strong autonomy or highly centralized unitarianism and highly decentralized federalism); thus making the state dependent much on uncertain-unstable circumstances and the country?s federalization tends to be closely related to the fluctuation of power negotiations/competitions between two dominant stakeholders, composing of central government and ethnic opposition groups...".....Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015.
Dulyapak Preecharush
Source/publisher: International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015
Date of publication: 2015-07-26
Date of entry/update: 2015-08-10
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Language: English
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Title: ETHNICITY, CONFLICT, AND HISTORY IN BURMA T- he Myths of Panglong
Description: Abstract: "The effects of the 1947 Panglong Agreement on Burma?s ethnic minority groups can still be seen today in calls for a return to the spirit of Panglong, but there are conficting versions of this event and its legacy. In order to grasp the prospects for ethnic unity in Burma, it is necessary to deconstruct the various ?myths? of Panglong..." Keywords: Burma, Myanmar, Panglong, ethnic, confict
Matthew J. Walton
Source/publisher: Asian Survey: Vol. XLVIII, No. 6, November /December 2008
Date of publication: 2008-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2013-07-22
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Title: From Kings, Colonies and Nations: Lessons from Ethiopia in Building Multination Federalism in Burma
Description: A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Political Studies, the University of Auckland, 2009....Abstract: "This study evaluates whether the adoption of an ethnic-based federal system in Burma, as proposed by core opposition groups, could lead to a sustainable peace after the end of the military dictatorship. This is approached through a comparison with Ethiopia. Ethiopia was chosen because it is the only recent example of an attempt to establish a fully ethnic-based federal system after a civil war. A critical examination of Ethiopian and Burmese histories highlights key problems arising from competing narratives of state and nation, which question the basis of the two countries. An inability to address this crisis of state identity and history is a key factor in sustaining separatist conflict in Ethiopia, despite the remaking of the state into a multination federation that provides constitutional guarantees for ethnic self-determination. A similar problem seems likely arise in Burma during and after a democratic transition if questions of history and state identity are not addressed. Another key lesson from the Ethiopian experience is the possibility of territorial federalism contributing to a further ethnicisation of conflicts over land and resources, a problem that might be alleviated through non-territorial autonomy. Multination federalism may offer an alternative solution to the problem of protection for minority groups in countries like Burma and Ethiopia that have already experienced the trauma of failed nation-building projects. But lessons from the failings of Ethiopian federalism suggest the need for further measures to prevent violent disintegration in Burma if this direction is pursued there."
David Fisher Gilbert
Source/publisher: University of Auckland
Date of publication: 2008-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2012-08-11
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Language: English
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Title: Federalism: Putting Burma Back Together Again
Description: Federalism in Burma: "This paper deals with the absence or the non-existence of a functional relation between the state in Burma and broader society which is also made up of non-Burman 1 ethnic segments that inhabit the historical-territorial units comprising the Union of Burma. 2 Introduction: Putting the Country Back Together Again The paper looks into the problems related to the task, as yet to be accomplished, of "putting the country back together again", in contrast to the claim of the military and its state is "keeping the country together". It is here argued that although the military has, in a manner of speaking, "kept the country together", it has also distorted the relation between the state in Burma and broader society by monopolizing power and excluding societal elements and forces from the sphere of the state and from the political arena. The military?s centralist, unitary impulse, informed by it ethnocentric (Burmanization) national unity formula, has contributed to a dysfunctional state-society relation, that has in turn brought about the present crisis of decay and general breakdown, making Burma a failed state..."
Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe
Source/publisher: "Legal Issues on Burma Journal" No. 11 (Burma Lawyers? Council)
Date of publication: 2002-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2010-07-15
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Title: Federalism and Ethnic Issues in Burma: Selected Political Writings, 1988-2008.
Lian H. Sakhong
Source/publisher: Chiang Mai: Wadina Press
Date of publication: 2007-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2010-04-15
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Language: Burmese
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Title: How not to Grant Autonomy
Description: A remote republic within Russia provides a lesson to Burma on how not to federate along ethnic lines... "Of the many oddities that Russia inherited from the erstwhile Soviet Union, this must be the most peculiar: the Jewish Autonomous Region of Birobidzhan. Located in a remote corner of the Russian Far East, it?s as far from the Land of Canaan as one could possibly get, but there it is, wedged between the Chinese border and the mountains of Khabarovsky Territory. And strange as it may seem, there may be a distant parallel with Burma?s ethnic minority situation..."
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 14, No. 6
Date of publication: 2006-05-31
Date of entry/update: 2006-12-29
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Title: Divide or Rule
Description: "As the recent arrest of key Shan figures casts a cloud over the National Convention?s attempts at national integration, ethnic minority in-fighting continues to play into Rangoon?s hands Shan leaders gathered in Taunggyi on February 7 (Shan State Day) to discuss the formation of a united Burma, a ?genuine federal union? in which all ethnic groups would enjoy equal rights. Also attending the meeting were prominent Burmese and Shan politicians, together with members of various quasi-political bodies including ceasefire groups. SNLD members at the National Convention in 1993 Long suspicious of Shan breakaway movements and anxious not to distract from the constitution-drafting National Convention?s reconvening on February 17, the military government moved in and over the next few days arrested several key figures. Among those taken into custody were 82-year-old leading Shan politician Shwe Ohn, Sao Hso Ten, president of Shan State Peace Council, and Hkun Htun Oo and Sai Nyunt Lwin, chairman and secretary respectively of the Shan National League for Democracy, the second largest vote getter in the 1990 election..."
Nandar Chann
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 4
Date of publication: 2005-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2006-04-27
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Title: Ein Schritt in die richtige Richtung? Das Nationale Versöhnungsprogramm.
Description: Die Initiative ethnischer Oppositionspolitiker von 1999 zielt auf die verstärkte Zusammenarbeit von bewaffneten und politischen Minderheitenorganisationen in Burma ab. Die Autorin fragt, ob sie die Chance hat, dem Ver-söhnungsprozess eine neue Qualität zu geben. National Reconciliation Programme, co-operation between ceasefire, non-ceasefire groups and political parties
Ulrike Bey
Source/publisher: südostasien Jg. 2005, Nr. 1, Asienhaus
Date of publication: 2005-02-28
Date of entry/update: 2005-06-10
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: Deutsch, German
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Title: Burma and National Reconciliation: Ethnic Conflict and State-Society Dysfunction
Description: It is maintained that Burma?s ‘ethnic conflict? is not per se ethnic, nor that of the kind faced by indigenous peoples of, for example, North America, but a conflict rooted in politics. Following the collapse of Burma?s General Ne Win?s military-socialist regime in 1988, the issue of ethnic conflict has attracted the attention from both observers and protagonists. This attention became heightened following the unraveling of the socialist bloc and the emergence of ethnic wars in those hitherto (presumed) stable socialist nation-states.
Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe
Source/publisher: "Legal Issues on Burma Journal" No. 10 (Burma Lawyers' Council)
Date of publication: 2001-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2004-08-03
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Language: English
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Title: The Pyidaungzu, Federalism and Burman Elites: A Brief Analysis
Description: Drafting a constitution in Burma. "Federalism is not quite understood in Burma. In fact, it would not be wrong to say it is grossly misunderstood by -- among many others -- the Burman population segment, or at least by its armed elites (or elites in uniform). To armed Burman elites, Federalism is synonomous with the destruction or the disintegration of the Union. The Burman-dominated military led by General Ne Win introduced and entrenched this idea when they usurped power in 1962..."
Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe
Source/publisher: Legal Issues on Burma Journal No. 3 (Burma Lawyers' Council)
Date of publication: 1999-04-30
Date of entry/update: 2004-08-03
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Language: English
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Title: Burma?s Ethnic Problem is Constitutional
Description: Federalism in Burma: "...Has Burma really been on the brink of fragmentation since independence? Are the ethnic nationalities and the politics of ethnicity the root cause of the problem? Was General Ne Win correct when he claimed in 1962 that he had to seize state power to prevent Burma from disintegration? The current State Peace and Development Council also claims that there are 135 languages and 8 major races in Burma requiring a strong centralized military to keep the country together. Is this true? ..."
Harn Yawnghwe, B. K. Sen
Source/publisher: "Legal Issues on Burma Journal" No. 11 (Burma Lawyers? Council)
Date of publication: 2002-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Language: English
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Title: Burmese Politics and the Broken Unity
Description: "Recognizing Burma?s diversity is the first step to achieving real unity. "I have always wanted to see unity," declared Burma?s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a recent interview with The Irrawaddy shortly after her release from house arrest. She was addressing the notion of unity among opposition groups within and outside the country, which in her eyes, are in disarray. Certainly, the current fragmentation among opposition groups does not bode well for democracy in Burma..."
Aung Naing Oo
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 10, No. 4, May 2002
Date of publication: 2002-04-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Title: Federalism as a Solution to the Ethnic Problem in Burma
Description: Federalism in Burma: "From January 4, 1948, the day the Union of Burma came into existence as an independent nation, the people and their leaders have been divided over how to achieve national unity and structure their state. Until 1988, it was federal in name and theory, but unitary in practice. After five decades of political discussion, peaceful movements for secession or autonomy and warfare, the majority Burmans and most of the ethnic minorities remain disunited. From time to time efforts have been made by the Government of Burma and the minorities, either alone or in groups, to end revolt and disunity, but none have succeeded. Today, the basic problem is the same as the one the nation?s founding fathers faced fifty years ago: how to construct a political system wherein diverse peoples feel free and equal, able to govern themselves in their own areas, protect and preserve their languages, cultures and traditions, while at the same time give their political loyalty to the nationstate..."
Josef Silverstein
Source/publisher: "Legal Issues on Burma Journal" No. 11 (Burma Lawyers? Council)
Date of publication: 2002-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Title: Federalism and Burma
Description: "Despite the fact that Burma has a highly centralized unitary government system, the issue of federalism has been a major source of debate for decades. Ever since the formation of the independence movement, the various ethnic groups in Burma have wanted to transform the country into a federal union based on equality. The Panglong Agreement1 provided the basic foundation for this, but post-independence Burma did not become a federal union in spite of the urgent need for this. The non-Burman 2 ethnic groups in Burma have not given up their demands for federalism. Most of them are still engaged in insurgency movements against the central government,3 which has been dominated by Burmans since 1948. The ethnic insurgency movements emerged as a result of the government?s failure to deal with the demand for federalism peacefully. The non-Burman movement for federalism and political equality (the ‘Federal Movement?) has consistently tried to resolve the issue peacefully. The non-Burman ethnic groups even participated in the 1990 elections, with federalism as their main motive. In the elections, the UNLD (United Nationalities? League for Democracy, the alliance of ethnic parties in Burma) occupied the second largest number of seats after the NLD (National League for Democracy). However, federalism does not mean anything to the non-Burman groups unless the right to self-determination, including the right to secession, is part of it..."
Khin Maung Win
Source/publisher: "Legal Issues on Burma Journal" No. 9 (Burma Lawyers' Council)
Date of publication: 2001-07-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Title: Federalism and Self-Determination: Some Reflections
Description: Federalism in Burma: "Federalism has, for many decades now, been seen an answer to the challenges posed by multi-ethnic societies the world over. In some cases, the idea has worked, while in others it manifestly has not. Where it has failed, the reasons have often lain as much with human deficiencies as with systemic shortcomings..."
Venkat Iyer
Source/publisher: "Legal Issues on Burma Journal" No. 11 (Burma Lawyers? Council)
Date of publication: 2002-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Title: Federalism and the Protection of Minority Rights: Some lessons for a new democratic Burma
Description: "...federalism offers the best hope of creating a more stable and harmonious polity, especially in societies such as Burma that are deeply divided along ethnic lines. The architects of a new democratic Burma would do well to embrace this concept - with all its promise and all its challenges - but they need to work very hard to ensure that any future Burmese federation lives up to the high expectations of the Burmese peoples. Not only will the balance between unity and diversity have to be struck with a great deal of pragmatism, but every effort will have to be made to secure the widest possible consensus on the terms of the new federal settlement. More importantly still, no one should be left in any doubt as to the continuing price that every man, woman and child across the land would have to pay - in terms of patience, vigilance, tolerance and co-operation - to make federalism a success..."
Dr. Venkat Iyer
Source/publisher: Legal Issues on Burma Journal No. 4 (Burma Lawyers' Council)
Date of publication: 1999-09-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Title: Federalism With A New Twist: Burma?s Only Option
Description: Federalism in Burma: "The author of the article "The Panglong Spirit Lives On" (Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe in The Irrawaddy, July 2001) argued that the guiding principle of the Panglong Accord is "unity in diversity". He raised the question as to whether there is a formula for ending Burma?s decades of ethnic strife, and answered it himself with "Yes, and it is none other than the political vision that brought modern Burma into existence half a century ago". This is begging the question: what is this political vision, which is abstract in terms of people?s understanding? The meaning of terminology such as "unity in diversity" is academically attractive, but in the understanding of the activists it helps little. However, Yawnghwe retrieved much of the ground lost in the struggle evolving a viable concept for the establishment of a stable Burma by stating that the major goal is the establishment of a democratic, federal Union of Burma, to be composed of self-determining states living together in equality and peace. It is argued that core issues must be addressed, and the debate has to be brought to a fruitful end..."
B. K. Sen
Source/publisher: "Legal Issues on Burma Journal" No. 11 (Burma Lawyers? Council)
Date of publication: 2002-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Title: Federalism, Burma and How The International Community Can Help
Description: Federalism in Burma: "International Community can help via systematic study and consideration of the world?s federations, in pursuit of an understanding of what federalism can achieve when presented with a range of entrenched political and/ or ethnic problems. The international community thus provides and becomes the backdrop, and the actor/ participants can research, inform, educate, and consider whether and in what ways federalism can provide some solutions to the crisis of governance in which they flounder. Burma has never progressed past the polarised and prevailing view of federalism, yet for so long an aspiration of many of Burma?s leaders, notably the National Democratic Front (NDF) since its formation in 1976, and still today. 1 The United Nationalities League for Democracy (UNLD) an umbrella political organisation of non-Burman nationalities that formed in 1989 likewise embraces federalism as a path to political, therefore constitutional settlement, that will bring peace and prosperity. 2 Until the political actors in and of Burma have this debate, its ability to resolve its political differences by political means to effect a constitutional settlement will elude them. National reconciliation will remain a catch cry..."
Janelle Saffin
Source/publisher: "Legal Issues on Burma Journal" No. 11 (Burma Lawyers? Council)
Date of publication: 2002-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Title: Federalism: The best option for national reconciliation and peace in Burma
Description: "...Federalism has made democracy more viable by providing a way for ethnic, religious, racial and linguistic communities to benefit from political and economic union while retaining considerable autonomy, self-government and communal identity.1 Our history has proven that a unitary or quasi-federal system is inefficient in bringing about peace and prosperity. Genuine federalism is the best option to bring about national reconciliation and pave the way for rebuilding Burma as a modern nation..."
Dr. Thaung Htun
Source/publisher: Legal Issues on Burma Journal No. 4 (Burma Lawyers' Council)
Date of publication: 1999-09-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Title: In Search of a Constitution for Burma
Description: Federalism in Burma: "Constitution can be a strong foundation for every country to be established as a just, free, peaceful and developed society. Burma is in the process of producing a new constitution. By amalgamating lessons from previous historical experiences and current practical situation of the country, it is hoped that a proper constitution for future Burma might be produced. Major concern is that without finding ways and means to resolve the underlying issues of a country, production of constitution superficially is meaningless and constitution might not be effective from positive aspect in our future society. In this account, the constitution making process or the way, how a constitution will be produced, is of paramount importance. In attempting to produce a constitution, onesided or unproper guidance to the people should be avoided. In a genuine constitution making process, the people, regardless of race, social origin, gender and etc, should be allowed to uncover their sufferings frankly, propose possible solutions positively, and express their will to restructure the society freely thereby leading the process to be more and more participatory. Any kind of discrimination should not be exercised within a genuine constitution making process whether be it federal or state constitution making processes..."
Aung Htoo
Source/publisher: "Legal Issues on Burma Journal" No. 11 (Burma Lawyers? Council)
Date of publication: 2002-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Title: Interview With Sao Seng Suk
Description: Federalism in Burma: (Sao Seng Suk is the Chairman of the Shan State Constitution Drafting Committee. Following is a literal transcript of the interview he had with U Aung Htoo and B. K. Sen). "Do you consider the constitution to be the core issue in a peaceful political settlement in Burma?" Sao Seng Suk: "Yes, I certainly do. Because all problems arose since Pyidaungzu was established in 1947 from the then constitution. If all accept democratic constitution, historical problems can be settled peacefully and the country rebuilt according to constitution, as there will be many kinds of freedom, freedom of expression, freedom of activities, etc." "What type of Constitution will be viable?" Sao Seng Suk: "Federal type constitution, federal is suitable for us..."
U Aung Htoo, B. K. Sen
Source/publisher: "Legal Issues on Burma Journal" No. 11 (Burma Lawyers? Council)
Date of publication: 2002-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Title: Issues of self-determination in Burma
Description: "This paper seeks to provide an introduction to the concept of self-determination, and to suggest the importance of this concept in Burma. A comprehensive analysis of either topic is beyond the scope of this paper, which is aimed at readers without great familiarity with either area. Suggestions for further reading may be found in the references. The paper begins by discussing the concept of self-determination, and its varied meanings. A brief history of the development of the concept follows, in which the meaning of self-determination beyond decolonisation is touched upon. The situation of minorities within a state is then considered. The second section of the paper is a discussion of the particular case of Burma..."
Louise Southalan
Source/publisher: Legal Issues on Burma Journal No. 5 (Burma Lawyers' Council)
Date of publication: 2000-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Title: Secession and Self-Determination in the Context of Burma's Transition
Description: "The word 'secession' has originated from the concept of 'self-determination'. Apart from its historical context, 'self-determination' can also be seen in its plain meaning. The Oxford Dictionary defines 'self-determination as, 'The right of a nation or people to decide what form of government it will have or whether it will be independent of another country or not'. The second part of this definition is easy to understand. A nation or people has the right to be independent of another country when under subjugation of that country. But sometimes it is difficult to determine whether a nation striving for selfdetermination is actually a nation..."
B.K. Sen
Source/publisher: "Legal Issues on Burma Journal" No. 10 (Burma Lawyers' Council)
Date of publication: 2001-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
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Language: English
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