News 9
www. mmtimes. com
Marriage law authors seek public feedback
t. cherry6 @ gmail. com
CHERRY THEIN
A LEGAL expert helping to draft a marriage law that would place restrictions on who Buddhist women can marry says the authors welcome suggestions and objections from the public.
U Ye Kaung Nyut also urged people to read the full text of the draft before criticising it.
“ It is right that the law is controversial for some people but they can constructively give us an objection or suggestion to help us finalise it,” he said.
‘ I am surprised that women are saying it is a human rights abuse. They... don’ t seem to realise that the law is for them.’
U Mg Mg Dhammacakka Foundation
“ They can point out whether sections of the draft law are unclear or confusing and explain on what grounds they object. But they should read carefully before they criticise. We will accept all feedback,” he said.
U Ye Kaung Nyut is one of five members of a legal team assisting the team of 10 Buddhist monks to draft the law. Ywama Sayadaw is head of the committee of monks, while U Dhamma Piya is its spokesperson.
Feedback forms are available at Ywama and Aung San Taw Ya Tet U monasteries in Insein township.
Dhammacakka Foundation president U Mg Mg, who is also involved in the drafting of the law, told The Myanmar Times that he believed most people
who objected to the draft law had not read the whole text.
“ When a famous person objected to the law, all followed suit without thinking about it themselves. It happens very often in our country,” he said.
He said the law does not stop Buddhist women from marrying men from other religions. Instead, he said, it restricts men of other religions from marrying a Buddhist woman unless they convert to Buddhism.
“ I am also surprised that women are saying it is a human rights abuse. Do they think the law stops them from marrying? They don’ t seem to realise that the law is for them,” he said.
“ If a woman doesn’ t want her husband to convert under the law or she wishes to convert to her husband’ s religion, it is her choice but under this law both of them need to give a clear explanation about that choice. If they choose to do that then we can’ t help her if she has a problem in the future.”
He said that while many couples of mixed faiths live happily together this is often not the case.
“ There are many social problems caused by marriages between people of different faiths. The law aims to prevent or find a way to solve these issues.
“ I have no authority to say when the law will be sent to the hluttaw. It is the decision of leading monks and legal experts.”
In some townships, unidentified groups purporting to be working with leading monks have been trying to collect signatures in support of the draft law.
“ The group distributed petitions and asked for signatures to show support for the draft law. I have no idea about the law because I haven’ t read it yet but I was unhappy to see them doing this so I didn’ t sign it,” said civil servant U Myint Sein.
He said he believed some groups were trying to distort the original aim of the law.
“ Under democracy people are no longer afraid but they should be aware that democracy doesn’ t just mean not being afraid. People also have to be accountable for their actions.”
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A National Democratic Force member distributes pamphlets during a campaign rally in Yangon’ s Bahan township shortly before the November 2010 election. Photo: Aye Zaw Myo
Election commission cancels restrictions on party activities
NAW SAY PHAW WAA nawsayphawwaa @ gmail. com
THE Union Election Commission has abolished rules that require political parties to get prior permission for party events and speeches, political leaders said.
The commission sent a letter to parties last week informing them about the change, Democratic Party( Myanmar) chairman U Thu Wai said.
The rules significantly hampered attempts by opposition parties to campaign prior to the 2010 election and were a major factor in the election being widely considered to be neither free nor fair.
“ There are now no limitations like before,” U Thu Wai said.“ Previously we had to ask for permission even just to hold a meeting in the party office. Sometimes we didn’ t even get permission. This has now changed and it means they are giving more democracy.”
The letter said the election commission instructions of June 2010 was abolished because the peaceful protest law has come into force.
U Sai Hla Kyaw, secretary of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party, told The Myanmar Times that his party had never followed the rule anyway as it would have wasted too much time.
“ It should have been like this from the start,” he said.
However, representatives from other parties, including the National League for Democracy, said they had been careful to follow the regulation and were pleased that it had been rescinded.
National Democratic Force co-founder U Than Nyein said parties still faced some restrictions despite the latest announcement.“ The good news is that the commission won’ t control the parties anymore. On the other hand all the parties have to deal with the police station if they want to march or gather in a public area,” he said.
He said political parties should have more freedom than ordinary people to gather and protest.
“ If the police don’ t understand this then it will create difficulties,” he said.
Amyotha Hluttaw representative U Phone Myint Aung agreed that while parties have more freedom, they still need to get permission to protest or gather in a public area.
News 9
National diabetes survey to begin in October
A NATIONWIDE survey on the prevalence of diabetes will be launched in October, members of the Myanmar Diabetes Project Team say.
This team includes experts from the Ministry of Health and is supported by the World Health Organization and the International Diabetes Federation.
‘’ During this one-year survey we will ask 9000 people about diabetes, check their physical condition and test their blood,” said team secretary Dr Ko Ko.
“ We are doing this survey because we would like to know the level of threat diabetes poses to the community,” he said.
It will be the third survey conducted by the team in Myanmar since 2003.
Ministry of Health figures from 2010 estimated that 6 percent of people in Myanmar between the ages of 25 and 70 have diabetes. More recently, the Ministry of Health has estimated that about 8.3pc of the population has diabetes. The proportion is thought to be as high as 14pc in urban areas because of the differing diet and lifestyle.
Dr Ko Ko said health experts were“ very concerned” about the threat of diabetes and he believed this would be reflected in the survey findings.
“ We need to give more awareness to the public about this disease and need to conduct more surveys about diabetes to see whether it is increasing.”
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