Debate on bills to amend the 2008 constitution will end March 5, Pyidaungsu Hluttaw speaker Ti Khun Myat announced today. They are scheduled to begin February 25.
Despite 282 MPs having registered to join the debates, only 149 will be allowed to participate, he said in a parliamentary session.
Fifty NLD and military-appointed MPs each will join, with the remaining 49 slots given to independents and representatives of other parties.
Earlier this week, 164 military-appointed MPs registered en masse to join the debate, after having repeatedly called the process that brought the bills to parliament unconstitutional.
Sixty-nine MPs from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) and 49 independent and smaller-party MPs were also registered.
Lower house MP Dr Hla Moe told Myanmar Now each participant will be granted eight minutes to speak.
A total of seven bills have been submitted, two backed by the NLD and five by the military-allied Union Solidarity and Development Party.
They cap a year-long process that began with the establishment of a charter amendment committee in February 2019. For the past year, the committee has solicited and studied proposed amendments from each party.
The military has called this process unconstitutional.
The seven bills contain 142 proposed amendments. Each needs more than 75% support in parliament to pass.
With their constitutionally-allotted 25% of parliamentary seats, the military holds virtual veto power over any proposal.
The constitution, drafted by the then-ruling military junta, has been widely criticised as undemocratic.
In national elections in 2015, Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD party won in a landslide in large part by campaigning on reforming it. This is the latest step in that attempt.
Translating by Mratt Kyaw Thu
Editing by Danny Fenster
