Myanmar's Federal Democracy Charter: analysis and prospects

Presented by ANU College of Asia & the Pacific

This event is part of the 2022 Myanmar Research Centre (MRC) Dialogue Series.

Since the coup conducted by the Myanmar military on 1 February 2021, the military regime has tried to portray itself as the legitimate government of Myanmar by arguing that it is following the 2008 Constitution. Although constitutional authority is only one dimension of the current struggle to restore democratic governance in Myanmar, it is important to demonstrate why the seizure of power by the military was unconstitutional, and consequently why the military regime and its actions and decisions have no constitutional authority.

International IDEA has provided a constitutional analysis of the military regime's claim that it is following the 2008 Constitution and can explain why the military's declaration of a state of emergency and seizure of power were unconstitutional ab initio and remain unlawful and illegitimate. This has created a constitutional vacuum and triggered efforts undertaken by the legitimate interim institutions and the people of Myanmar to overcome the military regime and restore democratic governance and constitutionalism under a new federal constitution. International IDEA fully and actively supports this process through its MyConstitution project.

This dialogue will be chaired by Jonathan Liljeblad

SPEAKER

Marcus Brand has led the Myanmar Programme of International IDEA since September 2020 and throughout the November 2020 elections and the February 2021 coup. He leads IDEA's programme that is currently implemented only from outside the country and focuses on technical assistance and expert advisory services in areas related to democracy, elections, constitutional reform and participation. He has an extensive background working on democratic governance, constitutional and rule of law reform in Myanmar and other countries in democratic transition.

He has more than 20 years of experience working with the United Nations, the OSCE, the EU and other entities, and has lived and worked in Thailand, Nepal, Poland, Sweden, Kosovo, the United States, and Ukraine, where Brand led UNDP's work on democratic reform for five years prior to his assignment with IDEA. Brand has a doctoral degree in international and constitutional law and has authored and published a number of articles and studies on constitutional change, international conflict and sustainable development.

VENUE

The dialogues in the series will be held in hybrid mode, ie in-person on the ANU Campus, and virtually on zoom.

IN-PERSON: PSC Reading Room, Level 4, Hedley Bull Building #130, Cnr Garran Rd and Liversidge Street, ANU, Acton, 2600 ACT
ONLINE: Zoom. Once you register on Eventbrite, you will receive access to the online event page in Eventbrite where you will find the join link for the zoom meeting. Please select the relevant ticket, in-person or online, according to your preferred attendance mode.

We look forward to seeing you there.

For more information on the MRC 2022 Dialogue Series please see the MRC website https://myanmar.anu.edu.au/ or contact the Convenors