Speaking Notes by Ex-MP U Shwe Maung at Parliament of Canada

Speaking Notes for the meeting of Parliament of Canada the House of Commons’ Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development on “Current Human Rights Situation of Rohingya in Myanmar” at 13:00 to 14:00 EDT on May 3, 2016

Dear Mr. Chair,
First of all, I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak about Current Human Rights Situation of Rohingya in Myanmar to testify before the House of Commons’ Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Let me introduce myself. My name is U Shwe Maung (a.k.a) Abdul Razak and I am a former Member of Parliament in Myanmar from 2010 to 2015.

In my country, there was a historic election on November 8, 2015. National League for Democracy (NLD) Party, led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi made a landslide victory. With effective from April 1, 2016, previous USDP government led by President U Thein Sein transferred the state power to the NLD. As NLD was unsuccessful to amend the 2008 Constitution in the previous parliamentary term, the core of state power is still in the hand of Myanmar Military. Ministries of Home Affairs, Defence, Border Affairs, Immigration and Religious Affairs are under the command of Myanmar Military Chief. Then, The Region/State, District, Township Administrators and Myanmar Police Force are under the command of Home Ministry. What I am trying to say is the core of state power is still in the hand of Military Group although NLD formed a civilian government. In this situation, NLD submitted a bill for a post of State Counsellor for its Chairperson Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to the parliament as she is barred to become President and it was approved. Now she is The State Counsellor of Myanmar. She is leading NLD-Led Government and performing duties as if President of Myanmar. (Courtesy of Rohingya Vision TV)