Conclusion

The preceding sections provided a review of Myanmar's 2008 Constitution, focusing the analysis on the causes, process, substance, and implementation issues to achieve a larger goal of informing larger constitutional debates over its existence.

With respect to causes, the analysis traced the drivers for the 2008 Constitution to the Tatmadaw's struggles to quell the unrest that arose in 1988, its desires to abandon the socialist system maintained by the previous 1974 Constitution, and its ambition to sustain its dominant position over the country. The analysis identified Tatmadaw motivations to diversify its international relations, which incurred desires for a text with democratic principles that could appeal to the West but which also maintained military hegemony. With respect to process, the analysis reviewed the constitution-making controversies that led to the 2008 Constitution, highlighting the efforts of the Myanmar military to remove opposition, suppress dissident voices, select participants, direct agendas, and control drafting of constitutional text. The analysis continued with delineation of substance, identifying the 2008 Constitution as exhibiting a veneer of democratic principles with a core designed to preserve military power. Last, the analysis discussed the subsequent implications for implementation, adding to existing critiques of the 2008 Constitution by asserting that it suffered from anaemic treatment of the environment. In particular, the analysis argued that the environment holds an intersectional position as a central element in the struggles between the military and ethnic minorities, and as a result calls for comparable attention to both in Myanmar's political and legal discourses.

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Source: Bui Ngoc Son, Malagodi Mara (eds.). Asian Comparative Constitutional Law, Volume 1: Constitution-Making. Hart Publishing,2023. — 495 p.. 2023

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