The Role of State Constitutions in Protecting ... - International IDEA

minorities, the independence of the watchdog institutions, taxation rights, and
overall control of the army, law and order in the federal system and at the state
level, regulating relations in between “settlers” and locals, and the overall divisions
of power between the national and state level. Even contentious issues such as the
right to secession should be addressed.
Exile groups were encouraged to use the time of waiting, creatively; training
themselves for the political bargaining, art of compromise that is necessary in
transitions. The drafting of a constitution is a political act and when negotiating
political deals one needs to be ready for a compromise. It should be borne in mind
that everybody will be losers if a civil war is the price to pay for non–compromise.
It is worth noting that the African National Congress (ANC) made many
compromises and settled for much less than they expected or which their political
power base could have secured.
Constitution-making is both the moment and the process in which to improve
women’s political participation. It is more difficult to secure this later. One should
also think of other ways to improve women’s participation instead of depending
only on reservations in the parliament.
When determining the legal status and rights of minorities, it is wise to be as
generous as one can be towards settlers and for your own minorities within a state.
They are, after all, citizens of Burma and in any event minorities within a state
should be entitled to the rights that minorities within the Union can claim.
The choice of an electoral system is an important and significant one. Again, there
is no “best choice” that can be applied. The electoral system must be suited to
national conditions and must aim at ensuring broad representation and stable
government.
Questions posed to the panelists included:
estions
posed to the panelists included:
Should the right to secession be in the constitution or not?
There are no simple answers. If secession is outlawed it can lead to agitation and
there is fear that if it is included as a right in the constitution it can lead to
fragmentation. This should be considered carefully to determine the full
implications otherwise it can lead to mistrust which could be detrimental.
Is a symmetrical Upper House a good model?
If the Upper House is only dealing with the protection of minority rights, a
symmetrical Upper House may be appropriate. But, if it is going deal with other
broader issues, it should focus on enabling democratic nation-building and it may
be more appropriate for it to be asymmetrical.
8