Myanmar citizens allowed peaceful protest

Myanmar parliament in Naypyidaw. @Kyodonews

Myanmar President Thein Sein has signed the legislation for a new law allowing citizens to stage peaceful protest by request permission, according to the New Light of Myanmar, the government owned newspapers in Burmese version.

This legislation allows Myanmar citizens to do peaceful demonstration for the first time since the country was coup by the former dictator General Ne Win in 1962.

The newspapers published the details of rule and regulation of peaceful demonstration which contained 8 Articles and 24 Chapters under the 15 legislation Act. It said that protesters must request approval to the police five days before the protest date.

This new law was signed by President Thein Sein during the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visiting in Myanmar.

This is the second major legislations which were amended from the 2008 constitution after the legislation of allowing democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to re-register her party for the country’s upcoming elections.

Myanmar new government has done a series of reforms since it came to power late last year.

Clinton has said that US is inspired by the Myanmar’s reformists. She told reporters Thursday that US is lightly to remove its economic sanctions against on Myanmar if the government is expanding its political reforms.

Following Clinton’s visit, Myanmar has given over 1 million funding for civil society and the funding will grow as Myanmar moves forward, Clinton said.