Newly elected Mon State members of parliament (MPs) met with their predecessors and the outbound Mon State Hluttaw Chairman on January 18 and 19 at Mon State’s Hluttaw Hall, in Moulmein, the capital of Mon State.
Only a few of the outgoing Hluttaw members attended the meeting that included their parliamentary successors, Tatmadaw representatives, and the departing Mon State Hluttaw Chairman, U Kyin Pe.
At the meeting, discussions reportedly revolved around legislation and activities slated for the first session of Hluttaw and the transference of authority to incoming members.
“To speak frankly, we are handing Mon State’s future over to these 31 new representatives. What will the public conclude about the work of these 31 representatives during their 5-year term from 2016 to 2021? For me, I would suggest [to the MPs] to do their best. I believe they will do their best. I pray for the best to happen,” said Chairman U Kyin Pe.
U Aung Kyaw Thu, State Hluttaw representative for Thaton Township Constituency-2, said that outgoing Hluttaw members at the meeting talked about areas for parliamentary improvement and mistakes they had made during their term.
“What they reported is that some projects they implemented encountered long delays due to weak communication between the State and Union levels.”
The Thaton representative added that newly elected members from the National League for Democracy would remain grounded in their party’s policies.
According to Dr. Aung Naing Oo, the only re-elected State Hluttaw Representative, the first session of the Mon State Hluttaw is scheduled to commence on the 1st or 8th of February.
The Mon State Hluttaw is comprised of 31 members: 20 elected representatives, three seats for elected representatives of the Karen, Bamar, and Pa-O ethnic groups, and eight representatives from the Tatmadaw, or Burmese Armed Forces.
