Lower House speaker rejects urgent proposal to restore Internet

18 Jul 2019

Phadu Tun Aung | DMG

18 July, Sittwe

The urgent proposal to immediately restore Internet access to nine townships in Arakan and Chin States was rejected in the NLD-dominated Pyithu Hluttaw yesterday.

Pyithu Hluttaw representative Daw Khin Saw Wai, an Arakan National Party MP for Ratedaung Township, put forward the urgent proposal on 17 July, but the lower house speaker said to her yesterday that the proposal was not allowed to be submitted to the Pyithu Hluttaw.

“We are representatives of the people. We have a responsibility to present the voice of the people to the parliament, so we accept that responsibility. I tried to submit the urgent proposal regarding the Internet black out. But, the speaker of parliament rejected the proposal’s submission. The Internet black out in the region is almost one month old,” Daw Khin Saw Wai told the DMG.

She said that she wished to discuss the proposal according to the parliament’s slogan “the voice of the people is the voice of parliament” and she didn’t care if the proposal faced defeat, adding that she believed that getting a chance to discuss the pros and cons of the Internet shutdown in parliament was a good start.

She has planned to read the proposal, pointing out the hazards of denying people access to valuable information, and breaching regional security. In addition to hindering help to victims of natural disasters and armed skirmishes. The ministry of Transport and Communications said that it has temporarily shutdown the Internet with the consent of the government aiming for strengthening the security of the country and the rule of law.

“The reason the ministry of Transport and Communications shut down the Internet is not a sufficient excuse, the Internet ban only exacerbates the current conditions including security and rule of law in some regions,” she wrote in the proposal.

The proposal to urge the Union government to restore Internet access immediately was approved in Arakan State parliament where the majority of MP are ANP members. However, nothing is happening in the region. So, the ANP arranged to submit the urgent proposal in the Pyithu Hluttaw. 

Since the urgent proposal was refused by lower house speaker, criticism against parliament have surfaced.

In previous years, proposals submitted by the ANP in Pyithu Hluttaw and Amyotha Hluttaw regarding Arakanese affairs faced defeat or were denied discussions in parliament. Similarly, most proposals submitted by NLD lawmakers were not successful in Arakan State parliament.

Since 21 June, the Myanmar government has temporary blocked the Internet access in Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Ponnagyun, Kyuaktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya and Myebon Townships in Arakan State and Paletwa Township in Chin State, where armed conflicts are taking place between the Tatmadaw and the AA.

People from the affected areas lack access to information access which makes dealing with business and other affairs problematic.