Delegation of Parlamentarians from Myanmar visits Germany

The delegation with German Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development.

Following the invitation of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, seven parliamentarians from Myanmar travelled to Germany, which was the first time ever, parliamentarians of government , opposition and ethnic minorities together as one group.

The delegation was compromised of three representatives from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), two representatives from the National League for Democracy (NLD) as well as the respective chairmen of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) and the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP).

The delegation with Ms Pieper, State Minister in the Foreign Office.

In Berlin, the parliamentarians were familiarized with the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany, while in Dresden; they had the chance to gain insights into German politics at the federal state level.

 

During a meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin, the group met Mr Dirk Niebel, Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Ms Cornelia Pieper – State Minister of the Foreign Ministers Office, Vice President of the German Bundestag Dr Otto Solms as well as other high-ranking German politicians.

Another highlight was a public discussion in the building of the “Tagesspiegel”, one of Germany’s leading daily newspapers, where the 150 participants had the chance to raise their questions to the delegates. When a question regarding the bloody government-crackdown on peaceful demonstrators 2007 in Yangon was raised, lower house MP Win Oo (USDP) said:  ” We apologize. We, the new parliament, have the responsibility to make sure it never happens again”. Asked about the possibility of a NLD victory in the 2015 election, all panelists said they would welcome Aung San Suu Kyi as President. Continue reading “Delegation of Parlamentarians from Myanmar visits Germany”