Myanmar's parliament to resume 12th session end of April

YANGON -- Myanmar's parliament will resume its 12th session on April 29, the parliament announced on Monday.

The sessions of both House of Representatives (Lower House) and House of Nationalities (Upper House) will separately reconvene on the day's morning before the Union Parliament session.

During its 11th session, which lasted from Jan. 21 to late March, the parliament approved the formation of a deputy parliament speaker-led joint committee with representatives from political parties and military to expeditiously implement steps for amending the 2008 constitution including the preparation of a bill on the amendment.

As a follow-up, the Union Parliament further formed another joint committee to study the 2008 constitution amendment draft bill, submitted by a parliament member group of the Union Solidarity and Development Party and military representatives.

During the last session, the Union Parliament also abolished the legal affairs and special cases assessment commission, chaired by U Shwe Mann, former speaker of the House of Representatives, who subsequently formed a new political party under the name "Union Betterment Party."

With regard to its foreign affairs, the Union Parliament also approved the ratification of an agreement on investment between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the ratification of ASEAN-HKSAR Free Trade Agreement.

The current parliament was formed through the general election in November 2015 and is dominated by the National League for Democracy party.