By Kantarawaddy Times
The National League for Democracy (NLD) released a statement about the recent impeachment of the Kayah State Chief Minister calling it a personal grudge. But Hla Htwe, chair of Kayah State Parliament, said it was not a personal attack.
Hla Htwe told Kantarawaddy Times after five councilors filed for the impeachment the chairperson has the “authority” to proceed. “People need to understand the procedure. Many have criticized me for trying to impeach the chief minister. And I was attacked because no NLD party members were included in the investigation committee.”
Burma President Win Myint fired L Phaung Sho several days after the NLD chief minister was impeached. The president appointed Boss Ko, minister of livestock, agriculture and irrigation of Kayah State, as the interim chief minister.
L Phaung Sho is accused of depositing funds generated by the state’s heavy machinery operation into his private bank account. He was also blamed for a lack of transparency about land leased for Kayah State Day celebrations.
According to the NLD statement, the party did not select the Kayah State speaker Hla Htwe as its electoral candidate for the upcoming general election. To tarnish the NLD’s image, prior to the election, he retaliated by cooperating with several other parliamentarians to impeach L Phaung Sho.
L Phaung Sho posted on his Facebook page that the accusers and the investigation committee were one and the same or like the plaintiff and judge.
Three of the councilors who made the initial accusations against the chief minister for allegedly abusing his power, which included the chair and the secretary, were part of the investigation committee.
But Hla Htwe told the Kantarawaddy Times the investigation team included members from different parties otherwise there would be complaints.
Khu Talay, aka Poe Reh, a lawyer, said the constitution doesn’t stipulate who can form an investigation committee, only requiring them to be parliamentarians.
NLD stated that one parliamentarian who was part of the initial investigation withdrew, leaving only four. Further, the constitution requires at least five lawmakers to call for an impeachment, but the speaker allowed it anyway.
Hla Htwe explained the constitution does not define what to do if five parliamentarians call for impeachment and one drops out, which is why he proceeded with it. L Phaung Sho was allowed to challenge the accusations against him, he explained, but didn’t attend the session.
Hla Htwe resigned from the NLD on August 6 and will run in the upcoming election as an independent for candidate for Shardaw Township.