Burma Update
News and updates on Burma17 September 2010
News on Burma - 17/9/10
Myanmar bars some ethnic leaders from polls: source Reuters: Thu 16 Sep 2010 Yangon – Election authorities in army-ruled Myanmar have rejected the candidacy of a dozen former leaders of a major ethnic group, sources said on Thursday, raising doubts about ethnic participation in the upcoming polls.The Union Election Commission (UEC) gave no explanation as to why the politicians from Kachin State, which borders China, were barred from running as independent candidates in the November 7 ballot for seats in regional and national assemblies. The decision, which has yet to be been made public, comes after pressure by the ruling junta for armed ethnic groups who have enjoyed decades of de facto autonomy to join the political process in a bid to unify the nation ahead of the election. Three parties were formed to represent Kachin State but all were rejected upon registration for the polls, meaning the Kachin, one of the eight major ethnic groups in Myanmar, will have no representation in the much-criticized election. A Yangon-based businessmen with close connections to Kachin politicians said the barring of the candidates was likely in retaliation for a refusal by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) to disarm and join a government-run border patrol force. “We’re sure it’s because of the refusal to accept the regime’s Border Guard Force (BGF) scheme,” said the source, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal. CONFLICT CONCERNS The KIA was founded on 1961 and fought against successive military regimes for greater autonomy or independence until a ceasefire agreement was signed in 1994. Like most of the ethnic armies, it has refused to join the government-run BGF but was willing to take part in the political process, mainly through the Kachin State Progressive Party (KSPP), but KSPP’s application was rejected. The move to bar the Kachin politicians raises the likelihood of a military offensive by the Myanmar army against armed separatists rejecting the BGF plan, which analysts expect to take place before a new government is formed. Reports from ethnic news sources say the army has sent reinforcements into Shan and Kachin states and analysts say it is unlikely the junta will agree to any devolution arrangement. Adding to fears of conflict, the junta announced on state television late on Thursday that polls would not take place in some 200 villages in Kachin, Kayah, Mon, Kayin and Shan States, which are home to armed ethnic groups. MRTV said polls had been scrapped “because the situations there will not be conducive to free and fair elections.” (Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Sugita Katyal) EC rejects individual Kachin candidates – Ko Htwe Irrawaddy: Thu 16 Sep 2010 After previously rejecting the registration application of the Kachin State Progressive Party (KSPP), Burma’s Election Commission (EC) has now rejected the applications of 14 leading KSPP members, including its founder Tu Ja, who alternatively applied to run as individuals.Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, KSPP Secretary Tu Raw, said: “I feel the refusal is unfair and we have not been given the right that every citizen should have to compete in the election. We will now have no opportunity to debate issues on a political stage like the new parliament.” “We have a chance for appeal to the Division Sub EC. There may be one or two candidates who make an appeal, but I personally will not appeal,” said Tu Raw, who had hoped to compete for the Pyithu Hluttaw (People’s Parliament) in Waingmaw Township in Kachin Division. The KSPP is the most popular political party in Kachin State, receiving the support of almost all local organizations and residents, including local authorities, and so the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) attempted to block the KSPP registration, said Tu Raw. “The USDP knows that it is impossible for them to compete with the KSPP in Kachin State, and so it tried to stop our party from being registered,” he said. According to one of the KSPP candidates, the USDP also tried to stop the fourteen individual candidates from receiving EC approval. Tu Ja, the former vice-chairman of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) who formed the KSPP in March 2009, said the other reason the EC didn’t approve its registration was because it believed the KSPP had ties with the KIO. “The second reason they won’t allow us to register as a party or as individual candidates is the party’s alleged ties with the KIO,” he said. The KIO is an armed cease-fire group. The military junta has ordered the KIO to transform its troops into a border guard force, but the KIO has thus far refused. Section 12(a)(3) of the Political Parties Registration Law (PPRL) denies registration to any party that is involved with groups launching armed rebellions or involved with associations declared to be “unlawful associations.” Tu Raw said that while the party does not have direct ties with the KIO, it does recieve support from all influential organizations in Kachin State. “We have ethnic ties with the KIO, but not political ties and not the same agenda. If we don’t get support from that group, it would make it difficult for our party movement in the region,” he said. At present, the only political party running an election campaign in Kachin State is the Unity Democracy Party of Kachin State (UDPK), a pro-junta ethnic party allied with the USDP. However, the USDP, the Shan Nationals Democratic Party (SNDP) and the National Unity Party (NUP) have said they will compete in Kachin State as well. So far, out of the 42 political parties that have applied, the EC has allowed 39 parties to register, including ethnic Karen, Mon, Palaung and Pa-O parties, according to the state-run The New Light of Myanmar newspaper. More ex-generals to run for USDP – Ba Kaung Irrawaddy: Thu 16 Sep 2010 The Burmese military junta’s third-and-fourth ranking officials, Shwe Mann and Tin Aung Myint Oo, have been approved by the election commission as candidates for the junta’s proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).They will run in Zeyar Thiri and Pubba Thiri townships in Naypyidaw as candidates for seats in the People’s Parliament, according to the official notification of approved candidates issued by the commission on Tuesday. Both are among the second batch of high-ranking military generals resigning from the army within the last month to join the USDP; however, they remain members of the ruling State Peace and Development Council. The state-controlled media in Burma have not officially announced their resignations from the military nor have they confirmed that the ex-generals have joined the USDP, except that recent state-media reports no longer carry their military titles, but instead attribute them with the Burmese honorific title of “ U.” The notification also states that Prime Minister Thein Sein and other retired military officials, including Myint Hlaing, the former chief of air defense, and ex-Maj Gen Maung Oo who currently remains minister for home affairs, will also stand for constituencies in Naypyidaw for seats in the People’s Parliament as USDP candidates. USDP chairman Thein Sein will run in Zabbu Thiri, one of the eight townships in Naypyidaw. Only the USDP and the pro-regime National Unity Party (NUP) will compete in Naypyidaw. Pro-democracy parties said they will not run in the new capital because they fear they will have next to no vote among the town’s military-influenced population. Among the approved candidates, ex-Lt Gen Myint Swe, will run as a USDP candidate in Seikgyikanaungto Township in Rangoon for a seat in the Nationalities’ Parliament. The USDP is widely expected to claim an overwhelming victory in the election in the absence of the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), which was dissolved by the election commission on Tuesday. This will pave the way for the former senior military personnel to be elected as civilian representatives in the new government, which is in addition to the fact that the Constitution already guarantees the military a quarter of the seats in the parliament. Vice-presidents will also be nominated by a majority of army and civilian representatives in the parliament, and will most likely be the elected candidates of the USDP. One of the three vice-presidents who is required to be “acquainted with political, administrative, economic and military affairs” will be selected as president. The presidency is expected to go to either junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe or Shwe Mann. Top USDP candidates to run in Rangoon – Wai Moe Irrawaddy: Thu 16 Sep 2010 Among the senior officials in the Burmese military regime who are running for office in the Nov. 7 election as members of the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), most have been listed as candidates in the Rangoon Region, according to the Union Election Commission (EC) which approved the candidate lists on Tuesday.Speaking on condition of anonymity, EC officials said Thursday that the approved USDP candidate list for the Rangoon Region [previously the Rangoon “Division”] includes former Lt-Gen Myint Swe, who retired from his military post in August and will contest in Seikgyi Kha Naung To Township for a seat in the Rangoon regional parliament, and former Col and current Rangoon Deputy Mayor Maung Par, who will compete in the same township for a seat in the the People’s Assembly (Lower House) of the Union Parliament. Observers said Myint Swe, the former commander of the Rangoon Military Regional Command who is reported to be junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe’s right hand man, has been tapped to be the future prime minister of the Rangoon Region. Former Brig-Gen Aung Thein Lin, the Rangoon city mayor and a leader of the USDP, is now the party candidate in South Okkalapa Township for the Lower House. Dr. Paing Soe, the deputy minister of health who is Than Shwe’s family doctor and a relative of Than Shwe’s wife, Kyaing Kyaing, is the party’s Lower House candidate in Sanchaung Township of Rangoon City. Labor Minister and former Maj-Gen Aung Kyi, who is also the liaison officer between the junta and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, is the USDP candidate for the Lower House seat from Mingala Tawn Nyunt Township. Former Brig-Gen Maung Maung Thein, the minister of livestock and fisheries, is the USDP candidate for the Lower House in Kayan Township, and former Brig-Gen Thura Myint Maung, the minister of religious affairs, is the party’s candidate for the Lower House in Thongwa Township. Energy Minister and former Brig-Gen Lun Thi is the USDP’s Lower House candidate in Kungyangon Township, and Soe Tha, the minister for national planning and economic development, will contest the Lower House seat in Twante Township. Minister of Mining and former Brig-Gen Ohn Myint, and Deputy Minister of Defense and former Maj-Gen Aye Myint, are reportedly the USDP’s respective Lower House candidates for Rangoon’s Alone Township and Insein Township. Former Maj-Gen Nyunt Tin, also the former minister of agriculture and irrigation, is the USDP candidate for the National Assembly (Upper House) of the Union Parliament. Well-known business figures running as USDP candidates in the coming elections are Khin Swe, a junta crony who has been on the US sanctions list since Oct. 2007, Tin Tun Oo, co-publisher of The Myanmar Times Weekly, and authors Myo Thant Tin and Tin Kha. Khin Swe will contest for the Upper House in Rangoon Region’s No. 9 Constituency, and Myo Thant Tin is a candidate for the Upper House in Rangoon Region’s No. 6 Constituency. Tin Tun Oo is the USDP candidate for the Lower House in Pazun Taung Township. Along with ministers and other public figures, USDP candidates include owners of medium-sized businesses and respected local figures who the Union Solidarity and Development Association (UDSA) recruited by force or attracted with business opportunities during the past five years. Shortly after the USDP was formed in April, all assets of the USDA were transferred to the USDP. The USDA was infamous for its involvement in the brutal ambush on pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her convoy in late May 2003 and for the crackdowns on monk demonstrators throughout the September 2007 protests. ‘Activists’ jail term extended by 20 years – Khin Hnin Htet Democratic Voice of Burma: Thu 16 Sep 2010 Seven people serving lengthy sentences for alleged links to a banned Burmese activist group have had their prison terms extended by 20 years, courts ruled yesterday.The seven were already serving terms of between 20 and 38 years in Rangoon’s Insein prison after being arrested in 2008 and accused of holding ties to the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), a prominent activist group born from the 1988 mass student uprising. But additional charges under the Explosives Act were levelled at Kyaw Zin Oo, Zaw Lwin, Kyawza Lin, Htet Ko Lwin, Khin Yi, Aye Min Naing and his wife San San Maw. They are accused of assisting in the 2004 bombing at Zawgyi House Restaurant in Rangoon and the bombing at the Panorama Hotel in Rangoon in 2005. Sentences of ten years for each of the two attacks were handed down yesterday, and all seven were found guilty. “We are very unhappy with the sentences. The defendants had already been given jail terms for the explosive materials submitted by the prosecutors as evidences in 2008,” said lawyer Kyaw Ho, speaking of the group’s initial arrest and separate charges under the Explosives Act, Unlawful Associations Act and Arms Act in 2008. He said that no evidence had been provided for the latest sentencing, adding that “normally in cases under the Explosive Act, witnesses should be included from the police’s Criminal Investigation Department and chemical specialists”, although this had not been the case. Moreover, the alleged accusation by the person behind the attack that netted the seven was weak, he added. The five men and two women are also facing accusations connecting them to an explosion that took place at Shwe Mann Thu Bus Terminal in Rangoon in 2005. In other news, the imprisoned 1990-elected parliamentary representative in Burma’s western Arakan state, Nyi Pu, is in poor health. According to a colleague of his who spoke to Nyi Pu’s wife, he is not receiving healthcare for a condition that lowers the level of potassium in the blood. He is being held in Kham Ti in Saganig division. According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), there are currently 2,183 activists, lawyers, journalists, monks and politicians behind bars in Burma. Myanmar expands private banks with military ties – Jason Szep Reuters: Thu 16 Sep 2010 Bangkok – Myanmar is expanding the number of private banks in the reclusive state ahead of November elections, a step that looks set to strengthen the hand of businessmen with close ties to the ruling generals. The banking expansion follows signs of rising investment in the resource-rich country from neighbouring China and growing trade links to Southeast Asia, but economists doubt more banks in the army-run country will boost its capital-starved industries. Instead, the increase in private banks to a total of 19, from 15 previously, illustrates a trend in which the military elite and their allies look set to emerge as the financial powerbrokers of a new era of civilian rule in the former Burma. A Finance Ministry official said four businessmen have been authorised to each open new banks ahead of the Nov. 7 elections. The four are among the closest allies of the ruling generals and the wealthiest civilians in one of Asia’s most secretive economies at a time when the top military brass are swapping fatigues for civilian clothes ahead of the first elections in two decades and the first civilian government in half a century. One of the tycoons, Tay Za of the Htoo Group, has been identified by the U.S. State Department as an arms dealer. Another, Zaw Zaw, was hit with U.S. sanctions last year and a third, Nay Aung, is the son of Myanmar’s Industry Minister, a powerful figure seen as a protege to supreme leader General Than Shwe. The fourth businessman, property developer Chit Khaing, is also subject to Western sanctions. “They are symbolic in many ways of all that is wrong with Burma’s economy — profit through connections, opaque,” said Sean Turnell, an expert on Myanmar’s economy at Sydney’s Macquarie University. “CASH BOXES” “It is hard to see the new banks as anything much more than ‘cash boxes’ at the heart of the conglomerates that own them,” he added. “They are playthings to some extent but also as vehicles to access all manner of concessions, foreign exchange, and to otherwise manipulate and disguise money flows,” added Turnell. Economists generally dismiss banking as a dysfunctional industry in a country blighted by decades of economic mismanagement and squeezed by sanctions imposed by Western nations in response to human rights abuses. Turnell estimates a mere 15 percent of domestic credit made its way to the private sector in 2008/09. Over the last five years, the private sector’s share of credit has fallen by nearly 25 percent, crippling private enterprise in a country where 30 percent of the population live in poverty according to U.N. data. Hardest hit is the agricultural sector, source of more than half of Myanmar’s economic output and lifeline to more than 70 percent of the country’s 50 million people. Agriculture receives just 0.4 percent of credit created, said Turnell. The vast bulk of credit supports the military regime. The four businessmen run conglomerates considered top beneficiaries of a wave of privatisation in which about 300 state assets — from real estate to ports, shipping companies and an airline — were sold, mostly this year. Their four banks will be based in the capital Naypyitaw. “We will do our best to modernise the banking industry. We will try to offer small loans and introduce online services, ATMs and so on,” said an official at a new bank who declined to be identified because she was not authorised to speak to the media. Dozens of private banks owned by local and foreign companies operated in Myanmar before sweeping nationalisation in 1964. Its military rulers introduced a market economy after seizing power in 1988, allowing private banks in 1992. (Additional reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Editing by Alex Richardson) Elections in Myanmar: It’s all about exclusion – Medha Chaturvedi Eurasia Review: Thu 16 Sep 2010 The November 2010 elections in Myanmar do not promise to be fair and inclusive nor do they come with the agenda of complete restoration of democracy in the country. But, one thing these elections promise to be is a step towards a transformation which comes with opportunities for some important political changes in the future.How significant are these changes going to be when the present situation looks grossly unjust? How will the outcome be affected when the new electoral laws have barred certain citizens including the most visible supporter of democracy in the country, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi? Are these elections only an attempt by the military junta-backed State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) led by Prime Minister Thein Sein and the National Unity Party (NUP) to legitimize and further consolidate their power? The USDP and NUP have reportedly floated more than 1,100 and 980 candidates respectively, nationwide. A total of 1,163 seats will be contested for national and state parliaments; this is in addition to the 25 per cent seats reserved for the military in parliament. However, USDP is aiming to win an overwhelming 90 per cent seats, to ensure two out of three vice-presidential candidates from the military. The elections will be held in accordance to the new constitution which came into effect after a similarly non-inclusive referendum in May 2008. It forms the fifth step of the seven-step “road map to democracy” announced by the SPDC. Following this, the sixth and seventh steps – convening of elected representatives and building of a modern, democratic nation, respectively will supposedly be pursued. The new Constitution and election laws have provisions for exclusion of many sections, especially those against the present regime. People are also questioning the validity of the junta’s “attempts to restore democracy” in Myanmar when over 2,100 political prisoners are not being released and are barred from contesting these elections under the provisions of the 2008 constitution. At least two constitutional provisions – anyone with a criminal conviction or who is married to a person of different nationality cannot participate in the election process; exclude Suu Kyi from the electoral process. The laws also forbid any group which employs and trains armed forces against the ruling government, from forming a political party and thus, contesting in the election. Hence, the majority of ethnic ceasefire groups, while removed from the list of unlawful organizations, will not be granted the right to any political process without first converting their armed forces into a Border Guard Force functioning under the existing regime. This may pose some problems as these groups are eventually likely to prevent polling in territories they control which will again leave out a large number of people from voting. The Shan and Karen states seem to be the big casualties of these stipulations as it is highly unlikely that there will be any polling there owing to the provision which states that only conflict-free areas can hold elections. Members of religious orders are also prohibited from affiliating themselves to a political party and thus, contest elections. This implies that the monks who protested against the government in 2008 cannot take part in the electoral process. Then there is Suu Kyi’s party, National League for Democracy (NLD), which officially boycotted the elections. It is now conducting “voter education camps” in several constituencies urging the people to reject the elections by choosing to refrain from voting as provided in the Election Commission Law. This is expected to further bring down the number of people participating in the elections. While it is evident that the Generals Than Shwe and Maung Aye, will step down following the elections, their influence will still be felt quite substantially in the new government. It is therefore safe to assume that these elections will see the existing regime back in power, more dominant than before as it would now have a legal sanction as the winner of a nationwide election. The international community may or may not agree with this expected outcome, but it would have to accept it nevertheless. However, how does one accept an outcome whose entire foundation is exclusion? For the present government, anyone who does not agree with them is not welcome in the system. The junta-led government has decided that even the slightest inclination to oppose the regime will result in exclusion from the elections. Former American President Harry S. Truman once remarked, “Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of the opposition, it has only one way to go and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror for all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.” This holds true for Myanmar in the present context. The credibility of the first Myanmarese elections in 20 years is at stake, but the junta seems unperturbed. The Myanmarese people’s long wait for democracy in their country is far from over. The fate of the NLD – Kyaw Zwa Moe Irrawaddy: Thu 16 Sep 2010 The fact that Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy was disbanded by Burma’s ruling junta wasn’t unexpected news. The government’s Election Commission announcement on Tuesday is just a legal phase of the annihilation that the regime began plotting years ago. The NLD registered as a political party on Sept. 27, 1988, nine days after the military government, then known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council, staged a bloody coup following the ‘88 nationwide uprising. This month, 22 years later, the most popular party and the winner of the 1990 election was disbanded. Along with it, nine other parties, including ethnic parties, were dissolved. Yes, the party is now illegal. That means, any individual members of the party will be more vulnerable than before when it comes to exercising political or social activities. Thus, the freedom of the party’s leading members such as Vice Chairman Tin Oo, 83; veteran journalist-turned politician Win Tin, 81; Suu Kyi’s spokesperson, Nyan Win, as well as other party members is at stake. They are all still strong critics of the government’s upcoming election and have campaigned not to vote in the election as it would not be free and fair. Increased harassment or arrest of active members of the party is highly likely in the next phase of the regime’s plan to destroy the party completely. Although the party decided in March not to register to contest the upcoming election, the NLD’s recent efforts to stay active in public affairs has clearly agitated the military government. Anyway, consequences will also depend on what the NLD members attempt to carry out in the months before and after the Nov. 7 election. When talking about the NLD, no one can exclude Suu Kyi, who is still believed to be the most influential person among the general public. Though her voice was rarely heard during the past 14 years of her house arrest, she’s still the most feared political threat to the regime. After her release, the 64-year-old Nobel laureate is expected to continue what she calls “Burma’s second struggle for independence.” We’ll have to wait and see if she can find a new role for her disbanded party. According to Nyan Win, her lawyer, she should be released by Nov. 13. But whether or not the generals will release her is still an open question. The release date is only six days after the election and because the generals fear her extraordinary popularity, they may well find an excuse to keep her in detention longer, depriving her of the ability to criticize the outcome of the election. For years, Burma had strong opposition parties or groups. Even NLD efforts were severely curtailed by the junta. Even so, there is no equivalent political party among the 37 registered parties now contesting the election. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently expressed “concern” over the dissolution of the NLD and nine other parties. But the generals never listened to such concerns. They are only concerned that almost all the seats in the parliaments will be held by the incumbent generals and recent generals-turned-“politicians” of the Union Solidarity and Development Party led by Prime Minister Thein Sein. The international community has consistently called for inclusive, free and fair elections, but in fact, even if the elections were fair, things still wouldn’t change for the better. The government-backed USDP is the only one that’s able to contest all 1,163 seats in the parliament, a fact that can not be overcome by pro-democracy candidates. And finally, the Constitution guarantees the military will occupy 25 percent of the seats in parliament. Everything is in place for the generals to continue ruling the country: from within the parliament. Democratic Party to focus efforts on lower house, leader says Mizzima News: Thu 16 Sep 2010 Chiang Mai – Most of the 47 candidates submitted by the Democratic Party (Myanmar) led by Thu Wai will contest seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw (lower house), standing for Rangoon, Mandalay, Pegu and Tenasserim divisions, and Mon and Arakan states.Mizzima’s Ko Wild spoke to the Rangoon division Mingalar Taungnyunt constituency Pyithu Hluttaw (lower house) candidate, who said his party had to fear orders coming from above because most of the Union Election Commission (UEC) members were army officers. Q: How many candidates from your party passed UEC scrutiny? A: Three candidates were taken from our list before it was submitted to the UEC. Now that Hla Myint has been rejected by the UEC … I think 47 finally passed. Two candidates withdrew the nominations they submitted as their families had objected to them participating. They are from Pathein [township, Irrawaddy] and Shwepyithar [township Rangoon]. In the beginning, we had 51 candidates. Q: In which assembly have you fielded the most candidates and why? A: The Pyithu Hluttaw (lower house). We had wanted to field candidates in all constituencies but we had to stand only in the constituencies we could … Many wanted to contest seats in the lower house as opposed to the Nationalities Hluttaw (upper house). Our candidates must bear their canvassing expenses and candidate deposits out of their own pockets. The upper house constituencies are bigger than those of the lower house, with more eligible voters. Some of those in the upper house comprise four or five townships and would’ve cost candidates more. Q: Did your party hold meetings with eight independent candidates? A: Not often. Independent candidates are doing canvassing work themselves and our party is doing its own work. But since most of our candidates are not fielded in their constituencies, we can help them. Likewise, they can help us in our constituencies too. This is just an understanding among us and that’s all. It’s not a very significant development. Q: One of the eight, Dr. Phone Win, said one of your candidates is running in his constituency. Please explain. A: Yes, Ko Phone Win and our candidate Aung Than Myint are standing in the same constituency. The latter is an executive committee member of our party …We fielded our own candidate before having co-ordination meetings with the independents. Q: Do you have any links to the National Democratic Front (NDF)? A: Not yet. But personally, we are old acquaintances and are on friendly terms with them. Q: What do you think of the UEC notice on the right to canvass on radio and television? A: Fifteen minutes is not bad. We had only 10 minutes in 1990 but there are major differences in the restrictions. There were no such controls in the 1990 general election. We had to submit our draft copy of speeches to be delivered on radio and TV and they were subject to censorship, but that’s all. This time, however, a lot of restrictions have been imposed on us. We don’t know yet what speeches we have to give. Q: How will you cope with the nine restrictions listed in the UEC notice? A: All these restrictions seem imposed at the will of the government and the electoral commission. They can do whatever they like, whether they take action or not. For instance, the restriction says not to stimulate sedition or give any talks that can tarnish the image of the state. So if we point out the drawbacks and weaknesses in the state, they can take action against us with this restriction. It all depends on them. Q: So, what shall you do? A: We must take this opportunity and we must speak cleverly. Under our objectives, we shall say what drawbacks are in our country and how we shall tackle these issues, but not in directly attacking government – we can’t do that. Q: What differences have you noticed between the current UEC and the 1990 body? A: The two commissions are quite different. The former commission was constituted with experienced elders. Though they had a close rapport with the government at the time, they didn’t blindly follow the dictates of the government. But most of the current commission members are retired army officers, who are used to following orders. In Rangoon Division, we have found that the district and divisional level UECs don’t know the electoral laws and rules very well, which means they can work only when they receive orders from above. Q: Now you have known constituencies and candidates, in which areas does your party expect to win? A: We regard that we will win most of the constituencies we contest. We don’t have any fears of contesting against candidates from either the USDP or NUP but we have to contest against candidates fielded by what we might call pro-democracy forces or the opposition. So the confusion surrounding the issue means that I can’t answer this question definitely. Army to vote in separate ballot boxes – Maung Too Democratic Voice of Burma: Wed 15 Sep 2010 Burmese troops and their families in barracks will cast their vote for the looming elections in separate ballot boxes from ordinary civilians, the commander of a Rangoon-based army battalion has told DVB.A directive was issued on 6 September by the War Office in the capital, Naypyidaw, and signed by Lt. Gen. Thura Myint Aung, who it said was an official at Burma’s defence ministry, although he has been tipped to head the army following the elections. It was sent to army units across the country two months prior to the 7 November polls. Included in the directive was an order for troops to vote for the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), led by Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein, and to “avoid a repeat of the 1990 elections” which the ruling junta lost, despite having held onto power. If soldiers are found to have voted for parties other than the USDP, their battalion commanders will be penalised. In preparation for the vote senior army officials are to appoint a supervisor and assistant supervisor from soldiers’ families to man each of the ballot boxes. According to the directive, every battalion will have its own box, and the names of the appointed supervisors must be submitted to Naypyidaw by 15 September. The Rangoon commander added that each unit will collaborate with local junta-appointed Election Commission (EC) officials over the building of the ballot boxes. Troops who will be serving on the frontline on the day of voting can either cast votes in advance or use a form of long-distance voting, although it is not clear how this will work. The polls have already been widely derided by the international community as a sham aimed at entrenching military power under the guise of a civilian government. Burma has been under a military dictatorship since 1962, and conditions surrounding the elections appear to have been tailored to ensure this continues. Reports such as this of election fraud surface regularly and compound concerns about the polls being free and fair: the constitution awards a quarter of parliamentary seats to military officers prior to voting, and influential members of the junta have taken key positions in the USDP, which is widely tipped to win. Moreover, the USDP has announced it will field around 990 candidates, while the opposition National Democratic Force (NDF) will field around 160. The 500,000 kyat (US$500) fee for each candidate is beyond the reach of most parties except for the USDP, whose war chest appears huge. The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper today announced that 37 parties would be competing in the polls, Burma’s first in two decades. Restrictions placed on election campaign broadcasts – Ba Kaung Irrawaddy: Wed 15 Sep 2010 Burma’s Election Commission (EC) has attached a number of restrictions on the election campaign TV and radio broadcasts political parties will be allowed to make.The restrictions, announced on Tuesday, say the 37 parties contesting the Nov. 7 election can publicize their policy platforms during the allotted 15 minutes that the state-controlled media will carry, but they must avoid anything that defames or damages the honor of the ruling government or tarnishes the image of the armed forces, the Tatmadaw. Live broadcasts will not be allowed and scripts must be submitted seven days beforehand to the Election Commission for its approval. The ruling effectively bans any criticism of the government or any mention of the country’s problems, particularly ethnic issues. The parties face abolition if the EC finds they violate the restrictions. “We have to explain what our country needs and what reforms are necessary in a delicate way,” said Thu Wai, the chairman of the Democratic Party (Myanmar), who said his party would take advantage of the 15-minute time slot. The voting process in Burma’s first general election in 20 years has still to be explained fully to the electorate. But, according to recent reports in the state-media, Burmese voters can cast at least three ballots for candidates standing for seats in the People’s Parliament, the Nationalities Parliament and the Regional Parliament. In several places, including Rangoon, ethnic people can cast an additional vote to choose a candidate competing for parliamentary seats allotted to ethnic minorities. The articles also warned that those who are found guilty of obstructing the people from voting face a sentence of one-year imprisonment or a fine of 100,000 kyat ($100). “I heard that the different ballot boxes will be separated by color, but I still don’t know how to vote,” said a young Rangoon journalist. While political parties are heavily restricted in reaching out to the people, the regime has allowed two non-governmental organizations in Rangoon to give training to the parties on the voting process, according to Rangoon sources. Rangoon-based Myanmar Egress and Shalom Foundation, locally known as the Nyein Foundation, have already conducted various training programs on voting procedures to members of political parties running in the election, the sources said. Both organizations are known for their support of the junta’s 2008 Constitution and the upcoming election. They reportedly gave training to up to 10 political parties including the National Democratic Force (NDF), Shan National Democratic Party (SNDP), Democratic Party (Myanmar), Kayin Peoples Party and two other parties representing the Arakan and Mon people. The Shalom Foundation was founded in 2001 by the Rev. Saboi Jum, a leading figure in the ceasefire agreement reached between the regime and the armed Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), and he is still working as a peace negotiator between them. He has condemned the KIO for its persistent refusal to accept the government’s border guard force plan. “The Shalom is encouraging people to participate in the election,” said a Rangoon journalist. It is not clear how the two groups conduct their training programs. When contacted by The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, the secretary-general of Myanmar Egress, Nay Win Maung, declined to comment on the training. “We have concerns that these NGOs may be campaigning for the junta’s proxy parties,but as long as they are not biased, it should be okay because people probably don’t know how to vote,” said Dr.Aye Maung, the chairman of the Rakhine National Development Party. Despite confusion about the voting process and restrictions on political parties, officials of the junta’s proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), who are also government ministers, are reportedly touring the country campaigning. “The USDP is now publishing campaign pamphlets using the state-owned press machines. It has even done TV programs for campaigning,” said a Rangoon journalist. Make-believe elections – Editorial The Hindu: Wed 15 Sep 2010 Recent developments in Myanmar indicate that the ruling junta is on a quest for a smokescreen of legitimacy before tightening its grip on the nation in the November 7 election. In the second major reshuffle this year, 70 senior military officers, including the Army’s number three, General Thura Shwe Mann, quit their posts and are expected to join the Union Solidarity and Development Party, a proxy political party of the military. The first shuffle, in April, saw the exit of another group of senior military men, including Prime Minister Thein Sein. The moves are intended to give a civilian face to the new parliament, in which a quarter of the seats are reserved for serving military officers. The retired officers are expected to contest the remaining seats with no fear of defeat. By the August 30 deadline for registering candidates, the USDP had filed over 1,000 nominations while another pro-junta formation, the National Unity Party, is fielding over 900 candidates. On the other side, the two main democratic parties — the National Democratic Force, which split from the election-boycotting Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy, and the Democratic Front — have been able to put up fewer than 500 candidates between them. With the registration fee fixed at $500, they did not have the money to nominate any more.It has been clear from the start that this election — the first in Myanmar since the historic 1990 contest in which Ms Suu Kyi’s party emerged victorious but was barred from taking power — is no transition to democracy. New election laws barred Ms Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest, from contesting because of her convictions by the junta. Under the rules, the ensuing boycott by her party led to its dissolution. The military, whether in uniform or in civvies, and pro-military politicians will dominate the 224-seat House of Nationalities and the 440-seat House of Representatives. What is less clear is the role “Senior General” Than Shwe, head of the State Peace and Development Council, the official name for the junta, has reserved for himself. It was believed that he too had stepped down from his post to contest the election as a civilian. But that has turned out to be unfounded. He is likely to continue at the helm even after the election and might quit as military chief only when he is assured of a successor he can trust. But even if he became a civilian ruler, and for all his engagement with the international community, including India, the Myanmar strongman cannot hope to acquire real legitimacy after denying Ms Suu Kyi her rightful place in the country’s destiny. Torn between two capitals – Htet Aung Irrawaddy: Wed 15 Sep 2010 Naypyidaw, a remote town located halfway between Burma’s two main cities, Rangoon and Mandalay, has been the country’s administrative capital since junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe deemed it so on Nov. 6, 2005.Five years less one day later, as per the 2008 Constitution, Naypyidaw will become a “Union territory” directly governed by the president after the election on Nov. 7. The political structure of Burma will change after the election; however, the question is: will the political dynamism of the country shift from its old capital, Rangoon, to the new capital whose name translates into English as “The Abode of Kings”? Traditionally, Rangoon has played the pivotal role in Burmese politics, as well as serving as the country’s economic hub ever since colonial times. However, its status was degraded by the military junta when it packed its governmental and administrative bags and moved 200 miles north to an undeveloped site just two miles from Pyinmana. The construction of the new parliament continued apace with the construction of eight-lane avenues, an international airport and a 24-hour electricity supply, as well as the migration of government officials and their families to the town. Five years later, Burma’s would-be modern metropolis will undergo the transition from a synthetic ghost town to a hive of parliamentary activity. Officially, it will become Burma’s first civil administration in two decades. The new parliament is composed of 31 buildings, as well as presidential mansions for the future president and two vice-presidents. Synthetic, soulless and desperately devoid of social interaction, Naypyidaw has failed to persuade the staff and families of the United Nations agencies and foreign diplomatic missions to relocate their headquarters and embassies, severely undermining its integrity as a capital city. The fact is that most ambassadors, diplomats, INGO heads and their families are accustomed to living the high life in whatever country they are assigned. They circulate at cocktail parties, dine at the best restaurants in the city, send their children to the best international schools and constantly receive invitations to glamorous society events. A far cry from a life in bureaucratic Naypyidaw. When the Union Election Commission opened its doors for political party registration in March, it was unsurprising that every major national party, bar one, had its headquarters in Rangoon. The exception was, of course, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which based its headquarters in Naypyidaw. Asked about the political polarization of Rangoon and Naypyidaw, Chan Htun, a veteran politician and a former ambassador to China said: “I see Rangoon continuing to serve as the center of the democratic movement due to some key factors, such as population density, the home of the political parties and the well-established transportation networks linking the country, while Naypyidaw emerges as the fortress of the ruling party.” But could political tensions between the two cities spill over in the future? “I don’t think so,” said Wun Tha, an elected representative of the National League for Democracy in the 1990 election who currently works as a journalist. “Tension usually raises its head in a formidable situation, for instance, the growing strength of an opposition group threatening or seeking confrontation with the ruling party. What we are witnessing now is the would-be ruling party, the USDP, leaving all the other parties far behind in the race. It feels no threat.” In the newly emerging political landscape, the leadership of the USDP have chosen isolation in a Naypyidaw where they will quickly fall out of touch with the everyday needs of the people, not to mention their own members in more than 400 branches across the country. How can Naypyidaw expect to become the heart of the country when it has no soul? It seeks to impress with modernity and money and power, but it lacks cultural, historical, religious and societal roots. Unlike Rangoon, it is not a source of pride to the people of Burma. Shwedagon Pagoda, the country’s most sacred and well-known monument, has stood like a father overlooking Rangoon since the 6th century AD. Like a cheap counterfeiter, Than Shwe tried to imitate the kings of old by ordering the construction of a replica Shwedagon in the new capital. “Than Shwe considers himself a king,” said Chan Htun. “He built the pagoda as a display of power and as an attempt to create a legacy.” Should opposition parties boycott the elections? TIME: Tue 14 Sep 2010 Rangoon – Kaung Myint Htut was just 15 years old when he says Burma’s military intelligence dragged him blindfolded from his home in Rangoon for the third time. It was December 1990, six months after the junta had failed to recognize a landslide election victory by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). Like many young students, Kaung Myint Htut had been unable to contain his objections to the political oppression of the military regime, prompting him to become a student leader involved in regular strikes and demonstrations. “They got mad at me,” he says, recalling how his interrogators advised him to abandon politics between beatings. “But I couldn’t quit.”Six years in prison and two decades later, Kaung Myint Htut has chosen a less confrontational stance ahead of the Nov. 7 elections. The first since 1990, the polls’ legitimacy has been widely called into question because the previous election results were ignored. He plans to run as an independent candidate in Rangoon’s South Okkalapa township, the same constituency as Rangoon Mayor Aung Thein Linn. “We have opposed this illegal government for 20 years,” he says. “If you don’t participate in the election … things would be worse.” Like many politicians taking part, he argues that an election boycott — the long-standing policy of Suu Kyi’s NLD — would allow the junta to win uncontested. Suu Kyi’s party and Burmese political groups outside the country have condemned the plans of Kaung Myint Htut and others. “Their participation in the election helps the regime in making a permanent dictatorship,” says Aung Din, also a former political prisoner who runs U.S. Campaign for Burma, an organization campaigning for a boycott. The government’s decision to ban those in detention from running in the elections, which prompted a faction of the NLD to split with Suu Kyi, means no Burmese should participate, he argues. “Any political process in Burma without Aung San Suu Kyi is like removing Nelson Mandela from South Africa’s antiapartheid movement,” Aung Din says. It remains to be seen whether the junta will free the Nobel Peace Prize winner when her latest period of house arrest expires one week after the vote. Kaung Myint Htut and the NLD’s offshoot, the National Democratic Force (NDF), argue any window of political opportunity in Burma is better than none. But most of the dozens of opposition parties say there has been too little time to prepare since the elections were called on Aug. 13, and that the steep candidate-registration fee of $500 and heavily restrictive campaigning regulations are setting their candidates up for failure. Even Kaung Myint Htut’s fledgling political party, Myanmar Democracy Congress, died before campaigning started in earnest, unable to raise the funds to register the minimum number of candidates and forcing him to run alone. With few avenues for collecting party funds — authorities have sought to prosecute opposition politicians collecting donations in public — even the big opposition parties are struggling to compete nationwide, says Khin Maung Swe, formerly of the NLD and now chairman of the NDF. Suu Kyi’s continued house arrest and the fractured nature of the opposition means the different factions will have to avoid undermining each other, he adds. But win or lose, Khin Maung Swe says opposition parties will increasingly work together in the future. “We will have a coalition in the parliament once the election is over.” One thing both sides of the boycott debate agree on is that the odds are stacked against the opposition. Of the 498 elected seats in the lower and upper houses in the national parliament, the NDF is likely to contest 150 at most. By contrast, the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), led by Burma’s Prime Minister Thein Sein, is expected to run for every seat in the country. The military automatically gets 25% — or 166 parliamentarians — in the national legislatures, in addition to the nation’s top posts. So even if the elections are free and fair — and that’s a big if given that independent monitors are barred from the process — the numbers are hardly in the opposition’s favor. Less clear is just how the various houses of parliament will operate once the votes have been counted. To what extent will opposition MPs be given a voice? Burma has not had a functioning parliament since the military took power in 1962 and the day-to-day logistics remain unclear. A Rangoon-based Western diplomat, who has held several meetings with the USDP since the party was launched in April, described feeling “increasingly pessimistic” about Burma’s elections and their aftermath. “It’s about trying to manage a process. I don’t feel they will give space to the opposition.” For the likes of Kaung Myint Htut who have attempted to forget previous harsh treatment by the military, deciding to work within the heavily flawed election framework has required a certain level of trust the government has done little to deserve. But he says it’s a gamble he feels is necessary if Burma is ever going to change — even if everything is on the military’s terms. “My intention was not to be a politician, but I need the legitimacy,” he says. “This legitimacy is best for Burma.” Activist monks call for election boycott – Aye Nai Democratic Voice of Burma: Tue 14 Sep 2010 An underground Burmese monk activist group has urged would-be voters across the country to boycott the 7 November elections.The call was made by the All Burma Monks’ Alliance (ABMA) yesterday as proceedings get underway to mark the three-year anniversary of the September 2007 monk-led uprising. “We are calling on the people of Burma to boycott the 2010 elections, which are intended to transform the military dictators into a legitimate government, by not voting,” said ABMA spokesperson Dhamma Siri. The statement made reference to the 2008 constitution, which awards 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the military prior to voting, whilst it claimed that the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) will likely dominate the remaining seats. Asked whether their will be more freedom for Buddhist monks under the post-election government, Dhamma Siri said it was unlikely. “There are a lot of interferences – harassments in a way – on religious affairs by the current coup government. “They play nice and rough with us by utilising their power in many different ways, so there is no way the new government formed by this military junta will be good.” The ABMA is formed of key players in the September 2007 uprising, which has come to be known as the Saffron Revolution in testament to the thousands of saffron-robed monks that took to the streets of Burma before a bloody crackdown on 26 September. Calls for a boycott of Burma’s first elections in 20 years have been spearheaded by detained opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who is banned from competing and whose party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was dissolved following its decision not to run. There looks set to be 42 parties competing for seats in the new parliament, although the USDP, with nearly 1000 candidates across the country, has a clear advantage. In contrast, the National Democratic Force (NDF), which was born from the ashes of the NLD, will field 161, a figure significantly lower than the USDP but still a healthy one compared to other opposition and ‘third force’ parties. UN war crimes probe ‘still just an idea’ – Francis Wade Democratic Voice of Burma: Tue 14 Sep 2010 No movement has been made by the UN on an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity by the ruling junta in Burma, a UN spokesperson has said.The call for a commission of inquiry was made in August by the UN’s special rapporteur for Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, and follows demands by rights groups for a top-level probe into gross human right abuses committed by the military generals, who are preparing for controversial elections on 7 November. But Quintana’s proposal “is not something that’s gone beyond an idea”, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, said last week. “Mr. Quintana has proposed that idea. Whether anybody takes that up is up to the various bodies of the UN system.” Asked by a reporter what the next step would be, he responded: “Ultimately, the bodies of the UN system, including the Human Rights Council, can consider Mr. Quintana’s views and see whether any further steps need to be taken.” Han said in August that he was “not aware of any of the [UN] bodies…taking up this particular issue”. The probe was given its highest endorsement last month after the US said it would throw its weight behind an investigation, while an anonymous White House official told the Washington Post that US sanctions on Burma may also be tightened. Both the US and the UN appear to have had a torrid time encouraging the military junta, which has ruled Burma in various guises since 1962, to embark on the road to democratic reform. Washington’s decision last year to pursue a policy of engagement has produced no results, and the Obama administration has since toughened its rhetoric. Meanwhile, the UN has come under fire as it continues to vacillate over appointing a successor to Ibrahim Gambari, the oft-criticised envoy to Burma who was reassigned to Sudan in December last year. In January it defended the hiatus on reappointing an envoy by claiming that UN Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar was temporarily filling the role. But perhaps its most scathing criticism was reserved for Ban Ki-moon, whose once vocal and consistent condemnation of the junta appears to have quietened in the past year: in a leaked 50-page report in July, the former chief of the UN’s anti-corruption agency, Inga-Britt Ahlenius, said that the UN secretariat was in a “process of decay” after three years of “absence of strategic guidance and leadership” under Ban, and that its “relevance…in disarmament, in Myanmar [Burma]” was highly questionable. Burma’s junta can’t escape from the net – Phoebe Kennedy Independent (UK): Tue 14 Sep 2010 Rangoon – Burma’s military rulers won’t be inviting foreign observers to monitor November’s general election – a poll already dismissed as a sham by Western governments – but the country’s network of bloggers and “citizen journalists” is planning to do the job for them.Despite internet censorship and harsh punishments for those caught criticising the junta online, Burma has a lively cyber community of bloggers and Facebookers who believe the internet is the strongest force for change in a country which has been locked under military dictatorship for half a century. The 7 November election won’t be free or fair – senior general Than Shwe has already seen to that by bankrolling a huge proxy party stuffed with ex-military candidates, while intimidating and financially squeezing the small opposition parties which have dared to stand. But gathered in an internet café in central Rangoon, a group of young cyber-activists say they are taking the vote seriously, even if the result is a foregone conclusion. “The regime is going to keep power after the election – we all know that – but boycotting the election will not help. We need to grab any opportunity to bring change,” said Aung, a 27-year-old female blogger and author of the popular Burmese-language blog “Me and My Stuff”. Optimistic and sometimes painfully idealistic, the bloggers are strongly opposed to the government but are fed up with what is written about Burma from outside the country: media reports, blogs written by political exiles and human rights websites are all damning of the junta but offer nothing positive, they say. “They are just attacking the regime and nothing else,” said Eugene, a 30-year-old blogger. “They don’t show us a way out. They talk about the problems but not the solution – many people are searching for more, and we want to give them that.” Like everyone under the age of 38 in Burma, none of the bloggers has voted before. The last national election in 1990 was won overwhelmingly by Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, but the generals overturned the result. Despite their inexperience of democracy, the bloggers see their role as educating and informing. “We want to explain how the election will work,” said “Timpler” the cyber name of a 30-year-old IT consultant and father of two. “I already post information about political parties, the election commission and other things about politics. Some people can be quite outspoken, making fun of the government politicians, or saying that they are lying.” On election day itself, the bloggers plan to spread out across Rangoon and other cities and towns to create an network of election monitors. “Our role as bloggers, or CJs (citizen journalists) will be to individually monitor the election,” said Aung. “We plan to organise ourselves to phone in from the polling stations and use SMS and Twitter to get information out and to say whether the voting is free. This as our responsibility.” The bloggers are well aware of the risks. Fellow blogger Nay Phone Latt was arrested in early 2008 and sentenced to 12 years in prison for breaking the Electronics Act. The 30-year-old was a prominent blogger during the September 2007 “Saffron Revolution” and documented the uprising led by Buddhist monks and its violent aftermath, in which dozens of peaceful protesters were shot dead. Nay Phone Latt, named this year as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people, is serving his sentence in the remote Hpa’an prison in eastern Burma. His family is able to visit him occasionally, but the only communication he now has with his online community is by hand-written letter. The bloggers plan to be careful. Their individual blogs can be easily traced to them, so they may use a group blog such as Burmese Bloggers without Borders, the site they set up in 2007 to record the uprising. The regime has tried to block blog sites inside Burma and they cannot always be viewed. But the bloggers say the government’s haphazard approach to controlling the internet and their own superior technical knowledge keep them a step ahead. “We can get around their controls and blocks, it’s easy for us. We use anonymity software and proxy servers outside the country. That’s just natural for us,” said Aung, an English language graduate and IT trainer. The bloggers’ hope for the election is that a civilian-fronted government will bring some new freedoms, small cracks in the system that can be wedged open by their drive and activism. “There will be no revolution, but even a little change will be good for us,” said Aung. “We don’t want to be politicians, we see ourselves as social activists. We believe in the power of new media to make a difference in our country.” From the blogs Simple loss of faith, February 2009 We no longer have faith in the government, the education system and the health-care system, etc. A visit to any government office will require a string of briberies to get things done, starting from the lowest-rank. Many educators and health practitioners have traded in their sense of integrity in exchange for the pursuit of materialistic goals or simply the need of survival. Schools have lost their essence of education and nurturing. Our educational certificates no longer hold much worth. People no longer have a sense of pride at being “educated”. Corruptions and lies have crept into Burma over the decades and slowly but surely, settled into the daily lives of our people. Past is haunting, present is daunting, July 2008 So, what is the present situation in Burma now? Burmese civilians did try their best whenever the circumstances favoured. Then military regime has repeatedly tortured and killed whomever is against them. Many families were broken and destroyed under this oppression. Mothers are crying. Sons are dying. Political prisoner are lying in the darkness. Political crisis makes ever-deepening social crisis and in turn it’s causing political unrest again. Moreover, Nargis cyclone pushes Burma to the edge of the worst. Everything seems hopeless and unimaginable what would happen to worrisome and desperate 50 million souls. Will it be another revolution? Will it be another cyclone to make us sufferer? Will it be another earthquake to punish dictator? Will it be any betterment? Will it be even worse? One thing for sure is present is daunting. All of Burma is a prison, June 2008 Why is my brother in Insein [prison]? On Feb. 15, the military raided the offices of the Myanmar Nation and took my brother, the weekly journal’s editor in chief, to jail. His crime? Possession of a UN report on the military’s brutal crackdown on last September’s demonstrations by monks and democracy activists – known around the world as the “Saffron Revolution”. My brother’s name is Thet Zin, and he is one of hundreds of Burmese citizens who struggle to tell the truth about what is happening in their country – whether through traditional forms of journalism or through the internet – under threat of arrest or worse by the military regime. Along with my brother, his office manager, Sein Win Maung, was also arrested. Source: Burmese Bloggers w/o Borders Countdown to freedom: Aung San Suu Kyi must be released on November 13, 2010 Freedom Now: Tue 14 Sep 2010 Washington, D.C. –Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi, General Secretary of the National League for Democracy and the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, should be released immediately and unconditionally from her illegal house arrest; however, she must, under Burmese law, be released on November 13, 2010. This release will occur after the Burmese junta’s fraudulent elections, scheduled for November 7, 2010. This legal assessment is consistent with the January 2010 announcement by thenBurmese Minister for Home Affairs Major-General Maung Oo that Suu Kyi “will be released this November.”Suu Kyi has spent nearly 15 of the past 21 years in illegal detention. Her most recent series of illegal detentions began on May 30, 2003, when the junta placed Suu Kyi in “protective custody” after an assassination attempt by thugs associated with the junta-backed Union Solidarity Development Association. The attack also left an estimated 70 of her supporters dead. Suu Kyi’s detention was executed under Burma’s draconian State Protection Law. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has declared Suu Kyi’s detentions since 2003 to be arbitrary and in violation of international law on four separate occasions, including, most recently, in Opinion 12/2010 issued on June 16, 2010. The State Protection Law under which Suu Kyi was held is unconstitutional under Burmese law as it was adopted under Article 167 of its 1974 constitution. The junta annulled the 1974 constitution when it took power in 1988 and it was later replaced by the 2008 constitution. Further, even under its own terms, the law was illegally applied to Suu Kyi in two key respects. First, the State Protection Law does not permit protective custody but rather, permits only the detention of an individual who might perform “any act endangering the sovereignty and security of the state or public peace and tranquility.” Second, the State Protection Law allows for a maximum of five years of detention without charge or trial, renewable in one-year increments. Suu Kyi, therefore, even under the junta’s illegal application of an illegal law, should have been released on May 30, 2008, five years after her initial detention. The junta, however, claimed it had the right to detain Suu Kyi under the State Protection Law for six years. On August 11, 2009, almost three months after she was due to be freed from her illegal house arrest of six years, Suu Kyi was sentenced to three years in prison, which was then commuted to 18 months of house arrest under Section 401(5) of the Criminal Procedure Code. According to the junta, this extension was justified by Suu Kyi’s alleged violation of the terms of her house arrest when American John Yettaw swam onto her property uninvited. This latest illegal 18-month extension of Suu Kyi’s house arrest ends on November 13, 2010. Under Burmese law, the term must be counted as beginning when she was transferred to Insein prison on May 14, 2009, and detained in prison under the new charge of violating the terms of her house arrest. The junta cannot legally renew or extend Suu Kyi’s house arrest—not only has she served one year more than the maximum five years permitted under the now unconstitutional State Protection Law, but the junta issued the 18-month term of house arrest for violating the law under a provision which is neither renewable nor extendable. Unfortunately, if the junta were to not follow through with her release, it would not be the first time it falsely claimed Suu Kyi would be released to alleviate the international pressure surrounding her illegal detention. In 2003-2004, then-Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung repeatedly and publicly stated that Suu Kyi would be released. Yet, she remains under house arrest today. The international community must therefore be vigilant and ensure that the junta meets it commitment to release Aung San Suu Kyi. Underground press in Burma challenges generals – Sian Powell The Australian: Mon 13 Sep 2010 Chiang Mai – Burma is a dangerous place for the media. Foreign journalists are routinely refused entry.Local journalists are heavily censored, underground journalists are hunted down, arrested and jailed for years. Paranoid and xenophobic, the ruling military junta is ever vigilant to quash criticism, especially now, with an election due. An election set for November, the first in 20 years, has been widely derided as a farce and a military publicity exercise that will do little to change the nature of the repressive regime. Nevertheless, optimists think the exercise might open a little space for incremental change. So journalists, inside and outside the barricaded nation, have been monitoring developments with great interest. As the Thailand bureau chief of the non-profit Democratic Voice of Burma news network, Toe Zaw Latt helps oversee 100 staff working illicitly in Burma, as well as more than 38 in Thailand. An Australian citizen with a degree from Monash University, Toe Zaw Latt is sure the ruling State Peace and Development Council will try to further restrict news from Burma as the elections get nearer. He is working on ways to foil the generals’ plans and get news out to the world. However rigged it is, the election might bring some surprises, and however they pan out, they are important news. “Sure, it’s getting more dangerous,” he says, in the DVB headquarters in Thailand’s northern city of Chiang Mai. “Everything is planned, everything is controlled. They will shut down the internet — they did it for the Saffron uprising (by the monks in 2007), the referendum, the visit of (UN Secretary-General) Ban Ki Moon. “But we are already prepared for this. We have to use the latest technology, we have to open many ways to overcome this deadlock.” The junta has established a Russian-trained police cyber-crime unit, he says, to track down undercover and citizen journalists trying to send information out of Burma via the internet. Toe Zaw Latt is reluctant to spell out details of the various ways of getting round the expected clampdown, but it’s likely they include satellite phones, clandestine internet tricks, and straightforward smuggling of footage over the border to Thailand. DVB has stringers all over Burma, including conflict zones. “If anything happens we know, we know,” he says. The news network broadcasts television and radio into Burma in various languages, to an estimated audience of 10 million, and also runs a website (www.dvb.no). Cut off from the world and real news by heavy restriction of the internet and rigorous censorship of newspapers, Burmese mostly rely on external broadcasts from DVB, the BBC World Service, VOA, and Radio Free Asia. Toe Zaw Latt says the media in Burma are “largely ineffective”. Weekly titles such as the Myanmar Times, owned by Australian Ross Dunkley, are heavily censored, he says, and they cannot be relied on. “They repeat propaganda,” he says. “They have to, it’s compulsory.” So far, he says, the junta has not permitted publication of a privately owned daily newspaper. DVB journalists are often leaked information by well-wishers from all strata of the junta. “Not every soldier, not even all the high-ranking ones, is happy with what is going on,” he says. “They are happy to leak information to us.” He notes with some pride that DVB first aired the news that the junta wanted to develop nuclear weapons. This stream of leaks may dry up as the election gets closer, and leaking becomes more dangerous. Still, the smiling bureau chief says, DVB will not miss anything. Junta officers cannot be directly questioned, but DVB always gets its hands on information from tightly controlled press conferences. This simmering military dissatisfaction, Toe Zaw Latt says, is the impetus behind the elections. The ruling military junta, the State Peace and Development Council, has been impervious to Western sanctions and uninterested in Western criticism. Civil protest, such as the Saffron uprising, left the generals unmoved. So why even bother to stage elections? Toe Zaw Latt says that’s the million-dollar question, and it has a very local answer. Many in the military were becoming restless, and asking what had happened to the back-to-barracks plan, and the “roadmap to democracy” mooted years ago. Toe Zaw Latt was exiled from Burma in 1988, when a popular uprising challenged the junta and thousands were killed. He won’t say how many of the 100 Burmese working for DVB in Burma are journalists and how many are support staff, as he wants to keep the junta in the dark as much as possible. Nor will he say how many DVB journalists have been jailed, but it’s at least six, including one young woman who was sentenced to 27 years earlier this year for interviewing monks. DVB journalists almost never carry cameras openly, and hidden cameras are used. Some of the tricks were seen on Burma VJ, a documentary about DVB journalists that was in the running for an Academy Award earlier this year. Junta paranoia extends to anyone seen with a video camera. Video repair shop staff avoid taking cameras anywhere, in case they are caught in a sweep. Video cameras are generally owned only by the rich, so any subversive journalist caught with a camera is in deep trouble. Regardless of international scepticism about the election, Toe Zaw Latt thinks that it could open some space for civilian discourse. Burma election Monitors question unfair practices The Nation (Thailand): Mon 13 Sep 2010 In barely two months, elections will be held in Burma, generating significant attention worldwide. The Union Election Commission (UEC) announced on August 13th that the “multiparty elections in Burma will be held on November 7, 2010.” There have been a number of developments in the days preceding the announcement of the election date, which deserve serious attention from all democracy-supporting citizens of the world.From its position as a regional election observation group supporting democratisation through a free and fair electoral process, the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) considers it important to make its position clear on the issue of democracy in Burma. First and foremost, it emphasises that election observation is possible only if conditions are free and fair and in sync with the international principles guiding a democratic electoral process. In this context ANFREL, and other election monitoring organisations within Asean, and also those that share similar concerns in Asia – have called for a review of the election regulations, orders and practices on electoral contests, regarding the basic rights of parties, candidates and voters. The UEC of Burma must stop all attempts by political parties to misuse state resources in their favour and also for other campaign failings, otherwise the UEC’s actions cannot be considered neutral and non-partisan. Over the last month records speak for themselves on the undue restrictions on campaigns by certain political parties and alliances, which clearly violate the three basic rights—freedom of expression, assembly and association. These are the basic tenets of democracy and have to be upheld at any cost. In any democratic process, all parties and candidates should have the right to comment or criticise other parties on their policies and their past performances. Opposition and new parties must be given sufficient room to fully showcase and introduce themselves to the public without threat, obstruction or violence. A case in point of a single party holding an unfair advantage is that of the United Solidarity Democratic Party (USDP) which is a proxy of USDA and the military. This political party has had much more opportunity than others in meeting people, directly or indirectly to introduce its members. It has also been accused of using state facilities and human resources in the campaign. The unfair advantage the USDP enjoys with its political status and powers to recruit members– by manipulation or by force – is unacceptable. Its media control and populist policies, which have been designed to favour the USDP, need to be questioned as they give it an unfair advantage over other parties. The way things have shaped up during the run up to the election indicate the UEC is not able to work independently or freely, reflecting on its compo sition of 17 commissioners selected by the junta. Aside from this, the 12 organisations signatory to this statement have all indicated the Burma election will not be credible because: 1. The military is too involved in the election 2. The media is not free and under total control and censorship 3. Lack of transparency in absentee voting, advance voting and counting ballot papers– especially restrictions on local observers. 4. Absence of a mechanism to check voter lists to prevent phantom voting, double or multiple votes. Finally, speculation that the election has been timed before the release of Burma’s democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has led to election observation groups raising serious questions about the credibility of the election. Taking into consideration all developments so far, these organisations – led by the oldest body in Asia, NAMFREL – have concluded that the Burma election may not be acceptable to the international community, since every development in Burma indicates strongly that the military junta is doing anything but hold a democratic election. The objective of the military seems to be clear – to win the coming election at all cost. A dozen non-government groups across Asia including Poll Watch and ANFREL have also called on Asean to review such doubtful forms of electoral processes and ensure the election is more inclusive. CNPC to ready Myanmar pipelines, refinery by 2013 – Jim Bai and Chen Aizhu Reuters: Fri 10 Sep 2010 Beijing – CNPC, China’s top oil and gas firm, said on Friday it plans to complete the China section of pipelines from military-ruled Myanmar and a related refinery by 2013, putting the pipeline a year behind schedule.The announcement by China National Petroleum Corp is the first timing it has given for the refinery, which will process only crude imported via the China-Myanmar pipeline. It comes as the former Burma’s reclusive leader, General Than Shwe, is on a state visit to China, where President Hu Jintao assured him of Beijing’s support for the diplomatically isolated country ahead of controversial elections in November. Chinese state news agency Xinhua quoted Than Shwe, 77, as saying in Shanghai that he wanted to learn from China’s experience at economic reform, and that in the future “Myanmar must become an important trade partner of China’s”. CNPC, the parent of PetroChina (0857.HK)(601857.SS)(PTR.N) started official construction of the Chinese section of the oil and gas pipelines on Friday, after kicking off the Myanmar section in early June. At the same time, it held a ground-breaking ceremony for the 200,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Kunming, capital of southwestern Yunnan province, CNPC said in a statement. The projects will help diversify China’s energy import routes, cutting its dependence on shipments via the potentially risky Malacca Strait, through which some 80 percent of the country’s oil imports now pass. China calls this the “Malacca Strait dilemma”, fearing that during a conflict, a hostile power could choke off energy supplies that are taken on supertankers through the narrow strait between Malaysia and Indonesia. “The strategic significance of the pipelines cannot be overstated,” energy expert Zhou Dadi told the Economic Information Daily. The oil pipeline, with capacity of 440,000-bpd, winds 771 km through Myanmar and then stretches another 1,631 km in China before it reaches Chongqing. The gas pipeline, with 12 bcm capacity, spans 793 km in Myanmar and 1,727 km in China, and ends in the southern region of Guangxi. The company did not disclose whether or when all three projects would receive final approval from the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s powerful ministry in charge of economic planning and pricing. The projects will boost CNPC’s presence in southwest China after it started running the 200,000-bpd Qinzhou refinery in Guangxi on Wednesday. Sinopec Corp is the leading oil supplier in the southern Chinese market. China is one of the few countries willing to do business with Myanmar, though its ruling generals also have close economic ties with Thailand and have been seeking support from India to balance the influence of Myanmar’s powerful northern neighbour. Beijing covets not only Myanmar’s natural resources but also the access the country provides to the Indian Ocean for poor and landlocked southwestern Chinese provinces, and wants to maintain stability there at all costs. (Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard) Burma’s FEC in crisis Irrawaddy: Thu 9 Sep 2010 The trading of Foreign Exchange Certificates (FEC) in Burma has totally halted due to the excessive drop in its rate this week, causing concerns among foreign currency dealers, according to sources.The exchange rate between the FEC and the US dollar had almost no difference within the first half of 2010, and the FEC value was even higher during some months. However, the FEC is becoming difficult to trade in the market in Rangoon since its exchange rate began dropping in August and fewer people are buying it. On Monday, a dollar of the FEC was worth 880 kyat (less than US $1), but within three days it suddenly dropped to 730 kyat on Thursday. “The current exchange rate for 1 FEC is 730 kyat. Nobody either buys or sells it now because its rate has dropped excessively,” said a businessman in Rangoon, who trades currencies. He said the value of the US dollar has also decreased from 970 kyat to 925 kyat per dollar. A manager at the Myanmar Economic Bank said rumors have circulated that a new financial policy, which may terminate the FEC, may be implemented after the Nov. 7 election. “If the new government wants to bring foreign investments into the country, it has to relax its policies on the use of foreign currencies inside Burma. If people can use foreign currencies officially, the FEC may become a useless paper,” said the bank manager. FECs are circulated in place of US dollars domestically. The junta has issued FEC at a fixed rate of 1 FEC to $1 via licensed exchange counters. The junta requires foreign companies and international NGOs to use dollars or FEC to pay rental charges and utility and telephone bills (charged at a rate that is often 10 times higher than what local firms are charged). The military government also allows dollars to be deposited in a state bank for later withdrawal as FEC. With regard to the usefulness of the FEC, a travel agency owner said, “Previously, the FEC was widely used in paying phone bills and company taxes, buying fuel, etc., but since the emergence of private gas stations and pre-paid phone cards its usefulness has become very limited.” Economists in Burma said the drop of the US dollar and FEC values lied in the current economic pattern. They said the domestic economy is now at a standstill as businessmen do not invest in new enterprises while watching the political situation in the lead up to the election. Traders also said the halt in the Thai-Burmese border trade has had a huge impact on many businesses, and caused the appreciation of the kyat. In addition, the price of solid gold has reportedly gone down from about 650,000 kyat ($ 722) per one kyat-thar (approximately 0.015 kg) to 635,000 kyat. An economist in Rangoon said that apart from slow economic conditions the scarcity of Burmese currency inside the country was another reason for depreciation of the value of the US dollar and gold. “The government withdraw massive amount of kyat through increasing tax rates, charging fines for unlicensed vehicles and issuing licenses, auctioning illegal vehicles and state-owned buildings, and selling state assets under the name of privatization. It means a shortage of cash in the market. So, when it needed money in cash the sold gold and dollars, that’s why the value of those items dropped,” he explained. Shop owners at Rangoon’s Bayintnaung wholesale market, however, said the price of staple food such as rice, cooking oil, salt and other commodities did not fall although the value of the US dollars, export earnings and gold depreciates excessively. Rangoon mayor pushes city staff to vote USDP Mizzima News: Wed 8 Sep 2010 Rangoon – The mayor of Burma’s former capital has told departmental heads to push municipal staff to cast their votes in favour of the main junta-backed party in polls on November 7, city employees said.Rangoon Mayor Aung Thein Lin told the municipal chiefs to hold special meetings in their departments to pass on his message that city civil servants should vote for the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), of which is a high-ranking member, according to a municipal worker. “But, it’s not the desire of the departmental heads. They just pass the message on to the employees but they will have to collect advanced votes … all of which will go to the USDP,” the municipal official said, on the condition of anonymity. The former brigadier general is chairman of the Rangoon City Development and a central executive committee member of the Rangoon Division USDP. He will stand for the South Okkalapa Township constituency seat. The mayor reportedly used the same tactic ahead of the 2008 referendum on the constitution. “In the 2008 referendum, we had to cast votes in advance,” a city engineer said. “We didn’t need to go to polling booths. In the forthcoming election, I heard that the authorities will do the same thing. I live in Insein municipal housing but they [USDP members] told me I didn’t have to go to the Insein polling station. They said they would collect our votes.” Municipal employees live in city housing in Insein, Sanchaung, Kyeemyindaing, Mingalar Taungnyunt, Tamway and Botahtaung townships. There are 21 departments in the Rangoon municipality and departmental heads were required to join the USDP as members to keep their jobs. The municipality has about 3,000 employees and nearly all are eligible voters, of which, in the run-up to the elections, authorities have started to collect lists. The USDP filed a total of more than 1,100 candidates to contest seats in the People’s Assembly, the National Assembly and in the States and Regions Assemblies in the forthcoming election, making it the largest party. With 975 registered candidates, the National Unity Party (NUP) is the second largest. Among the 47 political parties that have applied for registration, the electoral commission has approved 42, while 32 have submitted lists of party members. China assures isolated Myanmar of its support Reuters: Wed 8 Sep 2010 Beijing – Chinese President Hu Jintao assured Myanmar’s reclusive leader General Than Shwe on Wednesday of China’s support for his diplomatically isolated country ahead of controversial elections in November.“China pays a great deal of attention to relations with Myanmar,” state television quoted Hu as telling Than Shwe, 77. “Consolidating and developing Sino-Myanmar cooperation and friendship is our unswerving policy. No matter how the international situation changes, this policy will not alter,” Hu added. China is willing to increase its economic and trade cooperation with the former Burma, especially in the energy sector, Hu added, without providing details. He said China and Myanmar must work hard on energy and other projects, which “benefit both peoples.” Military-ruled Myanmar is subject to wide-ranging economic sanctions imposed by Europe and the United States stemming from its bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1988 and continued detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But China is keen to maintain close ties with Myanmar, coveting its oil and gas and access to the Indian Ocean for poor and landlocked southwestern Chinese provinces. Yet it also frets about drug lords and rebel armies operating along the border. In August 2009, refugees flooded across into China following fighting on the Myanmar side of the border between rebels and government troops, angering Beijing. Than Shwe told Hu that his government was committed to ensuring stability on the border as part of a “long-set policy” of protecting its friendship with China. “Maintaining peace and stability on the border is of the utmost importance to both countries,” the report quoted Than Shwe as saying. State television made no direction mention of Myanmar’s November 7 elections, at which the ruling junta’s civilian proxies are expected to score a resounding victory. The U.S. and European governments have condemned the poll as a sham. Hu said that China “understands and supports the Myanmar government’s efforts to promote ethnic reconciliation.” (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Sugita Katyal) |
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