BURMA RELATED NEWS – JULY 21, 2010
Jul 21st, 2010
Wed Jul 21, 3:12 am ET
NEW DELHI (AFP) – A top rights group criticised India Wednesday for rolling out the red carpet for Myanmar’s military leader General Than Shwe who will begin a state visit to the country next week.
Than Shwe is set to meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pratibha Patil during his five-day trip to the South Asian giant that begins on Sunday, an Indian foreign ministry source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), which represents 164 organisations across the world, said in a letter to Singh that it was “deeply troubled” by the visit.
“The long list of the junta?s well-documented human rights abuses includes acts that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity under international law,” the group said in the letter, which was also sent to AFP.
The group added that maintaining relations with the Myanmar military leaders “without due regard to universal human rights is unbecoming of the world?s largest democracy and a responsible world power.”
The European Union, United States and other countries have targeted Myanmar with economic sanctions and travel bans, but the military regime has resisted the moves largely due to support from China, India and neighbouring Thailand.
India was once a staunch supporter of Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, but shifted its strategy in the mid-1990s as security, energy and strategic priorities emerged.
It is eyeing oil and gas imports from Myanmar, needs help in countering separatists operating along the countries’ common border, and is particularly concerned about not losing strategic ground to China in the military state.
By Rachel O’Brien – 14 hours ago
HANOI (AFP) - Asia’s largest security forum is expected this week to adopt a plan boosting civil and military co-ordination in response to natural disasters — a rising threat across the region.
The 27-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum meets in Hanoi on Friday, where a priority is improved cooperation in disaster relief by 2020, according to a draft action plan seen by AFP.
The forum gathers major powers including China and the United States but is driven by the 10-member ASEAN bloc, which has been criticised in the past for a lacklustre response to Southeast Asian natural disasters.
An initiative to improve relief was welcomed by the Asia-Pacific disaster chief of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Michael Annear.
But “these agreements need to then be taken to the country level and incorporated into national processes” to be effective, he added.
The forum’s statement aimed to “harmonise regional cooperation” over relief and strengthen civil-military coordination — for example by holding regular exercises — to enhance disaster responses over the next decade.
It also sets out plans to develop tools such as a “model legal arrangement for foreign military assistance”.
But such pledges could be deflecting attention from more complicated issues such as tensions over North Korea’s nuclear programme, according to Ian Storey, a fellow of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
He told AFP the forum “is moving toward more cooperation on less sensitive issues like humanitarian cooperation and disaster relief… because the other issues are just too difficult to deal with”.
The region is prone to earthquakes, storms and volcanic eruptions and is expected to be hard-hit by rising sea levels and extreme weather caused by climate change.
Experts have said environmental damage, shoddy urban planning, corruption and other man-made problems are magnifying the human cost of natural disasters almost every time they strike in Asia.
The latest calamity, Typhoon Conson, has left a death toll of 76 in the Philippines, two in China and one in Vietnam over the past week, with dozens more still missing and feared dead.
At a security conference last month in Singapore, top regional officials called for a more coordinated response to relief operations across Asia-Pacific nations.
Malaysian Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi called for the establishment of centres focusing on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
His New Zealand counterpart, Wayne Mapp, agreed the region had “to move beyond talking about to actually doing something and having centres of excellence, probably regional based, would probably help”.
In May 2008, ASEAN was faulted for failing to pressure military-ruled Myanmar, a member of the bloc, to allow in international aid after Cyclone Nargis devastated the country’s south, leaving 138,000 dead or missing.
A group of officials from the UN and ASEAN were eventually allowed to coordinate aid with Myanmar’s government, which the bloc hailed as a successful example of its capability and unity.
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Jul 21, 2010 (IPS) – Thanks to a loophole in the international regime to control the proliferation of nuclear weapons, military-ruled Burma could very well carry out its reported intent to go nuclear behind a veil of secrecy, free of scrutiny from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
That is the privilege the South-east Asian nation enjoys under the Small Quantities Protocol it signed with the Vienna-based IAEA in April 1995, three years after Burma, also known as Myanmar, became party to the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
This protocol allows parties to the treaty, which seeks to build a global nuclear non-proliferation regime, to have up to 10 tonnes of natural uranium and 2.2 pounds of plutonium without having to report such possessions to the IAEA.
This means also that countries like Burma do not have to open their doors to IAEA inspection teams and can avoid disclosing details about new nuclear facilities until six months before these start operations.
It is of little wonder, then, why a former IAEA director is urging Burma to clear the air about its reported nuclear plans by becoming a party to the Additional Protocol of the NPT, which gives the IAEA more powers to inspect nuclear activity in a country.
“They have nothing to lose if they have nothing to hide,” Robert Kelly, a recently retired director of the IAEA, told IPS in an exclusive interview. “It is a protocol that countries have volunteered to be a party to. Chad just became the 100th member of the Additional Protocol.”
Burma’s silence on this front, along with its denials of violating its commitment to the NPT, “is very strange; it is very suspicious,” added Kelly, a nuclear engineer, during the telephone interview from Vienna. “They are exploiting a loophole in the Small Quantities Protocol and getting away (with it).”
Kelly, a U.S. national who has participated in IAEA nuclear weapons inspections in Iraq, Libya and South Africa, has been drawn into controversy in the wake of reports that Burma intends to become the first nuclear power in South-east Asia. In June, Kelly gave an independent assessment of the findings made by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), an Oslo-based station run by Burmese journalists in exile, which exposed Burma’s nuclear ambitions.
“There is clear evidence that there is a place where steps are being taken towards building a nuclear programme,” Kelly said of the evidence he had reviewed from the DVB report, including that pertaining chemical processing equipment to convert uranium compounds into forms for enrichment. “But there is no sign of a weapons programme yet.”
The DVB’s revelations of Burma’s nuclear dream have been confirmed within U.S. intelligence circles, Kelly revealed. “It was not something new for them. They had known such facilities existed for at least five years.”
The DVB report also confirmed what many Burma watchers had suspected for nearly a decade — that the junta, which rules the country with an iron grip through the use of its 450,000-strong military, had bigger ambitions. Its suspected nuclear trail, in fact, cut across many countries.
In early 2002, for instance, media reports emerged about Suleiman Asad and Muhammed Ali Mukhtar, two Pakistani nuclear scientists who had worked in two of that Burma’s secret nuclear installations.
In 2007, Russia and Burma signed an agreement to build a nuclear research centre, including facilities for radioisotope production, a silicon doping system and a nuclear-waste treatment and burial facility. This deal with Rosatom, Russia’s atomic energy agency, came on the heels of the nuclear training that close to 1,000 Burmese scientists and technicians have received in Russia since 2001.
Signs of closer cooperation between Burma and North Korea also emerged over the past decade, with the countries re-establishing diplomatic ties in 2007. Such ties — and reports by the exiled Burmese media that a senior Burmese general was taken on a weapons inspection tour to North Korea in late 2008 — come even as Pyongyang faces international pressure and U.N.- backed sanctions for its own nuclear weapons programme.
Even Germany and Singapore find themselves named in the Burmese nuclear trail. “A German company sold equipment through its Singapore subsidiary for Burma’s current nuclear programme,” said Kelly. “They were good machine tools to make chemical compounds.”
Yet such details hardly surface when Burma attends the annual sessions of the IAEA’s general conference. Tin Win, the head of Burma’s delegation at last September’s sessions, painted a picture of a country supporting the NPT’s aims for a “nuclear weapon-free world.”
“Myanmar currently has no major nuclear facility,” Tin Win told the 53rd annual meeting of the IAEA. “For the world to be peaceful and secure, it is important that states do not misuse their peaceful nuclear programmes for nuclear weapons purpose.”
Apart from living up to those words at the next IAEA sessions, Burma’s junta will also have to meet its obligations as a member of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has its own nuclear non- proliferation regime.
Foreign ministers of the 10-nation ASEAN, which also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, underscored the importance of the South-east Asian Nuclear- Weapon Free Zone at their annual meeting in Hanoi this week.
The agreement on the zone came into force in 1997, and Burma is a party to it. At a regional nuclear weapons monitoring commission this week, ASEAN ministers made a case for strengthening its role toward complete nuclear disarmament, stated the Vietnamese foreign ministry.
19:23, July 21, 2010
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva postponed his trip to Myanmar for the second time due to time conflict between leaders of the two countries, local media said Wednesday.
The postponement has nothing to do with the continued closure of the Thai-Myanmar border in the north province of Tak, the National News Bureau of Thailand quoted Panitan Wattanayagorn, acting government spokesman sas saying.
The border trade and transport at the Mae Sot-Myawaddy border was suspended after Myanmar officials shut the border at the Thai- Myanmar Friendship Bridge crossing the Moei River and at over 20 cross-border trading ports along the river since July 12.
It is believed that the Myanmar authorities were unhappy with the building river bank protection on the Thai side because the construction caused soil and rocks to fall into the river, the Thai News Agency said.
Panitan brushed aside the issue, saying that the postponement of the Thai leader’s visit was not about the dissatisfaction of Myanmar leader over current border closure as both leaders have met several times at international forums.
The spokesman said the visit is untimely as both leaders are not available during that time.
Last month, Abhisit said he would visit Myanmar in early August as part of his overseas missions to create better understanding on Thailand’s recent political crisis and violent street protests..
The Thai premier’s trip to Myanmar was first scheduled last July but then was postponed as it coincided with the incident in which an American man swam across the lake into the home of Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest.
13:17, July 21, 2010
Mine blasts in different areas of Myanmar have killed six people including two women across the country in the first seven months of this year, the official daily New Light of Myanmar said in a statistical report Wednesday.
The mine blasts during the period, charged with being planted by insurgents, injured 42 others including five women, the report said.
According to the report, the latest mine went off in Kyaukkyo region on July 16, costing the right foot of a man who was observing the ground to pan for gold.
In May, two people — a driver and a passenger — were killed and three others injured in a mine blast in Myanmar’s southeastern Kayin state when a passenger bus hit the mine on the Kyangin road.
The authorities charged the anti-government ethnic armed group of Kayin National Union (KNU) with planting the mine.
The authorities also accused the KNU of masterminding a series of grenade attacks earlier on a water festival pandal in Yangon on April 15, in which 10 people lost their lives and 168 others were injured.
The authorities have claimed the capture of Wai Phyo Aung, one of the four suspected bombers linked with a terrorist organization- – the Vigorous Burmese Students Warriors (VBSW) in the connection.
21 July 2010
Posted by Nel
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be meeting this Friday, July 23. The forum will include regional disaster response and relief and the upcoming elections in Burma as topics.
The group is concerned whether Burma will hold an upcoming election freely and fairly. Ministers from the member nations expressed directly to the military leaders of the nation officially known as the Union of Myanmar to hold an inclusive election. Up to this moment, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is still banned from taking part in the elections.
Meanwhile, leaders are planning to highly improve civil and military coordination when responding to natural disasters, which are occurrences that are common in the region. Such natural disasters include earthquakes, storms and volcanic eruptions. Climate change will become a big concern to the area as rising sea levels and extreme weather may cause a major threat.
The ASEAN is the largest security forum in Asia. It has a prevailing free trade agreement among member nations and China.
By Dateline Philippines
Posted on 21 Jul 2010 at 6:37pm
HANOI, Vietnam – The foreign ministers of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member-states issued a joint statement deploring the sinking of a South Korean Navy ship, the Cheonan, and underscoring the importance of “free, fair and inclusive elections” in military-ruled Myanmar (Burma).
The communiqué was issued three days before US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s scheduled arrival here for the 17th ASEAN Regional Forum and two days after the region’s diplomats, at a dinner on the eve of a ministerial meeting that opened Monday, directly told Myanmar’s representatives of their concerns about the unscheduled polls.
“We urged all parties concerned to exercise the utmost restraint, enhance confidence and trust, settle disputes by peaceful means through dialogue, and promote long lasting peace and security in the region,” the ministers said of the Cheonan sinking.
The statement, however, accused no one of the incident, although allegations have been raised againsty North Korea even as Pyongyang formally denied responsibility before the United Nations Security Council.
An official of the Philippine delegation confirmed that the subject was taken up during their session on political security last Monday.
While the official said the use of the term “condemn” was mentioned, the word does not appear in either the draft or the official joint communiqué.
Clinton, together with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, was in South Korea to visit the demilitarized zone, the armed border that divides the North and the South, when the ASEAN ministers’ statement was released to journalists covering the ministerial meeting Wednesday.
The US officials’ visit to South Korea coincided with the arrival of the aircraft carrier George Washington at the port of Busan, part of a show of unity between the United States and its ally following the Cheonan’s sinking on March 26 in a torpedo attack.
Following an investigation participated in by five other countries South Korea accused the North for the incident, which killed 46 sailors.
Coming into the ministerial meeting, there were numerous reports in the international media that ASEAN was set to issue a statement. The same reports made reference to Clinton’s participation to the regional forum that follows the ministerial meeting.
The US government, on the other hand, funds certain ASEAN projects including the Lower Mekong Initiative, a series of development projects in areas of Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia which is along the Lower Mekong Basin.
On the still-to-be- scheduled election in Myanmar, the ASEAN ministers “stressed the need” for the ruling junta to “continue to work with ASEAN and the United Nations in this process.”
“We underscored the importance of national reconciliation in Myanmar,” the ministers said, stressing that this would go far to “contributing to Myanmar’s stability and development.”
Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win did not issue a statement when journalists attempted to ask him questions in the hallways of Vietnam’s sprawling National Convention Center.
Earlier, he dismissed questions on when the elections are scheduled, saying this was the “responsibility of the elections commissioner, not the foreign minister.”
Critics have already dismissed the elections, the first in 50 years, as a charade, predicting that the members of the military junta will get themselves reelected.
Detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not be allowed to run and her party has disbanded itself in protest.
Posted : Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:53:53 GMT
Hanoi – The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) together with dialogue partners China, South Korea and Japan, called on Myanmar Wednesday to make sure this year’s elections were fair, and expressed support for South Korea over the sinking of its warship.
The group, known as ASEAN plus 3, met Wednesday after the 43rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting which opened Monday in Hanoi.
“Ministers urged Myanmar to make sure its upcoming elections were free and fair for the stability and development of Myanmar,” said the meeting’s spokesman Tran Ngoc An.
“However, there were no concrete measures to put pressures on Myanmar,” he told German Press Agency dpa.
Junta-ruled Myanmar is due to hold elections this year, but no date has been fixed. Constitutional and regulatory changes made by the military government have raised widespread concerns about their fairness.
The delegates also expressed their support for South Korea in the wake of the March sinking of the navy corvette Cheonan, with the loss of 46 lives.
They stopped short of pointing the finger at Pyongyang, widely held for responsible for the incident which an international investigation concluded was caused by a North Korean-made bomb.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Asean observers at Burmese polls?
Asean, however, stressed its representatives won’t act as monitors
Nirmal Ghosh – The Straits Times
Publication Date : 21-07-2010
Burma’s upcoming election “can be a part of the democratic transition” in that country, Indonesia’s foreign minister Marty Natalegawa told journalists Tuesday (July 20).
He said there was a “reasonable degree of hope” that the election would form part of a solution to issues in Burma.
At an informal working dinner on Sunday, Asean foreign ministers had discussed the issue of Burma. Natalegawa said Asean would like to send observers to Burma’s election – but stressed they would not be monitors.
Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, also speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the meeting, said: “Asean is very much interested in the peaceful national reconciliation in Myanmar (Burma) and whatever happens there will have implications in Asean, positive or negative.”
Burma’s military regime continues to hold more than 2,100 political prisoners in detention, and has laid down restrictive rules for the polls.
“In every transition to democracy, the release of political prisoners has been critical to the success of the process,” an influential United States-based pro-democracy activist specialising in Burma told The Straits Times ahead of the Asean meeting.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to arrive in Ha Noi Thursday for the Asean Regional Forum (ARF), Asia’s largest security dialogue. She is expected to raise the Burma issue at the talks.
There are, however, stark differences within the international community over Burma.
The US and Britain dismiss the election as a process designed to legitimise military rule, but the European Union sees it as a sign of some progress, however small.
Commenting on Burma’s election plans, Singapore foreign minister George Yeo said: “We don’t see a sharp break from what it is today, but we see an important turning, which will lead Myanmar into a different situation, constitutional government.. . and one which will have a more open economy.”
Asked if Asean was concerned over reports that Burma is intent on developing a nuclear weapon with the help of North Korea, he said: “Myanmar’s foreign minister has told us categorically that they don’t have a nuclear weapons programme and have no ambitions for one.”
A North Korean delegation led by foreign minister Pak Ui Chun is expected to arrive in Ha Noi Wednesday to attend the ARF.
The ASEAN Foreign Ministers today agreed to conclude the mandate of the ASEAN-led post-Nargis coordination in Myanmar. Noting the completion report of the ASEAN Humanitarian Task Force for the Victims of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (AHTF), the Foreign Ministers agreed to officially end the operations of the AHTF and the Tripartite Core Group (comprising the Government of Myanmar, ASEAN and the United Nations) in Myanmar by 31 July 2010.
The ASEAN-led coordinating mechanism in Myanmar was established by the Foreign Ministers at their special meeting in Singapore in May 2008 in the wake of Cyclone Nargis that made landfall in Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008.
Commenting on the completion report delivered by the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr Surin Pitsuwan, as the Chair of the AHTF during the AMM in Ha Noi, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo, who had chaired the special meeting said, “Looking back, Nargis has helped shaped ASEAN today. This is something that we can be proud of and we thank Dr Surin and the people around him for the job well done.”
Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win also informed the other Foreign Ministers on the progress of recovery of the Nargis-affected population and on the role played by the TCG. On behalf of the Government, the Foreign Minister thanked the ASEAN Member States for all their contributions and support to the post-Nargis response.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa also expressed his gratitude to the Myanmar Government for allowing ASEAN to draw lessons from the entire exercise, saying that, “With the lessons learnt, we feel assured that ASEAN will be in a better shape to respond to future disasters.”
In their Joint Communiqué issued at the end of the AMM, the Foreign Ministers underlined the importance to institutionalise the experience and knowledge gained and agreed that the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance (AHA Centre) be established in Jakarta.
The Foreign Ministers further noted that the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement of the Government of Myanmar will take over the responsibility of coordinating and utilising assistance from the international community in the post-Nargis recovery efforts.
Jonathan Fernandez
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 16:45:00 KUALA LUMPUR: Leukaemia-stricken two-year-old Mi Thaw Thar from Myanmar will be treated at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) as soon as possible, said HKL deputy director-general Dr Lailanor Ibrahim.
While a two-year treatment plan has already been readied for Mi earlier, HKL has been reluctant to put it into practice as her parents couldn’t afford the treatment cost of RM42,000.
However, Lailanor said HKL is now working hand-in-hand with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) of Malaysia to sort out the funds.
“Normally, in cases where UNHCR is involved, we give almost a 50 per cent discount for foreigners. That means Mi’s two-year treatment plan shouldn’t exceed more than RM25,000.
“The girl had been treated at our Paediatric Institute before. Her oncologist had conjured a treatment plan for her and we are hoping to have her follow up with it soon,” she said.
She added: “Our people are working with UNHCR. I’m trying my best to facilitate the process to get all technical aspects of it finalised. The girl’s family will be contacted soon and Mi can start her treatment first.”
A UNHCR spokesman said with thousands of other financial aid requests to cater to, it might take some time before a grant can be approved for Mi’s cancer treatment.
“We have some 80,000 other refugees in this country alone who are asking for financial assistance. There are numerous cases of this nature and all of it must be reviewed carefully and prioritised.
“UNHCR will help but it may take some time due to the thorough procedures and protocols which must be observed,” said the spokesman.
The Paper That Cares has set-up The Malay Mail Care Fund for our generous readers to lend a helping hand to save Mi’s life. Stand up and be counted, no amount is too small.
Donations can be transferred into The Malay Mail Care Fund’s Maybank account (Acc No. 5123 3430 7421) or issue a cheque to The Malay Mail Care Fund. The cheque can be sent to B-3A-01, 02 & 03, Dataran 3 Dua, No. 2, Jalan 19/1, 46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
English.news. cn 2010-07-21 12:12:42
YANGON, July 21 (Xinhua) — An ancient building, later proved as a religious edifice, has been unearthed in Myanmar’s old city of Pinle in Mandalay division’s Kyaukse, the official daily New Light of Myanmar reported Wednesday.
The religious edifice was discovered by a group of researchers from the Archaeology, National Museum and Library Department based in Nay Pyi Taw when they were carrying out excavation work in the area for over one month from June 6 to July 12.
The report claimed that the unearthed building is similar to some religious ones excavated earlier from ancient Pyu, Beikthanoe and Srikhattara cities.
Meanwhile, Myanmar held a paper reading session on archaeological evidences in Nay Pyi Taw early this month, aimed at enhancing research work with the sector.
The research paper reading session, organized by the Ministry of Culture, involved resources persons from Myanmar Historical Mission, National Culture and Fine Arts Universities in Yangon and Mandalay, Archaeology, National Museum and Library Department as well as a foreign academician.
In 2009, Myanmar found some more evidences on both Bronze Age and Iron Age after excavating areas in Thazi township, central Mandalay division, proving that Myanmar passed through both Bronze Age and Iron Age in the ancient time.
Jakarta Globe – Opinion: In Burma, Silent Parties Gather No Votes
Htet Aung
Burma’s 2010 election, like it or not, will end military rule and result in the emergence of a new form of military-controlled civilian government. The junta has done everything to ensure election success—a constitution in favor of military supremacy, a set of restrictive election laws and the assumption of the role of a referee in the election.
If history is repeated, Burma will probably witness a political scenario similar to the one in 1974, when “Gen” Ne Win, as chairman of the Revolution Council, handed power over to “U” Ne Win as chairman of the Burmese Socialist Program Party.
However, unlike the country’s socialist era, there will be opposition parties alongside the ruling party in post-election Burma.
The country’s multi-party democracy is likely to be a one-party dominated political system controlled by a strong military institution in the center of state power.
Seeing the political antagonism between the junta and the now disbanded National League for Democracy in the past two decades, the new parties have become cautious in dealing with the media and avoid including the country’s major political issues in their policies.
The National Democratic Force was established by some former leaders of the disbanded NLD who see the election as the only way to break the current political stalemate and regard the new parliamentary framework as the viable mechanism to change the country.
Many of the NDF leaders are also former political prisoners, who spent many years behind bars.
The political prisoner issue and other issues at the center of the democratic struggle over the past two decades may lack importance in the upcoming election campaigns.
Instead, the new parties are advancing some arguments on why they are contesting an undemocratic election.
Some of the arguments are:
“The election is an inevitable process towards democracy even if it is undemocratic”; “Confrontation with the military has produced no result in the past 20 years”; “Change can be achieved only within the parliamentary framework.”
However, the election is a power game in which parties necessarily confront each other with their policies in order to win the support of the people.
If policy confrontation is avoided, how can the parties make a difference in gathering votes without competition? Will the parties remain silent to injustice in the society in order to avoid tensions with the junta?
“We know the formation of the USDP is breaking the election laws, but we didn’t officially submit a complaint to the Election Commission,” said Thu Wai, speaking of the Union Solidarity and Development Party.
“Our strategy is that we talk about the issue whenever we meet with the voters during our organizational trips.”
In any election, political parties must display in public the policies they plan to follow in tackling the country’s political, economic, social, environmental, health and educational issues if they win.
However, it is obvious from policy positions put forward in the local and exile media that the parties lack a sound policy foundation, but also fail to articulately touch upon the real social issues at the grassroots level.
If they single out the specific issues of the country, they can’t avoid issues such as national reconciliation, the release of more than 2,000 political prisoners, the end of the chronic ethnic armed conflicts, poverty reduction, economic reforms and the need to repair and reform the long-term deteriorating health and education infrastructure.
The problem is that if they address the root causes of these issues, they can’t avoid pointing the finger at the junta, which could lead to confrontation with the generals.
On the other hand, if they avoid raising these issues, they ignore the hardship of the people, resulting in a loss of public support.
When the time remaining for pre-election campaigning becomes scarce, the parties will have to choose where they stand between the rulers and the ruled.
There is a saying: “Who dares, wins.” Any party that hopes to win Burma’s upcoming election must show its courage, stand before the people and convince them that it would form a government that will definitely bring them peace, freedom and democracy.
Htet Aung is chief reporter of the Election Desk at The Irrawaddy.
Asia Times – Loaded agenda for Myanmar-India talks
By Nehginpao Kipgen
India, in attempts to expand engagements with its neighbors, has in recent months hosted Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed and some Nepalese leaders.
This month, New Delhi will extend a red carpet reception to the leader of Myanmar’s junta, Senior General Than Shwe, who will be in India from July 25 to 29, his second visit in six years.
Than Shwe last visited India, on similar dates and for the same number of days, from October 25 to 29 in 2004. It was at that time the first visit by a Myanmar head of state to India for 25 years. During that visit, three agreements were signed: cooperation in the field of non-traditional security issues, a deal for the Tamanthi hydro-electric project, and a cultural exchange program for the years 2004-2006.
The Indian government also extended a line of credit of US$7 million for two telecommunications projects and a grant of $3 million for the implementation of information technology projects. In return, the Myanmar delegation assured New Delhi that Indian insurgents operating on the countries’ shared border would not be allowed to use Myanmar’s soil to plot attacks against India. However, groups of insurgents from India’s northeast still roam freely inside Myanmar.
A host of issues are expected to be discussed during the upcoming visit – ranging from the insurgency to cooperation on economic development, pharmaceutical projects and trading. Bilateral agreements are also expected to be signed.
Tackling insurgency problems, keeping China’s influence in the region in check and expanding its markets remain India’s priorities. Both New Delhi and Naypyidaw, the Myanmar capital, would like to see India’s investments and business activities strengthened in Myanmar.
Though it is unlikely to appear in the official agenda, Than Shwe will expect Indian leaders to recognize, if not endorse, the upcoming general election in Myanmar. Such recognition would boost the junta’s quest for international legitimacy for the vote, expected in November.
India, being the largest democracy on Earth, is a politically significant target for Than Shwe – he will try to persuade it against speaking out for human rights and political reforms in Myanmar.
With Myanmar’s controversial election laws and the absence of the party that won the election in 1990, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, it is likely that Western nations will limit their post-election engagement with Myanmar, perhaps not recognizing the election result at all.
Given this likely post-election scenario, it is important for Than Shwe to have the support of India, which has an increasingly significant role in international politics.
India’s foreign policy fundamentals have significantly changed in recent years. Delhi openly supported the 1988 democracy uprising in Myanmar and provided refuge to fleeing democracy activists. India also awarded its highest civilian honor, the Jawaharlal Nehru Award, to Aung San Suu Kyi in 1993.
India still shelters thousands of Myanmar refugees, but its leaders seem to have shied away from advocating human rights and freedom, the same principles backed by Mahatma Gandhi and other Indian national pioneers.
History suggests that Myanmar will not remain under military dictatorship forever. Even the military junta envisions establishing its own version of “disciplined democracy” under a parliamentary system, though the ultimate power will rest with the military.
But India intends to strengthen its relationship with Myanmar, which has a population of some 55 million. New Delhi will occasionally speak out for a peaceful democratic transition, but not to the extent of threatening ties. India is therefore more likely to focus on business and insurgency problems during Than Shwe’s visit than on political reforms or the election in Myanmar.
Nehginpao Kipgen is a researcher on the rise of political conflicts in modern Burma (Myanmar) (1947-2004) and general secretary of the US-based Kuki International Forum (www.kukiforum. com). He has written numerous analytical articles on the politics of Burma and Asia that have been widely published in five continents (Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe and North America).
By KO HTWE – Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Burma’s notorious censorship board, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD), has closed “The Voice Weekly” in Rangoon for two weeks, according to media sources.
The order followed the publication of an article, “Concept and Process” by Aung Htut, a pseudonym of Dr Nay Win Maung, the editor of The Voice Weekly journal, according to sources close to the journal.
The article discussed the 2008 Constitution and used some language, such as “it is hard to explain to Burmese,” which offended the censors, said one source.
“The Voice Weekly” has otherwise supported the 2008 Constitution and the proposed election and published pro-military articles, said observers.
Nay Win Maung also publishes Living Color magazine. Living Color began publishing under the support of the former intelligence spy chief Gen Khin Nyunt. Dr Ye Naing Win, the son of Gen Khin Nyunt, is a close associate of Nay Win Maung.
The Washington Post has described Nay Win Maung as “a son of a military officer who was brought up among Burma’s military elites, giving him good connections to military insiders.”
The Voice Weekly regularly publishes articles praising the coming elections and the regime’s “road map” to democracy. It is not known if the publication has been ordered to publish such articles or acts on its own under its editorial policy.
By LAWI WENG – Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The trustees of Shwedagon Pagoda have ordered Buddhist monks to leave three monasteries near the pagoda’s east entrance, according to sources in Rangoon.
Located in Bahan Township in Rangoon, the three monasteries—Shwehintha, Nyaungdone, and Daw Hla Khin Pitakas on Bahan No.2 street—are home to more than 30 monks.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, a senior monk who is facing eviction said, “They told us to leave by July 25, otherwise they will take legal action against us.”
The eviction order was first given in June, but an appeal to stay longer was rejected and the order was repeated in early July.
The authorities have not said what they will do with the buildings.
The properties are currently valued at about 300 million kyat (US $3 million) each. They have three floors and were built in 1933, when Burma was a British colony.
According to Rangoon’s municipal law, people are banned from living in buildings more than 80 years old. The three monasteries are 77 years old.
“They told us they will give us 3 million kyat in compensation, but we haven’t got anything yet,” the monk said. “I have been living here for 60 years and I think we could live another 60 in this building.”
“We won’t need compensation if they give us another monastery, but they haven’t offered us any other place to stay,” he said.
Buddhist lent in Burma starts on the day of the full moon, which falls on July 26, and lasts until October. During this period, which is also known as the rains retreat, monks are supposed to stay in their monasteries.
“How can we leave the monastery during Buddhist lent?” he said.
Local sources said five other civilian buildings close to the monasteries must also be abandoned.
One Bahan resident said, “There are many old buildings in here, and normally we just renovate them. They have never been forcibly closed before.”
By MOE YAN – Wednesday, July 21, 2010
RANGOON —Women in the entertainment industry are being trafficked by men posing as their lovers, according to sources close to the industry.
“This type of human trafficking has existed for some time since female sex-workers easily fall victim to such men,” said a police official from Burma’s Anti-Trafficking Unit (ATU).
A project manager working for a private organization that combats human trafficking said a new type of trafficker targets young girls working in the night entertainment industry such as massage parlors, karaoke rooms and pubs.
Traffickers date the girls, pretending to fall in love with them before luring them away and selling them to clients in foreign countries.
“The girls who fall for these men are pietous. They give their hearts, bodies and money to these men, thinking they really love them, only to be deceived and sold in the end,” the manager said.
A waiter working at the JJ Club in Rangoon said many girls who earn money in the sex industry like to spend it on their dates.
“In the beginning, the young men pose as regular customers until their status changes as the girls start dating them,” he said.
Another ATU official said in addition to posing as dates in order to traffick the girls, men live off the girls money.
“We have tried various means to prevent Burmese girls from being sold,” he said. “We have been unable to rescue all victims of trafficking to neighboring countries but we have managed to bring more than half of them home.”
A young woman working in a Rangoon nightclub who has been in the industry for more than six years said most girls work in the sex industry in order to survive and none wants to do that kind of work for long, hoping to find someone they can love and live with as a couple.
“We date men because we want partners just like every other woman,” she said, adding that sex workers can be particularly susceptible to believing men who they think they are in love with.
“Sex workers like us are more easily subject to deception as our occupation stigmatizes and isolates us from society, but we need care and attention like everyone else,” she said.
According to the ATU, 85 girls from Kachin and Shan States were sold between 2000 and 2004 into marriage with Chinese men or to work in the sex industry in Yunnan and eastern areas of China.
Interrogation by the ATU of a group of 64 traffickers in early 2009 found that the group had lured 49 girls for better jobs in China, finally selling them to marry Chinese men.
The ATU said two traffickers received long prison sentences in August 2006 and the organization had rescued 180 girls from Yunnan in September that same year.
A Memorandum of Understanding on the Coordinated Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) was signed in Rangoon by the six countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region—Cambodia, China, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam—in October 2004.
Wednesday, 21 July 2010 19:07 Salai Tun
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The Rangoon-based Union Democracy Party (UDP) alleges the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is attempting to poach their party members by promising road repairs in their localities in exchange for political support.
The USDP has in recent days targeted the townships of Dagon and Hlaing Thar Yar via making use of local Ward Peace and Development Council (PDC) authorities.
“We heard this news when we visited these places for our party organizational works. The USDP ordered Ward PDC members to recruit new party members for them, 20 to 30 from each street. And then they promised they would repair the roads in the locality if the local people join their party. After getting some party members they repaired some roads there. In this way, local authorities of the Ward PDC had to fulfill their quota in recruiting new party members for the USDP,” UDP Chairman Phyo Min Thein told Mizzima.
“No party can act like this. The USDP uses municipal committee funds in road repairs. This fund is taxpayer money and state funds. It is no party’s fund. They should not do like that. The electoral law also prohibits any political party from using public servants,” he added.
Similarly, in Chin State too the USDP is organizing people in the capital of Hakha and town of Falam by promising they will build a reservoir, provide adequate electrical power and medicine if people join their party, related a leader from an ethnic Chin political party.
Phyo Min Thein said that utilizing local public servants in party organizational work is a violation of the Union Election Commission Law.
“The law stipulates that public servants must stay away from party politics and prohibits the use of public servants. But in reality, they are violating this law. The USPD acts as if they are the winning party in forcing the locality to enact their party activities,” he said.
A leader from another ethnic Chin party said, “All political parties recognized by the Election Commission have equal rights and no one has privileged rights. But the USDP is using local authorities in their party organizational works. The municipal committee has to repair roads for them. This is a violation of the Election Commission Law.”
The USDP is further active in recruitment through the promise of public works in Mon, Kachin and Shan States.
By JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 21 July 2010
Among a raft of directives issued to newly-privatised banks in Burma is a rule that central bank financiers do not loan money to their own business concerns.
It comes as the Burmese government continues a sell-off of state-owned businesses; analysts have warned that those most likely to benefit from the large-scale privatisation are wealthy cronies of the ruling junta. The four new banks are Asia Green Bank, owned by junta crony Tayza, Ayerwaddy Bank, Amara Bank and Shay Saung Bank.
There has also been a revision of the amount that the private banks are allowed to invest, from 15 million kyat (US$15,000) up to 10 billion kyat (US$10 million), the Weekly Eleven Journal said.
The initial figure was implemented when the Burmese banking sector was first privatised in 1992, and was not altered with the huge changes in currency value since. This could amount to a credit bonanza, but economic analyst Aung Thu Nyein has expressed concern over inflation; the UN in 2008 said the inflation rate was at 53 percent, while Burmese government figures place it at around 10 percent.
Credit is a particularly problematic area for Burmese business, Aung Thu Nyein claims. “There are a lot of contradicting facts in banking laws and regulations. In the agricultural sector, no private banks are allowed to lend money to agriculturalists, except for the Myanmar Agricultural and Rural Development Bank, the Myanmar Fisheries and Livestock Bank and the Cooperative Bank.
“However, now micro-credit schemes operated by INGOs are working in grey zones and many so-called rice-based private companies are lending to farmers,” he said.
The farming sector receives a miniscule 0.4 percent of credit created, despite accounting for over 50 percent of the nation’s GDP and providing employment for 70 percent of the population. The lack of credit means many farmers do without essential productivity and increases expenditures for necessities such as fertiliser.
Moreover, credit in Burma is likely near-impossible with the receiver of a loan being able to prove they possess collateral worth 100 percent of the loan.
Even if credit to agriculture remains limited, the recent move to raise the bar on banks’ investments will look to stem a “trend of continual decline – with the private sector’s relative share of credit falling by nearly 25 percent in the last five years,” a recent report by Burma economics expert, Sean Turnell, said.
Questions will however remain over the impartial nature of Burma’s banks. The power within the private sector of junta cronies such as Tay Za, who owns the Htoo Group, and Zaw Zaw, who owns the Max Myanmar, will make enforcement of the self-loaning rule difficult. Tay Za is thought to be close to senior general Than Shwe whilst Zaw Zaw is believed to be a close associate of junta number two Maung Aye. As a result both men took over many government assets in recent privatisation drive.
The new banks meanwhile have been told not to possess capital of more than ten times their loans. Interest rates meanwhile will be more flexible for the private banks with a window of 6 percent allowed on the Central Bank’s 17 percent loan interest rate and, 12 percent on deposits. These rates are well below the rate of inflation, making investment in Burmese banks economically nonsensical.