Junta Chiefs Resign in Military Reshuffle
USDP Steps Up Campaigns Using State Funds
Parties complain government not giving them time to prepare
Burma’s Nuclear Policy Discussed in Indian Parliament
Centre dispels fears of N-weapons in Myanmar
Parties call for electoral watchdog to delay polls
Myanmar opposition in disarray; ruling junta expected to win polls
Border Guard Force accepts children from DKBA
Many Voters Left with No Option but Boycott
Pro-democracy Parties to Avoid Clash
Regime Unveils Burma’s First National Web Portal
Tay Za Launches Broadband Service in Rangoon
Bo Moustache and followers still reject BGF plan
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Junta Chiefs Resign in Military Reshuffle
By THE IRRAWADDY        Friday, August 27, 2010

Burmese junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his deputy, Gen Maung Aye have resigned their military posts, along with six other top military officers, according to sources in Naypyidaw on Friday.

The eight top men will retain their government posts, however, the sources said. Than Shwe, 77, will continue to head the Burmese government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

Than Shwe reportedly handed his position of commander-in-chief of the Burmese armed forces—which he has held since April 1992—to Lt-Gen Myint Aung, the army’s adjutant general.

Maung Aye has similarly transferred the deputy commander-in-chief post to Lt-Gen Ko Ko, head of  Chief of Bureau of Special Operation- 3, but  remains the country’s deputy head of state, the sources said.

Than Shwe is expected to remain head of state until at least the end of the 2011 fiscal year, when he would transfer his position to the elected president. The regime’s third-ranking official, Gen Shwe Mann, is tipped to take this position.

Shwe Mann also quit his military position, as did the regime’s No.4, Lt-Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo, and both will reportedly stand as candidates for the  junta’s largest proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), in constituencies in Naypidaw.

The Associated Press reported on Friday that a dozen military officials resigned from the army, including Shwe Mann and Tin Aung Myint Oo.

Lt-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, Chief of the Bureau of Special Operation (2), is to take over the army’s joint-chief-of-staff position from Shwe Mann, the sources say. The regime’s Prime Minister Thein Sein and several government ministers, who resigned from their military posts to lead the USDP, will reportedly renounce their government posts next month.

Beginning this week, all government ministers have been asked to leave their state-provided residences and assemble in Rangoon. An interim government is expected to be formed soon.

Several sources have reported these latest changes within the regime leadership, but details of the news which came shortly before the country’s first election in 20 years remain sketchy. The Irrawaddy is still trying to confirm them.

The November election is viewed as an attempt by the regime to further entrench its control on power.

Observers say that if news of the changes at the top is confirmed, Than Shwe would be making a successful transfer of powers to his trustworthy military subordinates, proteges and cronies who would dominate Burma’s future elected government and continue to call the shots from behind the scenes.

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Reshuffle in Regional Military Chiefs: Details
By THE IRRAWADDY

The regional military commanders affected in reshuffle have become chiefs of the Bureau of Special Operations (BSO) or other posts at the War Office.

Maj-Gen Yar Pyae, commander of Eastern Regional Military Command is reportedly reassigned with a promotion as BSO-1 chief, Maj-Gen Soe Win, commander of the Northern Regional Military Command as BSO-2 chief, Maj-Gen Myint Soe, commander of Northwestern Regional Military Command as BSO-3 chief, Maj-Gen Thet Naing Oo, commander of Southeast Regional Military Command as BSO-4 chief, Maj-Gen Tin Ngwe, commander of Central Regional Military Command as BSO-5 chief, and Maj-Gen Hla Min, commander of Southern Regional Military Command as BSO-6 chief.

The four regional commanders affected by the recent order of the office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army) on Friday are Maj-Gen Kyaw Swe, the commander of Southwestern Regional Military Command, Maj-Gen Thaung Aye, the commander of Western Regional Military Command, Maj-Gen Hla Min, the commander of Southern Regional Military Command, Maj-Gen Khin Zaw Oo, the commander of Coastal Regional Military Command and Maj-Gen Win Myint of the Rangoon Regional Military Command.

According to sources, Brig-Gen Tin Maung Win, commander of the 22nd Light Infantry Division has replaced Kyaw Swe as commander of the Tatmadaw’s strategic Southwestern Command in the Irrawaddy Delta.

Brig-Gen Soe Htut, commander of the 88th Light Infantry Division has been ordered to replace Hla Min, while Brig-Gen Thein Win, commander of the 99th Light Infantry Division has become the new commander of the Costal Regional Military Command. Brig-Gen Tun Than, commander of the 77th Light Infantry Division has replaced Win Myint.

Brig-Gen Maung Maung Lay has been appointed as commander of Napyidaw Regional Military Command, while Brig-Gen Ye Aung has become commander of Central Regional Military Command.

Military officials in Napyidaw said government ministers including those who retired from military posts were said to have moved from their ministerial residences saying that the interim government is expected to be formed from former BSO chiefs.  http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=19323

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USDP Steps Up Campaigns Using State Funds
By THE IRRAWADDY        Friday, August 27, 2010

In the lead up to Burma’s first election in two decades, senior officials of the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) have stepped up campaigning in Pegu Division by making donations and providing health services and other benefits to the public, according to local sources.

A resident in Thayawaddy Township said Col. Myint Htun, the director-general of the Myanmar Fire Brigade who is a candidate for the township seat, donated 300,000 kyat (US $306) to each village school on Tueday.

The director-general’s donation followed a visit by the junta’s incumbent Prime Minister Thein Sein, the head of the USDP, to several townships in Pegu Division, in which he urged his fellow USDP members to systematically organize campaigns to try to win the election.

A resident of a village that received a donation said, “Political parties have to inform and seek permission from local authorities prior to their donations to schools or road constructions projects, but the USDP doesn’t do that. Maybe the USDP is using state funds and that’s why it doesn’t need any permission.”

Meanwhile, ex-Brig-Gen Win Myint, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Electric Power No. 2 who is a candidate in Latpantan Township, has reportedly visited Latpantan twice a week, and also visited nearby villages.

“The deputy minister, a Latpantan native, doesn’t talk about politics and the election. He just asks villagers what they need and then donates. People are thankful to him because they are in need of help,” a Latpantan resident told The Irrawaddy.

He said Win Myint has installed new electricity transformers, set up concrete lamp posts, replaced outdated electrical cables and donated 10 million kyat (US 10,204) to help provide education to poor children in the town.

Last week, a team led by Nyan Win, the incumbent foreign minister, and his wife reportedly visited his native Zeekone Township, where he is a candidate, and local residents took advantage of a three-day service for free eye examinations and the distribution of eyeglasses.

“Minister Nyan Win told eye patients that the service was sponsored by a company based in Rangoon, and he was just lending a hand. He did not mention the name of the company,” a Zeekone resident told The Irrawaddy.

A number of residents in Pegu told the The Irrawaddy they suspected the USDP candidates used state funds in their election campaigning.

Thein Sein and 26 other ministers and senior officials of the regime resigned from their military posts and formed the USDP on April 29 to take part in the election that will be held on Nov. 7.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=19320
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Myanmar generals retire to contest polls (Roundup)

Aug 27, 2010, 13:11 GMT

Yangon – Myanmar’s defence minister and other top generals resigned their junta and military posts Friday to contest the upcoming polls as civilians, officials said.

Defence Minister General Thura Shwe Mann has retired both his ministerial and army posts to join the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDA), the political wing of the military regime.

General Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, the first secretary of the junta, has also resigned and joined the USDA to contest the November 7 election, officials close to the military said.

‘Thura Shwe Mann will probably become president after the election,’ a source close to the regime told the German Press Agency dpa.

Another 10 lieutenant generals have also resigned, although it was unclear whether they would all stand for election or be given new posts. The resignations have led to a major reshuffle within the military establishment which has blocked democracy for the past 20 years.

The 1990 election was won by a landslide by the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) headed by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar’s junta this time made sure hat an opposition party will not win, and even if they did the army can control the legislature through a party-appointed senate.

The USDA is expected to field 1,100 candidates in the polls for lower, upper and regional houses, compared with a total of 500 candidates from the pro-democracy parties.

Non-junta parties have complained the government has not given them enough time to raise the money to register their candidates before an August 30 deadline.

The Election Commission said their offices will remain open over the weekend for candidates to register for the country’s first elections in 20 years, but this may not be enough for many to raise the 500-dollar registration fee.

Many have complained that the registration fee is prohibitively expensive in a country where the per capita income is less than 600 dollars a year.

About 40 parties have been allowed to contest the polls, which few expect to be free and fair.

Earlier this week, pro-democracy icon Suu Kyi urged her supporters not to vote in the general elections.

Suu Kyi and her disbanded National League for Democracy (NLD) party are boycotting the general election.

Suu Kyi is serving an 18-month house detention term that is expected to expire November 13, after the election.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1580476.php/Myanmar-generals-retire-to-contest-polls-Roundup
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Parties complain government not giving them time to prepare

Aug 27, 2010, 8:35 GMT

Yangon – Political parties in Myanmar have complained the government has not given them enough time to raise the money to register their candidates before an August 30 deadline.

The Election Commission said their offices will remain open over the weekend for candidates to register for the country’s first elections in 20 years, but this may not be enough for many to raise the 500-dollar registration fee.

The polls are scheduled for November 7.

‘Two more days is nothing for candidates who do not have fees’ to register, said Daw Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein, secretary general of the Democratic Party (Myanmar).

Some were considering selling their cars or something else of value so they could pay to register but have little time left to do so, she added.

U Soe Win, secretary of the National Democratic Force party, called the fee another disadvantage for the new and small pro-democracy parties.

Many have complained that the registration fee is prohibitively expensive in a country where the per capita income is less than 600 dollars a year.

About 40 parties have been allowed to contest the polls, which few expect to be free and fair.

The pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party is expected to field more than 1,100 candidates in the polls for lower, upper and regional houses, compared with a total of about 500 candidates from the pro-democracy parties.

Last week, Myanmar’s pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi urged her supporters not to vote in the general elections.

Suu Kyi and her disbanded National League for Democracy (NLD) party are boycotting the general election to protest regulations passed by the junta that seemed designed to bar the Nobel laureate and her followers from the polls.

The regulations ban anyone currently serving prison terms from membership of political parties seeking to contest the polls.

Suu Kyi is serving an 18-month house detention term that is expected to expire November 13, after the election.

Myanmar last held a general election in 1990, which was won by the NLD. But the military have blocked the party and Suu Kyi from power for the past two decades.

Few observers expect November’s election to bring about genuine democracy. The junta is not expected to invite independent observers to monitor the polls and Myanmar’s press is uncritical of the regime.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1580407.php/Parties-complain-government-not-giving-them-time-to-prepare
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Burma’s Nuclear Policy Discussed in Indian Parliament
By ZARNI MANN   Friday, August 27, 2010

India External Affair Minister S M Krishna said on Thursday that India has to accept Burma’s denial of having a nuclear program, but it continues to monitor the situation because of security concerns.

“Myanmar [Burma] denies having a nuclear program, and the government of India will have to accept that,” Krishna said in parliament’s upper house, adding, “We will also gather through our own intelligence what is happening. The government always monitors developments closely because it concerns our security.”

He said India monitors the existing nuclear weapons programs in neighboring countries such as Pakistan and China for national security.

India’s nuclear concerns on Burma came up during discussions of a bill that generated intense debate in the parliament, because it involved US help on a nuclear energy plant to meet energy needs in India.

Burmese pro-democracy activists in India contend that India’s policy on Burma is highly influenced by its energy needs and other security factors.

“It seems they are talking in limbo, since they have many agreements involving economics, trade and technology. However, they do worry about their security,” said Zin Naing, an India-based Burmese activist.

“Moreover, they worry about the influence of China over Burma too,” he added.

The Burmese military government strongly denied having a nuclear program in June, after concerns were raised based on the information provided by Burmese defector, Maj Sai Thein Win, who smuggled documents out of the country which included photographs of secret tunnels and bunkers underneath the capital of Naypyidaw. Other photographs showed crude attempts to build nuclear-related devices or instruments.

According to some activists, North Korea is supplying nuclear and ballistic missile technology to Burma. The US and various international groups have expressed concern, and said they are closely monitoring the relationship. However, the US said recently it has no direct evidence of North Korea exporting nuclear technology to Burma.

However, many in the Burmese opposition are suspicious of the two countries ties.

“If they have a chance, they will do whatever to posses nuclear weapons like North Korea,” said Zin Naing.

Burma has been under military rule since 1962. India once supported the pro-democracy movements of Burma, but since 1990, India started to build ties with the military government to improve economic and security ties.

The Burmese military head, Sen-Gen Than Shwe, visited India in July to sign agreements on energy, the economy and cross-border security issues.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=19321
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Centre dispels fears of N-weapons in Myanmar
August 27, 2010
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NEW DELHI: India believes that neighbouring Myanmar has no nuclear programme but is monitoring developments closely as nuclear weapons in the neighbourhood were a matter of concern, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said on Thursday.

“Myanamar asserts that it has no nuclear programme on its anvil. The government of India will have to believe,” Krishna said while replying to a supplementary in the Rajya Sabha, parliament’s upper house. The minister, however, added that information was being gathered through intelligence networks as well.

“We will also gather through our own intelligence what is happening. The government always monitors development closely because it concerns our security,” Krishna said.

He stated that nuclear weapons in neighbouring countries were a matter of concern and that the Indian intelligence was keeping tight watch on the situation.

“We know Pakistan has nuclear weapons, China also has. We also know there has been a clandestine proliferation effort that Libya and other similar countries are making. We know AQ Khan network is very active. (The) government is monitoring the situation and will take steps to see India’s security is not jeopardised,” he said.Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962.

Indo-Asian News Service http://gulftoday.ae/portal/9b3bbbf1-60b7-4b01-9210-e94c3947f3b3.aspx
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Parties call for electoral watchdog to delay polls
Thursday, 26 August 2010 23:05 Phanida
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Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Three political parties running out of time to meet membership quotas and submit candidate lists to qualify for Burmese elections in November have called on the electoral watchdog to postpone the polls until mid-December, party representatives said.

In a joint letter to the Union Election Commmission (UEC) yesterday, the 88 Generation Students and Youths (Union of Myanmar), Union of Myanmar Federation of National Politics and Myanmar Democracy Congress parties, said the 15 days by which parties had to submit candidate lists was insufficient and that the UEC should reset the polling date and the deadline for submitting candidates.

They said the UEC should do this in honour of conducting free and fair elections. The UEC deadline for candidate lists is August 31 and the parties want the deadline extended to 45 days.

“This deadline is not convenient as we are suffering under both time and financial constraints. We want the deadline extended to six weeks so we have about 60 days for preparations [ahead of the polls],” Aye Lwin, from 88 Generation Students and Youths, said.

He will stand for a seat in his hometown, Thegon, in the central Burmese division of Pegu, and his party plans to submit at least 75 candidates. His party will even field a candidate in Naypyidaw, the seat of the military regime, which most parties are avoiding.

A fourth party is joining the calls for more time. The National Political Alliances League called on the UEC to reset the deadline for submitting candidate lists to September 14.

There are 330 seats for the lower house, 168 seats for the upper house and 330 seats for the States and Divisions assembly in this general election. On top of that, 25 per cent are set aside for the military members, who do not have to campaign.
http://www.mizzima.com/news/election-2010/4291-parties-call-for-electoral-watchdog-to-delay-polls.html
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Myanmar opposition in disarray; ruling junta expected to win polls
Friday, 27 August 2010 05:17

YANGON: Boycotts, draconian election laws and resignations of opposition figures have put Myanmar’s ruling generals within easy grasp to sweep the first polls in two decades, just two weeks after setting an election date.

Myanmar’s politically marginalised opposition appears in total disarray in the run up to the much-criticised November 7 polls, experts say, playing into the hands of a military regime with no intention to give up its 48-year grip on power.

The leader of the National Democratic Force (NDF) party, Khin Muang Swe, said yesterday he would not run for a parliamentary seat, while influential Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday called on members of her now-defunct National League for Democracy (NLD) party to abstain from voting.

The moves, whether tactical or retaliatory, come as parties grapple with huge registration fees, strict campaign rules, intimidation by military agents and barely any time to recruit enough members to contest the election.

According to rules announced last week, campaign gatherings and publications will require official approval, criticism of the military is outlawed and election authorities are empowered to ban acts of “holding flags and chanting slogans.”

“This is just what the regime wants and has planned all along,” said Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese academic based in neighbouring Thailand.

“(Junta leader) Than Shwe’s only political strategy is divide and rule and a weakened opposition is just what he needs.”

Most analysts and opposition parties say the military has formed its own proxy party that is sure to win most seats in a parliament packed with army appointees, because of its big budget and sheer size and span of its representation.

The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is comprised of incumbent army-picked ministers recently retired from the military and critics say it enjoys the backing of the powerful business elite.

Reuters http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/s.-asia/philippines/124613-myanmar-opposition-in-disarray-ruling-junta-expected-to-win-polls.html
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Border Guard Force accepts children from DKBA
Friday, 27 August 2010 00:55 Kyaw Kha
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Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – At least 40 child soldiers have joined the ranks of the Burmese regime’s new border forces, after a number of Democratic Karen Buddhist Army battalions this month came under junta command, a fellow soldier revealed today.

Child_Soldiers

A child soldier wears the Burmese Army shoulder patch of the 707th Artillery Operations Command, based in Kyaukpadaung, Mandalay Division in central Burma. At least 40 child soldiers this month joined the ranks of the Burmese regime’s new Border Guard Force, transferred after Democratic Karen Buddhist Army battalions came under junta command, fellow soldiers said. Photo: Mizzima
“In the past, they [the children] were DKBA soldiers but now they have become BGF soldiers,” a soldier from the Border Guard Force (BGF) central office told Mizzima. “As far as I know, there are about 40 child soldiers in the 999th Brigade and Kalohtoobaw’s battalion alone,” he added.

Some officers and soldiers from the DKBA (which reportedly had more than 7,000 troops) resigned, some retired and some joined the BGF, so it is estimated that about 1,000 DKBA troops have rejected the junta’s proposal to join the force.

A former DKBA soldier from the 7th battalion under the 999th Brigade said: “The force’s priority is to accept the youths. Some are about 16 years old, but they appear older than 20. Some children were forced to join the DKBA and some joined of their own accord.”

The DKBA recruited many child soldiers, Aung Myo Min, director of the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB) based in Thailand, said.

“DKBA has become a subordinate of the junta’s army, so handling the child soldiers’ case has become the duty of the State Peace and Development Council [SPDC, Burma’s ruling military junta]. If it really wants to eliminate child-soldier cases, it must not allow this [accepting child soldiers into the BGF] to happen,” Aung Myo Min said.

“The SPDC … should give those children immediate help and send them home. The junta has the duty not to accept the children in the Border Guard Force”, he added.

Burma signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992, so if the Burmese Army, or the BGF, used child soldiers, they could be charged with violation of that convention, he said.

The junta formed the committee for the prevention of military recruitment of underage children on January 5, 2004, with the co-operation of UN, but since then observers and some UN reports have said the committee had taken no action and that the Burmese Army was still recruiting child soldiers. The UN labour organisation, the ILO, has reported widespread cases of kidnapping used in such “recruiting”.
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/4293-border-guard-force-accepts-children-from-dkba.html
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Many Voters Left with No Option but Boycott
By KHAING THWE  Thursday, August 26, 2010

RANGOON — If the pro-regime Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) succeeds in ensuring that only its own candidates contest many of the constituencies in the Nov. 7 election it could face a big show of popular defiance.

One villager in Htantapin Township, Rangoon Division, said only the USDP was campaigning in his area. If the USDP candidate was the sole choice offered to voters “villagers say they won’t cast their ballots,” he said.

Another villager, a resident of Tike Kyi Township, confirmed that the election would be boycotted by many voters if the USDP candidate was their own choice.

Local authorities were intimidating villagers by telling them the names and addresses would be noted of all who boycotted the poll, the villager said.

Only two parties, the USDP and National Unity Party (NUP) will field candidates in many constituencies, according to sources.

One of these is Gwa Township in Arakan State, where one resident said neither the USDP nor the NUP commanded support. “People don’t know what they are going to do,” he said. “Most of them have come to think about abstaining.”

Khin Maung Swe, a leader of the National Democratic Force (NDF), said: “It seems that the Election Commission [EC] has put young political parties   like us in a tight corner by asking us to submit candidate lists within two weeks, between August 16 and 30.

“It appears to be a deliberate attempt to push us to a condition where the EC doesn’t want us to participate in the election.”

Khin Maung Swe said he couldn’t say how many constituencies the NDF would contest, because of all the restrictions and difficulties it faced. It had originally planned on fielding about 200 candidates, he said.

The official restrictions and financial restraints meant that the NDF would mainly contest the election in Divisions and not focus on States, Khin Maung Swe said.

Than Than Nu, general secretary of the Democratic Party (Myanmar), said the number of constituencies her party will contest has reached less than a hundred so far.

“We are far away from what we have expected to reach,” she said. “We will carefully choose local constituencies in which to contest.”

Ohn Lwin, vice-chairman No. 2 of the National Political Alliances (NPA), said political parties that had planned to contest nationwide are now in trouble as they have encountered financial constraints in paying candidate fees [500,000 kyat (US $510) per person], time limitations, EC restrictions, and surveillance and harassment by local authorities.

“I think the NPA can contest in about 20 constituencies, maximum,” he said. “We don’t have enough time and money so we have to choose where we can definitely win.”

A USDP organizer in Rangoon said the party will contest the election for seats in both the Pyithuluttaw [People's Assembly] and Amyotha Hluttaw [Nationalities Assembly], as well as in regional parliaments.

The USDP has been reportedly currying favor with voters by offering low-interest loans and undertaking local improvement projects such as building roads and providing street lighting.

Led by the military regime’s incumbent Prime Minister Thein Sein, the USDP registered at the EC on June 1 in order to participate in the election. The EC approved the USDP’s registration on June 8.

So far, 47 political parties have applied for registration at the EC and 42 parties have been approved.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=19314
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Pro-democracy Parties to Avoid Clash
By KO HTWE      Thursday, August 26, 2010

Several pro-democracy political parties have said that time and financial constaints have prevented them from forming alliances with other parties; however they are seeking to reach mutual understandings with their allies to avoid competing in the same constituencies in the general election on Nov. 7.

Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein, a leading member of the Democratic Party (Myanmar), also known as the DP, said, “We have negotiated with the National Democratic Force (NDF) and agreed not to compete in their constituencies.”

She said that due to limited time and money, the DP will compete in 80 constituencies and Chairman Thu Wai will run in Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township in Rangoon.

“All of the pro-democracy parties that are contesting the election are our brothers and sisters,” she added. “We share the same goals and try to help each other, but we have no time to organize or hold meetings. At the moment, we are busy concentrating on our candidates list.”

Led by Thu Wai, a veteran politician, the DP won one seat in the 1990 elections. It is best known in Burma for its inclusion of “the three princesses”—Than Than Nu, Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein and Nay Yi Ba Swe—who are the daughters of well-known Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League former leaders.

To date, 47 political parties have applied for registration, of which 42 have been accepted. But short on funds and with limited manpower at their disposal, several politicians say they are looking to pool their resources in order to campaign effectively.

Burma’s Election Commission has instructed registered parties to submit a list of candidates between Aug. 16-30.

NDF leader Khin Maung Swe said that the two-week period for candidate registration has interfered with the party’s plans of negotiating with other parties.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Thein Tin Aung, the general-secretary of the Union Democratic Party (UDP), said, “The NDF will not nominate candidates in the three townships where we are competing. We have agreed that with the NDF leadership.”

He said the UDP’s chairman, vice-chairman and general-secretary will compete in the  constituencies of Pago Township in Pago Division, and Hlaing Tharyar and Tarmway townships in Rangoon.

He said that initially the UDP intended to run candidates in between 10 and 50 constituencies, but political circumstances led them to only field three.

On Nov. 7, parties and candidates will fight for a total of 1,187 seats: the people’s parliament (lower house) has 330 seats; the nationalities’ parliament (upper house) has 168 seats; and the state and regional parliaments have 689 seats.

The Union Solidarity and Development Party—which was founded by Prime Minister Thein Sein and 26 other senior junta ministers and officials—will compete for every parliamentary seat.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=19315
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Regime Unveils Burma’s First National Web Portal
By HTET AUNG    Thursday, August 26, 2010

The Burmese regime plans to launch the country’s first ever national web portal in September, two months ahead of the election, according to sources close to Yatanarpon Teleport Co. Ltd. (YTP), based in the new Yatanarpon Cyber City in Pyin Oo Lwin Township.

The national web portal called “Yatanarpon News” with the address www.yatanarpon.com.mm, used only the Burmese language but will now have a Beta version in which search engines can be employed in English as well.

Yadanapon homepage
The sources said the regime built the web portal with three goals: To provide a modern, comprehensive online service for Burmese citizens at home and abroad, to publicize and make products of the business sector quickly available; and to become a national-level data bank to store knowledge and information from various fields.

“Currently, 14 content providers worldwide have offered to cooperate with the YTP,” a YTP official involved in the project told The Irrawaddy, on condition of anonymity. “But I have no authority to expose who they are.”

A sample Yatanarpon News home page obtained by The Irrawaddy indicates its main features are news, sports, entertainment, technology, economics, life style and politics.

The web portal will also allow users to open free e-mail and messenger services, like Yahoo Mail and Messenger. It will also include a social network in which users can open their own blogs and forums. Other services will include online shopping and banking.

In Burma, e-mail accounts of  citizens are often intercepted by the regime in an attempt to trace dissidents and political activists.

Asked how the Yatanarpon Mail and Messenger will try to win users’ confidence on the sensitive issue of e-mail security, the YTP official said: “Until now, a person responsible for that [e-mail security] has not been appointed nor are we trained on this matter. Also, we haven’t yet decided whether the size of the e-mail should be 1 GB or 512 MB.”

However, a Burmese web master in exile said that, given the nature of the web portal backed by the regime, the intention could be to create its own intranet network, rather than the internet, in which it would try to attract people to use its network services, reducing reliance on outside services such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail, MSN and many free blogs and forums.

The web master said: “because of the government’s support, the web portal can become the biggest in Burma, but whether it can take over a very popular Burmese web site called www.planet.com.mm remains to be seen.”

The Yatanarpon News will be launched while the regime blocks access to several other world news web sites. Observers say the possibility that the regime can reopen banned web sites after the launch of its own national web portal remains remote.

Asked about the credibility of the site in this situation, the YTP official said: “We are trying to tell our superiors not to open our web site alone while blocking other web sites. The main intention to build this web portal is to reduce these matters—the internet speed, for example.”

The official confirmed that Yatanarpon News planned to reach agreements with world news agencies, such as AP, AFP and ABC, to upload international news on its web site. At the outset, however, there would be no such agreements, he said.

This week, Yatanarpon Teleport introduced Yatanarpon News Web Portal and its services to the public at a four-day exhibition titled “Lifestyle & Car Expo 2010,” in Rangoon’s Tatmadaw [Military] Hall.

The National Web Portal is currently controlled by the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs (MPT), which owns 40 percent of all Yatanarpon City projects. The other 60 percent is privately owned.

One of the key private investors in Yatanarpon City is E-lite Tech, which is owned by Tay Za, one of Burma’s wealthiest business tycoons who is close to  junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his family.

Yatanarpon Teleport has recruited many local young IT software and hardware technicians who graduated from various Burmese computer and technology colleges. They are now working in seven buildings of the teleport, namely “Incubation Centers” or “IC.”

According to some sources, Yatanarpon Teleport developed its hardware and software infrastructure with the help of a Malaysian teleology company.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=19311
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Tay Za Launches Broadband Service in Rangoon
By THE IRRAWADDY        Thursday, August 26, 2010

RANGOON — Burmese businessman Tay Za’s E-Lite company has been granted a license for an optical fiber broadband network service, called FTTx, which will offer high speed access to Internet, television and telephone communication, according to the company staff.

While Tay Za’s company has reportedly been granted access to sell FTTx services in Rangoon with  the special permission of Thein Zaw, the Minister of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs, the broadband concession in Mandalay has been obtained by Red Link and Fortune International companies.

“We are working to launch the FTTx service in Rangoon. The public can access it soon,” said an E-Lite company staff member.

He said those who apply for the broadband service will have access to high-speed Internet, multiple television channels—movies, sports, music, news—and telephonic services through a telephone line connection.

“TV channels will include both free and paid ones. The Internet speed is 30 Mbps, so it will be much faster that the current limit. As for the telephone, it is clear and similar to a land line worth about two millions kyat (US $2,051),” said a staff member.

E-Lite has yet to announce the cost of the broadband service.

The Voice Weekly journal reported on Saturday that the Red Link and Fortune International companies will charge a 900,000 kyat ($923) installation fee and 30,000 to 100,000 kyat monthly, depending on the choice of services.

Red Link and Fortune International companies reportedly expect to sell 6,000 broadband connections in Mandalay.

The FTTx service was introduced in an IT and car exhibition held in Rangoon on Saturday through Monday. A total of 40 IT and car companies joined the exhibition.

A Rangoon-based IT technician said online services in Burma are much less developed compare to neighboring countries. The military regime’s frequent attempt to cut off Internet connections under the  pretext of political instability is one of the reasons that hinders the development of online services in the country, he said.

“Whoever does  it, I welcome the improvement of online services in Burma. The more competition companies have, the cheaper service fees we will pay. I want the online services to reach a level with  fees that everyone can access,” said the technician.

Apart from the FTTx service, E-Lite company has been cooperating with the Myanma Posts and Telecommunications in offering IT-related products, producing and selling mobile phones, and selling CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) phones for 500,000 kyat ($512) with pre-paid cards.

Tay Za is well known for his business ties with the regime which has provided him with opportunities in the areas of banking, airlines and other key enterprises. He is listed on the US and Western sanctions because of his involvement with the military junta.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=19310
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Bo Moustache and followers still reject BGF plan
Thursday, 26 August 2010 16:54 Kyaw Kha

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A renegade faction of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) continues to keep the junta at arm’s length, refusing to subscribe to the regime’s Border Guard Force scheme.

Led by Bo Moustache, approximately 1,000 DKBA troops remain outside the junta’s designs for the transformation of the Karen splinter army into a Border Guard Force under the junta’s leadership.

The 906th battalion, led by Major Nyan Min, 905th battalion, led by Major Kyaw Kyaw and 904th battalion, led by Major Kyaw Thet, have each rejected the Border Guard Force proposal. Each of the battalions is Kawkareit-based and under the command of Bo Moustache’s brigade. Additionally, strategic commands (1) and (2) led by Major Chinlone are also rejecting Naypyidaw’s overture.

Bo Moustache, aka Saw Lar Bwe, originally had five battalions under his command, but two battalions led by Majors Motethone and Sawblue, comprising a total of 300 troops, transformed themselves into a Border Guard Force on August 21.

“The commanding officers of those battalions have businesses in Hpa-an, Kawkareit and Myawaddy. That’s why they accepted the junta’s plan, for the sake of their businesses. Anyway, the deputy commanding officers did not follow them. They joined us,” Major Chinlone told Mizzima.

Similarly, on August 18, the battalions of DKBA’s chairman Saw Tha Htoo Kyaw, the vice-chairman General Kyaw Than and Colonel Saw Chit Thu were transformed into Border Guard Forces.

“My salary is more than 100,000 kyat (more than US$100). But, I don’t know about my position in the force. We are Karen. Although our organisation is transformed, our hearts remain the same. But, as a Border Guard Force, our actions will be different than before,” Saw Tun Myint, whose battalion was transformed into Border Guard Force, told Mizzima.

Although rumours are circulating that former DKBA officers will contest in the forthcoming election, there remains no confirmation from DKBA leadership. http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/4288-bo-moustache-and-followers-still-reject-bgf-plan.html