BURMA RELATED NEWS – OCTOBER 07-13, 2010
Oct 14th, 2010
Tue Oct 12, 10:13 am ET YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has decided not to vote in upcoming elections, even though authorities have told her she is on the electoral roll, her lawyer said Tuesday.
Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Nyan Win, said she informed him that she does not intend to vote in the Nov. 7 general elections in which her now-disbanded party has decided not to participate.
The military government dissolved her National League for Democracy party because it declined to reregister for an election it considers unfair and undemocratic. Nyan Win told reporters her position after meeting her for 2 1/2 hours at her home Tuesday.
She has previously advised followers that they have the right not to vote. The state-controlled press has criticized that position.
Suu Kyi told her lawyers that authorities informed her Sept. 24 that her name is on the electoral list and that she will be able to cast a ballot. She said that violated an election law that prohibited convicted people from voting.
According to the law, convicted people include those serving prison terms imposed by a court and those who are undergoing an appeal process, Nyan Win said.
Suu Kyi was convicted in August 2009 of violating the terms of her previous detention by briefly sheltering an American man who swam uninvited to her lakeside home. She is currently serving an 18-month term of house arrest that will expire Nov. 13, six days after the elections.
Suu Kyi “said the decision to put her on the electoral roll is against the law and this is lawlessness. She has instructed us to tell authorities that the decision was against the law,” Nyan Win said.
Suu Kyi’s name was not on an initial voting list, but was added to a supplementary list posted a few days later. It is not clear why it was added.
The elections will be Myanmar’s first since 1990, when Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide victory. The junta ignored the results and has kept Suu Kyi jailed or under house arrest for 15 of the past 21 years.
Critics call the upcoming polls a sham designed to cement military rule. Myanmar has been under military control since 1962.
Despite criticism, Myanmar has rejected offers of help in carrying out the elections, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Tuesday.
Abhisit said he offered his country’s assistance during a visit to Myanmar on Monday. He met Prime Minister Thein Sein and junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
Abhisit told reporters in Bangkok he conveyed the international community’s concerns. Myanmar’s leaders replied they were “aware of the concerns, but did not want any outside help,” he said.
Tue Oct 12, 5:52 am ET
BANGKOK (AP) – Thailand’s prime minister says Myanmar has rejected any help to carry out its upcoming election.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Tuesday he offered Thailand’s assistance Monday during an official visit to Myanmar. He met his counterpart Prime Minister Thein Sein and reclusive junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
Myanmar’s election on Nov. 7 will be its first in 20 years, after the junta refused to recognize the results of the 1990 vote. Critics say the new vote is being held under unfair and undemocratic conditions to cement the junta’s power.
Abhisit told reporters in Bangkok he conveyed the international community’s concerns. Myanmar’s leaders replied they were “aware of the concerns, but did not want any outside help.”
Mon Oct 11, 3:22 am ET
YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar’s military government is planning the early release of 3,000 prisoners to allow them to vote in next month’s long-awaited election, a prison department official said on Monday.
Those slated for early release would be prisoners whose terms were due to end in November or December, but it was not known what crimes they were convicted of or whether any were political detainees.
Rights groups say more than 2,200 activists are currently in detention in Myanmar. The government insists it has no political detainees in any of its 43 prisons or 100 labor camps.
“Necessary preparations are under way and about 3,000 inmates are expected to be freed,” the prison department official told Reuters. He asked not to be named.
“As far as I know, there is a plan to reduce the prison terms of the inmates by up to 30 days with the intent to enable them to vote in the upcoming elections.”
Nyan Win, a spokesman for the now-defunct National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which was led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s most famous political prisoner, said he expected those due for release were common criminals.
Suu Kyi’s house arrest is due to end on November 13, six days after the country’s first election since 1990. That vote was won by the NLD but ignored by the junta.
The NLD had decided to boycott next month’s ballot because of what it sees as skewed election laws and the continued detention of hundreds of its members.
“I don’t think (Suu Kyi) will be freed as part of this amnesty, even if it really takes place,” Nyan Win added.
A retired judge in Yangon said it was possible some less prominent activists deemed no threat to the political process could be among the 3,000 due for release.
“I don’t think the regime has enough confidence to run the risk of releasing prominent political prisoners before the elections,” he said.
“Their release may come in a general amnesty, most probably after the elections, to improve the country’s image.”
Sat Oct 9, 9:44 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar’s junta-backed political party, almost certain to win the upcoming general election, issued its platform in state media, vowing to practice democracy and protect rights.
The Union Solidarity and Development Party “will practice the multiparty democracy system, market-oriented economic system and independent and active foreign policies,” according to a text of the statement by Htay Oo, agriculture minister and the party’s secretary general. His statement was published Saturday in the New Light of Myanmar state newspaper.
In his Friday night broadcast, he said his party will guarantee people’s “rights and liabilities … in line with the constitution,” as well as freedom of religion in Myanmar, whose military government is criticized worldwide for its poor human rights record.
All parties are allowed a 15-minute broadcast, and the USDP’s platform echoes the military’s claims to be striving for unity and democracy. The party is widely expected to win the election because its ties with the junta give it easy funding and a nationwide presence.
The general elections on Nov. 7 are the first in 20 years. Detained Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide victory in the 1990 polls but was not allowed to take power by the military. It decided to boycott this year’s elections, charging that the process is unfair and undemocratic.
Compared to the junta’s usual hard tack accusing Suu Kyi and other democracy activists of working in cahoots with foreigner to undermine the nation, the party statement took a soft approach, saying “We will strive to protect the nation against internal and external dangers,” without specifying what they might be.
In what could be taken as an oblique reference to Suu Kyi’s now disbanded National League for Democracy party, Htay Oo said that the USDP “deem officially registered political parties and individuals as colleagues.”
Under the new election law, Suu Kyi’s party was legally dissolved because it failed to reregister to run in the election. Her party is seeking a court ruling reversing the party’s dissolution.
Suu Kyi has been locked away for 15 of the past 21 years. Her latest term of 18 months’ house arrest is due to expire on Nov. 13, just days after the scheduled polls.
Altogether 37 political parties including the USDP will contest the election for 1,157 seats, including 494 seats in Myanmar’s two-chamber Union Parliament and 663 spread among 14 regional parliaments. The USDP is the only party fielding candidates in almost all constituencies.
The Union Solidarity and Development Party was formed from a junta-backed mass social organization called the Union Solidarity and Development Association, founded in 1993 and drawing much of its support from the country’s vast civil service.
In April this year it was turned into a political party, just a few days after Prime Minister Thein Sein and 26 Cabinet colleagues in uniform resigned their military posts to make them eligible to take part in politics.
Sun Oct 10, 6:26 pm ET
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar’s military regime plans to release about 11,000 prisoners ahead of November elections, enabling them to vote in the rare polls, officials said Sunday.
“We have plans to release some prisoners who are soon to complete their sentence,” an official told AFP on condition of anonymity. “We will reduce their sentence and release them in the coming days so that they can vote on the election day.”
It was not clear if Myanmar’s political prisoners, numbering over 2,200, would be included in the release, but a corrections department official said about 11,000 prisoners could be freed.
These included detainees whose sentences would already be over by polling day, as well as some early releases.
“The number could be more as we are still listing them,” he added, without saying when the releases would begin.
There are usually more than 50,000 convicted criminals in Myanmar’s 43 prisons and 100 labour sites at any one time, as well as about 6,000 awaiting trial, according to the privately-owned but state-censored Myanmar Times.
The detention of political dissidents, including democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has sparked condemnation from the international community and rights groups, who do not expect the upcoming election to be free or fair.
Suu Kyi, under house arrest in Yangon, won the country’s last election 20 years ago but was not allowed to take office. She was barred from standing in this year’s polls because she is a serving prisoner.
Her National League for Democracy subsequently boycotted the ballot, leading to the party being forcibly abolished.
The Nobel peace laureate’s current term of detention is due to end on November 13, just days after the national elections, which critics say are aimed at simply entrenching the junta’s power.
Raising confusion over her rights, Suu Kyi’s name has been seen by AFP on the electoral roll, despite earlier statements that she would be barred. An official said she could vote but would not be allowed outside on election day.
Mon Oct 11, 12:41 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – A political party formed by ex-colleagues of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said upcoming elections would be a “first step” towards democracy in army-ruled Myanmar, state media reported Monday.
“Now our country is in (a) transitional period to democracy,” National Democratic Force (NDF) chairman Than Nyein said in a policy address published in the English-language New Light of Myanmar newspaper.
“We assume that (the) forthcoming election is the first step of democratisation the people aspire for,” he added.
The NDF’s decision to contest the November 7 election has put it at odds with other former members of the National League for Democracy — including its leader Suu Kyi — who opted to boycott the poll because of “unjust” rules.
The vote, the first in 20 years, has been criticised by activists and many Western governments as a charade aimed at shoring up almost half a century of military rule.
The NLD, which was founded in 1988 after a popular uprising against the junta that left thousands dead, won a landslide victory in 1990 elections but the ruling generals never allowed it to take office.
Suu Kyi has spent much of the past 20 years in detention and is barred as a serving prisoner from standing in the upcoming vote, which falls about a week before her current term of house arrest is due to end.
“We will try our best for human rights and democracy and to cope with (the) economic crisis and social sufferings faced by the people,” pursuing a market economy, free middle school education and better healthcare, the NDF said.
Mon Oct 11, 6:18 am ET TOKYO (AFP) – Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Monday criticised China’s irate response to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo, Kyodo News reported in Tokyo.
Speaking to Kyodo News at Tokyo’s Narita airport, the Dalai Lama, who won the same prize in 1989, said the Chinese government does “not appreciate different opinions at all”.
He also said building an open, transparent society is “the only way to save all people of China” but that some “hardliners” inside the leadership were stuck in an “old way of thinking,” Kyodo said.
He arrived at the airport just outside of Tokyo from Mumbai, India, in transit to the United States, it said.
Liu is one of three people to have been awarded the prize while being jailed by their own government. The other two are Myanmar’s Aung Sang Suu Kyi in 1991 and German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky in 1935.
The selection of Liu as this year’s laureate enraged the Chinese government, which has called the dissident a “criminal” and slammed the award as a violation of Nobel ideals and a discredit to the Peace Prize.
Leaders around the world including US President Barack Obama — last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner — lauded the 2010 winner and called on the Chinese government to release him immediately.
China’s censors have mounted an effort to prevent news of the award circulating on the Internet in China and searches on the subject remained blocked Monday.
Liu’s wife Liu Xia said, via her Twitter account, that she had been placed under house arrest at her Beijing home both before and after travelling to the prison in northeastern China where her husband is being held to inform him of his prize.
Published: Oct. 11, 2010 at 1:53 PM
BRUSSELS, Oct. 11 (UPI) — The ruling military junta in Myanmar is gearing up for “fake elections,” a human rights group told members of the European Parliament on Monday.
Myanmar has a general election next month that military authorities said moves the country along the path toward civilian leadership. The military junta was criticized, however, for a decision last month to disband 10 political parties, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.
Zoya Phan, a member of the British advocacy group Burma Campaign, told members of the European Parliament the military junta is seeking legal cover through sham elections.
“The regime is now going ahead with its own fake elections that will bring in a constitution that will legalize military rule,” she said in a statement.
European lawmaker Heidi Hautala, who leads a subcommittee on human rights, said every dictatorship must eventually be held accountable to its people.
“It would be a mistake to put too much faith into the elections,” she said.
Authorities in Myanmar said they would release Suu Kyi from custody before the vote, though the international community raised doubts over the claim.
Critics complain the election is controlled by the military junta, which gets a guaranteed a 20 percent of the seats in parliament.
Published: Oct. 13, 2010 at 10:44 AM
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (UPI) — Washington hopes that whatever government emerges from general elections in Myanmar will proceed along a new path, a U.S. State Department spokesman said.
Myanmar has general elections in November that military authorities said moves the country along the path toward civilian leadership. The military junta was criticized, however, for a decision last month to disband 10 political parties, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.
The military junta is guaranteed 20 percent of the seats in the next parliament.
P.J. Crowley, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said Washington has “great concern” about developments in Myanmar.
“We’ve expressed our concerns about the upcoming electoral process, which we do not believe will be free or fair,” he said.
European lawmakers said it “would be a mistake” to put any faith in the upcoming general election.
Military leaders said they would release Suu Kyi from her 15-year house arrest before the election, though world leaders doubt the claim.
By Yan Paing
RANGOON, Burma, Oct 13, 2010 (IPS) – “Voting in X (number of) days,” reads what sound like a reminder to voters in the front pages of weekly journals here ahead of the Nov. 7 general election in Burma, the first to be held in 20 years.
But while there is a lot of election talk in this military-ruled country, many of the voices quoted in articles in state media and journals are those of politicians and not of voters.
“There are many journals writing about the elections, but those are just boring. All the news came out after being censored by the scrutiny board,” remarks Ye Htut, a 30-something vendor of news journals.
A mix of moods prevails here in the former capital of Burma ahead of a vote that some say will just legitimise military rule under a civilian veneer, but others believe offers some chance to get a degree of political change. Some say it might be better to boycott the vote, while others have mixed, conflicting opinions about it. “It is a very complicated process for voting but I still have no idea who are going to contest or whom to vote,” says Cho Cho, a homemaker.
Recalling the atmosphere in the weeks before the last election in this South-east Asian country of 53 million people in 1990, she says: “We could hear campaign songs played loudly everywhere.”
Recalling parts of a campaign ditty at the time, Cho Cho sang, ‘We would be wealthy if Suu (Aung San Suu Kyi) wins in the elections’.” But “it is different this time. I haven’t seen many party doing public campaigns widely like that”.
Cho Cho voted for Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) that won a landslide victory 20 years ago, but which the military junta did not recognise. The NLD has been disbanded after it decided to boycott the November poll after finding “unjust” the government’s electoral laws.
“In 1990, we could make speeches anywhere we like but it is quite different this time,” says Khin Maung Swe, who contested the 1990 elections with NLD and has now formed a new party called National Democratic Force (NDF). He is also its spokesman.
“We have to deal with very strict rules and regulations. If we want to make a public speech, we have to ask permission one week ahead about where we’ll make it, how many people will come, and who will say what,” he explains. “Very strict!”
Political parties also complain about the limited time for building networks and getting candidates under the rules set by the Elections Commission.
“We were given just 15 days. It was very, very hard for our two-month-old, newly established party to get enough candidates within these days. If we were given one more month to seek candidates, we could have got 300 candidates,” says Khin Maung Swe. “But we just got only about 160 candidates in two weeks.”
The Nov. 7 election will be held for 498 seats in the People’s Assembly or lower house of parliament, 224 seats in the Nationalities Assembly or upper house and other seats in the legislatures of divisions and states. The country’s 2008 Constitution guarantees the military 25 percent of these slots.
Parties like the NDF also find financial resources a struggle. “We have to rely on donations even for travel. Our party can’t finance its candidates,” Khin Maung Swe adds.
The registration fee is 500 U.S. dollars for one candidate, a hefty amount in a country where 32.7 percent of the population lives below poverty line.
Only the strongest party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), is contesting more than 1,100 seats out of 1,163 seats nationwide to be voted in during the November poll.
In campaigns aired on state-owned television, USDP general secretary and agriculture minister Htay Oo has called the party a “national force” that was “formed with the fine legacy of the USDP that has been joining hands with the people for about 17 years in serving the interest of the national people”.
In truth, many voters say they do not make much of a distinction between the USDP and the military government because Prime Minister Thein Sein and other generals, as UDSP candidates, will be running for civilian seats.
“USDP is acting as a ruling party. It’s acting as the government’s party. That party can do anything that it likes. It can make public speeches in public areas. The party is also organising elderly people to vote for them by giving money,” argues the NDF’s Khin Maung Swe.
Ye Htut says, “USDP will win for sure. It’s going to be worse if they take power because thugs and gangsters will misuse power to ruin the country.”
This is why “I’m not going to vote,” says a 42-year-old government employee. “They have the winning cards in their hands. The result has been arranged. Why should we bother to play this game?”
But those like Cho Cho say that while it might not be clear what kind of government would be in place after the vote, its verdict might be quite clear on who Burma’s voters do not want to stay in power.
“In 1990, many people had only one consensus, to not vote for the National Unity Party,” she recalls. That party had been transformed from the Burmese Socialist Party, which ruled for two decades until it was toppled in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising.
This time, Cho Cho explains, a similar consensus – to avoid voting for USDP – is shaping up among many. “This time, we don’t want the USDP to win, but we still don’t know which party to vote,” she says.
Posted : Wed, 13 Oct 2010 02:42:53 GMT
Wellington – The New Zealand Parliament unanimously passed a motion Wednesday calling on Myanmar’s military junta to “release all political prisoners arrested for their peaceful opposition to the regime.”
A former prisoner, Aung Khaing Min, who has been brought to New Zealand by Amnesty International to speak about his experiences and the fight for democracy in the Asian country, was in the public gallery when the motion was passed.
The motion, moved by the main opposition Labour Party but supported by all other parties, called on the authorities in Myanmar, also known as Burma, to guarantee freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly.
Aung Khaing Min will appear before parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade select committee on Thursday, 14 October.
“His presence and his story will increase awareness in New Zealand of the plight of the Burmese people, both in Burma and in exile,” Labour foreign affairs spokeswoman Maryan Street said in a statement.
Oct. 11 2010 – 01:55 pm
Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva leaves Bangkok today for a one-day visit to Burma, the last member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to be visited by the prime minister since he took up the premiership in December 2008, according to today’s Bangkok Post.
Abhisit is promoting increased economic cooperation between the two countries and carries the hopes of traders for an end to the deadlock to the border closure with Burma when he meets that country’s senior leaders today. The closure of the Mae Sot-Myawaddy checkpoint is on the agenda for talks with Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein and chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Than Shwe.
Burma officials closed the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge on July 12, and more than 20 ports along the Moei River in protest of a riverbank protection construction being undertaken on the Thai side of the primary waterway. The construction is basically eating away at the banks on the Burma side.
At present all crossings, including the Friendship Bridge, have been closed to motor vehicle pass through but authorities are still allowing citizens of both nations to pass freely walking over the border. Despite allowing foot travel, many locals are reluctant to cross the border in case the situation worsens and the border crossing is closed totally, leaving them trapped.
“We will be discussing several bilateral issues such as Myanmar migrant labour and the closure of the Mae Sot border crossing,” Abhisit told reporters before his departure.
The closure of the crossinghas reportedly caused shortages of consumer items in Yangon, Burma’s former capital and its main port city. The border trade in the district was worth 25 billion baht (US$832m) last year, the Tak Chamber of Commerce said. The Foreign Trade Department estimates that Thai exporters have lost about 100 million baht a day since Burma closed the border, as reported by The Bangkok Post.
Fifty years of political problems and economic isolation have steadily worn away Burma’s national infrastructure, public services and living standards. The closure of the Mae Sot-Myawaddy gate also makes life difficult for merchants – who find themselves burdened with high taxes and prolonged delays. The result is a booming black market.
Many commentators believe that the junta closed the border to increase pressure on the Thai government to support the results of the November 7 election.
Published: 11/10/2010 at 02:53 PM
Online news: Local News
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva left Bangkok early Monday for a one-day official visit to Burma, aimed at strengthening relations between the two countries and to express the government’s determination to support the coming general election in the country.
Mr Abhisit, accompanied by Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, flew on a Thai air force C-130 aircraft to Burma’s new administrative capital Naypyitaw.
“We will be discussing several bilateral issues such as Burmese migrant labour and the closure of the Mae Sot border crossing,” Mr Abhisit said before his departure.
Upon arrival at the airport in Naypyidaw, Mr Abhisit and his delegates were welcomed by his Burmese counterpart Gen Thein Sein.
The government leaders later discussed ways to solve problems prevailing at the two countries’ border, the closure of the Mae Sot-Myawaddy border crossing in Tak province since July and its affect on trade, building telecommunication networks and on cooperation in sending workers to each country.
Burma closed the Mae Sot border crossing on July 12, citing Thailand’s alteration of the river embankment as the reason.
Mr Abhisit was also scheduled to make a courtesy call on Senior General Than Shwe, chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, before attending a luncheon to be hosted by Gen Thein Sein.
In the afternoon, Mr Abhisit and his delegation were scheduled to visit a Buddhist temple and view a bodhi tree planted earlier by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn during a visit to Burma.
Mr Abhisit is to visit the former capital of Rangoon later and explain government policy to the Thai ambassador, who will host a dinner.
Mr Abhisit and his retiunue are due back in Bangkok at 10.45pm.
His visit comes ahead of the general election in Burma set for Nov 7, the first in 20 years.
Thailand and Burma are both members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
Mae Sot crossing high on meetings agenda
Published: 11/10/2010 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva carries the hopes of traders for an end to the deadlock to the border closure with Burma when he meets that country’s senior leaders today.
Mr Abhisit leaves Bangkok today for a one-day visit to Burma, the last member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to be visited by the prime minister since he took up the premiership in December 2008.
The closure of the Mae Sot-Myawaddy checkpoint is on the agenda for talks with Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein and chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Than Shwe.
Tak Chamber of Commerce chairman Banpote Korkiatcharoen was hopeful Mr Abhisit could convince the Burmese leaders at their meeting in the capital of Naypyidaw to resume trade through Mae Sot district in the northern province.
“I hope that this problem can be solved this time,” Mr Banpote said yesterday. “I am looking forward to it. This should not be a big problem for him [Mr Abhisit].”
Industry Minister Charnchai Chairungruang was confident the prime minister would be successful in securing a return to normal trade.
“I expect Prime Minister Abhisit will come back to announce good news on this issue,” the minister said during a visit to the border district yesterday.
Talks have been held at several levels, including a meeting between Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot and Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint in Myawaddy on July 26, since the Burmese government closed its checkpoint opposite Mae Sot on July16. All have ended with the same result: Burma has insisted on keeping the border closed.
Naypyidaw closed the checkpoint in protest against a Public Works Department project to build an embankment along the Thai bank of the Moei River without informing Burma. It claims the embankment has changed the flow of the river and could result in erosion of the bank on the Burmese side.
“The high-level discussion is the right venue to sort this problem out,” Mr Banpote said.
Mae Sot is the main gateway for the border trade with Burma, accounting for 60% of the total trade as it is on the main supply route for goods to and from Rangoon and elsewhere in Burma.
The border trade in the district was worth 25 billion baht last year, the Tak Chamber of Commerce said.
The Foreign Trade Department estimates that Thail exporters have lost about 100 million baht a day since Burma closed the border.
“Border traders have suffered greatly from the closure,” Mr Banpote said.
Mr Abhisit will also seek cooperation from Burma to verify personal details of Burmese workers in Thailand, on joint attempts to crack down on illicit drugs and Thai investments in a deep-sea port in Dawei, formerly Tavoy.
Dawei port would open a new transport link between Burma and Thailand, Mr Abhisit said in his weekly radio and TV programme yesterday.
The prime minister’s visit takes place less than a month before Burma holds its first general election for a decade on Nov 11.
“We want to see a smooth election and reconciliation process,” he said. “The government will reaffirm the desire to see stability and peace along the border.”
The National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi won the last contest, in 1990. The Burmese regime never recognised the result.
United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon last month warned the poll will lack credibility if Burma continues to detain political prisoners.
Published: 13/10/2010 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has received an assurance from his Burmese counterpart that the border adjoining Mae Sot will open to trade again soon.
Burma said it closed its Myawaddy side of the border because of internal security problems but it was possible it would reopen sooner than expected, deputy government spokesman Supachai Jaisamut quoted Mr Abhisit as saying yesterday.
Mr Supachai said the prime minister did not give an exact date for when the border would open again.
The prime minister made the statement after returning from an official one-day visit to Burma on Monday where he met Prime Minister Thein Sein.
He told the cabinet yesterday he had ordered the Commerce Ministry to hold talks with Burma to seek the relaxing of a ban on 50 Thai export items, Mr Supachai said.
Mr Abhisit said the two countries also agreed to jointly develop a deep-sea port at Dawei (formerly Tavoy) in southern Burma.
Burmese authorities and Thai private sector firms are conducting a joint study of the mega-project, he said.
Mr Abhisit said the development of the deep-sea port in Dawei and some new industrial zones to be set up would help solve the problems of cross-border and transnational crime, including illegal workers and drug trafficking.
Meanwhile, loud explosions from the Burmese side of the border have been heard in Chiang Mai’s Mae Ai district starting about 6am on Sunday.
The Chiang Mai-based Shan Herald Agency for News quoted Burmese witnesses as saying at least two ammunition depots located in the compound of Burmese ordnance battalion 642 exploded on Sunday morning. The explosions continued for almost an hour, they said.
The ordnance unit is about a kilometre from the town of Mong Hsat, which is 50-60 kilometres from Mae Ai district.
“Flames engulfed the buildings storing weapons,” witnesses were quoted as saying.
11:13, October 10, 2010
A total of 13 new railroads are being built in Myanmar in parallel, of which some completed sections have been opened for service, an official daily reported Sunday.
These railroads under implementation are those passing over mountain ranges and extending from the east to the west.
“Upon completion, the national railroad network, which will emerge the length of breadth of the country as the railroad corridor, will contribute to progress in socio-economic status of the national brethren,” said the New Light of Myanmar.
In the past, the country had only one railroad stretching from Myitkyinain the north to Yangon and Ye in the south, Lashio in the east and Pyay in the west, while nowadays many railroads have emerged in the nation stretching from the north to the south and more railroads stretching from Sittway in the west to Kengtung in the east and from Myeik in the southernmost tip area have been built.
According to the paper, the government has so far extended 2, 400 kilometers (km) of railroads, bringing the total to 4,800 km.
The number of railway stations has also added by 406, bringing the total to 893, up from 487 in the past.
At present, over 73 million passengers and three million tons of commodities are rail-transported yearly, up from 36 million and more than one million tons respectively in the past, the report said.
The report added that the nation now gets 128,000-km-long motor roads, increasing by eight times from 16,000 km in the past, and the number of bridges has now risen to more than 21,000 from over 9,000.
18:19, October 12, 2010
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Tuesday Myanmar PM agreed to consider to permanently open Sing Khorn checkpoint in southern Prachuab Kirikhan province.
“Myanmar government will take the issue of opening (Sing Khorn) checkpoint seriously as they also want to increase bilateral trade, ” the premier said.
However, the Myanmar government will not yet re-open Mae Sot- Myawaddy crossing point which has been shut down since July 18 saying they have to first solve their own internal problems.
PM Abhisit said he had discussed with his Myanmar counterpart PM U Thein Sein the bilateral cooperation to boost trade, investment and economy between the two countries which are anticipated to play important role in solving problems of illicit drug trading, human trafficking and illegal labor immigration.
Security agencies of both countries need to enhance better cooperation in either intelligence operation or border patrolling, he said.
The prime minister said the result of bilateral talk is considerably fruitful as the two countries come to terms on several issues.
Prime Minister Abhisit paid a one-day official visit to Myanmar Monday in a bid to promote bilateral relationship and cooperation. During his short stay in Nay Pyi Taw, Abhisit also met with Myanmar top leader Senior-General Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council.
His visit to Myanmar this time was the first since he had inaugurated as a prime minister but and followed that of Thai princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in March this year.
10:34, October 11, 2010
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is due to arrive in Nay Pyi Taw later on Monday for an official visit to Myanmar, which is expected to promote economic cooperation between the two countries.
It will be Abhisit’s return visit to that to Thailand made by his Myanmar counterpart U Thein Sein in April 2008.
Abhisit’s trip also followed that to the neighbor by Thai princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in March this year.
U Thein Sein’s 2008 visit to Thailand has paved way for promoting bilateral economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
During that visit, cooperation between the two governments in a number of sectors were initiated which covered narcotic drug eradication, hydropower, energy, mining, agriculture and industry.
In the fiscal year 2009-10 which ended in March, trade between Myanmar and Thailand amounted to 3.577 billion U.S. dollars, up 16. 2 percent from 2008-09.
Of the total, Myanmar’s export to Thailand amounted to 3.169 billion dollars while its import from the Southeast Asian neighbor reached over 408 million dollars, enjoying a trade surplus of 2. 761 billion dollars.
Thailand stood first in Myanmar’s normal foreign trade partner line-up, followed by Singapore, China, India, China’s Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia, but it stood the second in Myanmar’s border trade with neighboring countries.
Thailand exports to Myanmar textile, shoes, marine products, rice, rubber, jewelry, motor cars, computer and electronic accessories and vice versa, while importing from the country forestry products, marine products, agricultural produces and natural gas.
In July, entrepreneurs of Myanmar and Thailand met for promoting bilateral trade cooperation.
According to the Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, besides the normal trade, border trade between the two countries has also been improving comparing the two fiscal years’ bilateral trade. The border trade at Tachilek, Myawaddy, Kawthaung and Myeik rose from 199 million dollars in 2005-06 to 295 million dollars in 2009-10.
To enhance bilateral trade, Myanmar and Thailand have been adding more border trade zones between the two countries since last year with the latest zone standing as Mae Hong Son on the Thai side to emerge during this year.
The addition of new border trade zones contributes to boosting cross-border trade, maintaining border stability, stopping illegal trade as well as encouraging development of tourism between the two neighbors, traders said.
Air route will be introduced to bring border trade commodities to the Mae Hong Son for the first time in addition to land route.
Last year, proposed by the Thai side, three more border trade zones, namely Mongtong, Monghsat and Loikaw, were set up by the Myanmar side in the border region connecting Thailand, bringing the total of such zones to seven.
The four original border trade zones set up earlier with Thailand are known as Myawaddy, Tachilek, Kawthoung and Phaya Thonzu.
Meanwhile, Myanmar and Thailand have been building another new friendship bridge connecting Myanmar’s Myawaddy and Thailand’s Maesot and is located 5 kilometers away from the old one.
The new bridge, on completion, will help raise bilateral border trade from 20 billion bahts (597.5 million dollars) to 40 billion bahts (1.195 billion dollars) once a special economic zone on the Myanmar side is opened.
Myanmar-Thai border trade has been increasing year by year. In the 2008-09 fiscal year, the bilateral border trade hit 327 million U.S. dollars, of which Myanmar’s export took 138 million dollars, while its import represented 189 million dollars.
The border trade in 2008-09 was up from 304 million in 2007-08, 300 million in 2006-07, 199 million in 2006-05 and 118 million in 2004-05.
Meanwhile, Thailand is leading in Myanmar’s foreign investment which is followed by China, Britain, Hong Kong region and South Korea.
Thailand injected 7.41 billion dollars into Myanmar during the 21 years’ period from 1988 to 2009, of which 81.7 percent went to electric power, while 8.33 percent and 3.1 percent in manufacturing and hotel and tourism sectors respectively.
Meanwhile, Thai businessmen are seeking increased investment in the country with a Thai delegation comprising 20 businessmen being expected to sign a number of memorandums of understanding with its Myanmar counterparts.
In 2009-10, Thailand injected 15.25 million dollars in hotels and tourism.
Through the Thai prime minister’s visit to Myanmar, observers here believed that the two countries’ bilateral economic cooperation and trade will be further enhanced.
Oct 12 05:19 AM US/Eastern
BANGKOK, Oct. 12 (AP) – (Kyodo)—Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva admitted Tuesday he was unable to narrow differences between the military rulers of Myanmar and the international community over the general election set for the first time in two decades in Myanmar next month.
Returning from a one-day visit to Myanmar, Abhisit said he discussed with his counterpart Gen. Thein Sein “a number of concerns” expressed by the international community about the Nov. 7 vote but “clearly there are differences that remain.”
He did not elaborate on the concerns but said “on the part of Myanmar, they maintain this is part of their seven-step roadmap and that there is a competition because there are candidates for the election.”
Myanmar’s detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been barred from running in election as the law enacted in March bans people with criminal convictions from being candidates for office, becoming a member of political party or voting.
Suu Kyi was convicted last year of violating the terms of her house arrest by briefly sheltering an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside residence.
The Nov. 7 election will be Myanmar’s first since Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won the voting in 1990 by a landslide.
But the junta never ceded power to the NLD and Suu Kyi has been detained in prison or at her home most of the ensuing two decades.
Her party will not contest the November election, terming the junta- set rules “unjust and unfair.”
A spokesman for the Thai government, Panitan Wattanayagorn, was quoted Tuesday by the Bangkok Post as saying Abhisit planned to offer help with Myanmar’s election, but he was not specific about the help the prime minister hoped to offer.
Abhisit made no statement on the issue after returning from his first visit to the country since he took office in December 2008.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in which Myanmar and Thailand are members, also tried to give election help by sending observers to monitor the voting but Myanmar has never responded to the offer.
The other ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.
By Daniel Ten Kate – Oct 10, 2010 5:40 PM PT
(Bloomberg) – Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will visit Myanmar today ahead of the military-ruled country’s first election in 20 years as its neighbors engage with the generals shunned by the U.S. and Europe.
Abhisit’s one-day visit comes weeks after junta leader Than Shwe’s first trips to India and China in about eight years. The three neighbors account for a third of the world’s population and about two-thirds of Myanmar’s commerce, giving the military leadership an economic lifeline as the U.S. and Europe impose sanctions.
“We don’t think sanctions have worked and we don’t think sanctions will work,” Abhisit said in an Oct. 6 interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters. “We think that engagement, frustrating at times as it can be, offers the most realistic approach.”
Thailand, China and India are building roads, ports and pipelines in Southeast Asia’s poorest country to access its natural resources and move cargo quickly to and from the Middle East and Europe. The country’s strategic location has undermined U.S. sanctions, which President Barack Obama may soon tighten to target banks that hold offshore accounts for junta leaders.
“There’s a difference in the way we see things,” Abhisit said, explaining the competing approaches to Myanmar by Asia nations and the West. “We don’t have the luxury of distance.”
Political Prisoners
Last month, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called on Myanmar to release some 2,000 political prisoners prior to the Nov. 7 election, which the main opposition party led by detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is boycotting. Obama also called for her release in a Sept. 24 meeting with leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
“The European Union has already made it clear that sanctions — targeted at the regime and its sources of revenue – - will not be lifted until genuine progress is made,” U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg wrote in the International Herald Tribune on Oct. 4. “We must now work with our Asian partners, using our collective clout, to push for that progress.”
Myanmar’s exports to the U.S. and EU amounted to less than 4 percent of total overseas sales last year, according to European data. Sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Europe cover trade, investment and financial transactions involving the regime.
“The unjust economic coercive measures and trade embargoes” should be removed, Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win told the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 28.
Chinese Investment
Thailand, the junta’s biggest trading partner, pipes in natural gas from Myanmar’s Gulf of Martaban to meet about 30 percent of its natural gas needs. Italian-Thai Development Pcl,
Thailand’s largest construction company, is close to signing an almost $12 billion deal with Myanmar to build a deep-sea port on the Indian Ocean that will reduce shipping times for exporters.
Chinese investments in pipeline and hydropower projects in Myanmar amounted to $8.2 billion in May, according to government statistics, an amount greater than any Southeast Asian country apart from Singapore received last year. China National Petroleum Corp. started construction four months ago on oil and gas pipelines that traverse the country.
India approved plans in February for state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp. and GAIL India Ltd. to invest a combined $1.3 billion in a natural gas project in Myanmar. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged to develop the country’s infrastructure, industry and information technology when Than Shwe visited New Delhi in July.
‘Tremendous Potential’
Myanmar has “tremendous potential” because of its natural resources, fertile land and location, said Jean-Pierre Verbiest, Thailand country director at the Asian Development Bank. “If things normalized, it’s a country which could become one of the richest in the area.”
The junta plans to release Suu Kyi “days” after the November election, Agence France-Presse reported on Sept. 30, citing unidentified officials. Her party won 92 percent of seats in a 1990 election that was subsequently ignored by the military. Suu Kyi has been detained for 15 of the past 21 years, with her latest house arrest starting in 2003.
“There’s unlikely to be any major changes as far as the way elections are going to be held,” Abhisit said. “We should think more about helping Myanmar people, capacity building, because in the end any democracy needs that to have strong foundations.”
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
Published on October 14, 2010
Thailand sounds like a very cruel country when the government says it will repatriate Burmese asylum-seekers after that country holds its first general election in two decades.
The Burmese military junta will hold the election on November 7, the first since the one in 1990 that Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won by a landslide but were not given the power by the top military brass.
The upcoming election is a move to turn the junta into a civilian government of sorts, but not necessarily introduce democracy as such. According to the junta-sponsored 2008 constitution, any and all Burmese governments come under the control of the military.
All the military officers, including incumbent Prime Minister Thein Sein, are doing is donning civilian attire to contest in the election on behalf of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party.
Nobody believes the Burmese military will withdraw from politics, or give up their control of the economy and society.
Suu Kyi and her party are not allowed to participate in the election, and though she has been given the right to cast her ballot, she has decided to abstain.
Ethnic minorities along the Thai border also see this election as a sham. They believe that the election would give the junta more confidence to wield power, and they would launch a major offensive against the armed ethnic groups.
Major ethnic groups, such as the Shan State Army, Karen National Union and Karenni National Progressive Party are not participating in the election either. They turned down the junta’s proposal to become border guards and instead vowed to continue their armed struggle.
Chief of the Karenni armed forces, Bee Htoo, said recently that he anticipated a big offensive after the election, but added that the minorities were preparing a strong resistance.
It appears as if conflict will only continue after the general election. Conflict between the Burmese military, the opposition and minorities has fuelled an influx of refugees into Thailand for decades.
About 110,000 asylum-seekers from Burma are being sheltered in nine camps along the borders. Most of them have been here since the 1988 uprising, when they failed to overthrow the military regime. About 10 per cent of these refugees have already been settled in other countries.
In addition, some 2 million people from Burma – classified as “migrant workers” – are either legally or illegally seeking jobs in Thailand. These migrants are a big headache for Thai authorities, but this “burden of proximity” cannot be avoided. Every time people in neighbouring countries have a problem, they have no other safe haven but Thailand. However, the people and the governments in this country need to treat them as human beings.
It is inhumane to push them out or chase them away. Of course, Thailand cannot shelter them forever either and they need to eventually return to their place of origin or find refuge in a third country.
Still, there’s no excuse to repatriate them to a place where they could face further persecution, because it is pretty clear that the upcoming election will not bring peace to Burma.
Thailand’s handling of refugees from the Indo-China conflict in the previous century suggests that nobody is sent home if the conflicts have not ended. Refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam have never been shown the door, so why are the Burmese being pushed out while their home is still up in flames?
Monday 11 October 2010
High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has indicated possible evidence that resistance to artesunate is developing in the Thai-Myanmar border regions.
The drug is used in combination with mefloquine to tackle symptomatic acute uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria.
In the study, published in Malaria Journal, 150 patients – including 65 females and 85 males – were examined after seven and 42 days.
HPLC was used to detect mefloquine levels in the blood, while liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was applied to the analysis of concentrations of plasma artesunate and its metabolite dihydroartemisinin.
The scientists note that some ethnicity effects mean that resistance to melfoquine already exists in P falciparum.
But they add that their findings carry support for the suggestion that resistance to artesunate is also developing.
Malaria Journal is edited by Marcel Hommel at the University of Liverpool, while the scientists are from Thammasat University in Thailand and Mae-Sot General Hospital in Thailand’s Tak province.
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-30605?l=english
Zenit News Agency – Building Up the Church in Myanmar
Interview With Sister Veronica Nwe Ni Moe
ROME, OCT. 11, 2010 (Zenit.org).- It’s been three years since Myanmar made daily headlines with the ruling junta’s violent repression of pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks.
Now the nation is preparing for rare national elections next month, though the international community is hardly expecting a crowning moment of democracy.
It is in such a context that Sister Veronica Nwe Ni Moe and her Salesian sisters are building up the Church, one child at a time.
In this interview given to the television program “Where God Weeps” of the Catholic Radio and Television Network (CRTN) in cooperation with Aid to the Church in Need, Sister Veronica speaks of the work of the Salesians in Myanmar, as well as her own efforts to further her education in Rome.
Q: Sister you are working a lot with young people. You are studying in Rome and your focus is education. What are the challenges facing the young people in Myanmar?
Sister Veronica: I’m a Salesian sister. We see many young girls coming to us. We have a training center for young girls from ages 15 to 25 who come from the various parishes. They are usually from the various ethnic groups. They have no future and no guidance.
Q: The center of the country is much more Buddhist. The border regions are much more Catholic. How is it that your family is Catholic in a more Buddhist region?
Sister Veronica: This is my opinion. My mom is from the Karen tribe from the border regions and in Myanmar, “the tribals” as we are called are predominantly Catholics.
Q: Maybe you could explain the situations in the border regions?
Sister Veronica: We do not know the real motive of the government in waging war against the tribes. What I could say is that the innocent people, particularly the young who are caught in the crossfire, are suffering. They are forced to carry food and weapons and are constantly on the move. There is no stability and education is non-existent, or is not a priority.
Most of the girls are also exploited or abused by different people especially in the border regions. So there is no future for these young girls, and also boys, despite their varied talents. The girls who come to us — we teach them and they are able to use their creativity. When I became a sister I stayed with the girls for three years. While staying with them I realized that I too learned so many things from them.
Q: For example?
Sister Veronica: To be simple. To be content with what you have. Happiness does not lie in material things that you possess but rather with life lived. A life of commitment and honesty, which gives them this joy.
Q: It must be painful for you to witness this suffering of the young people?
Sister Veronica: Sure. I suffer. We are educators and our congregation worldwide is able to own their own schools, youth centers, oratories and we are free — but not in Myanmar. What I do is, first of all, pray for them and then I commit myself wholeheartedly to them by educating them and teaching them to be good Christian mothers so that they can transmit their faith to their children.
Q: Is it possible to open schools, even small village schools in these areas?
Sister Veronica: We have a kindergarten with 100 children and most of them are Buddhist. Working with the Buddhists is not difficult because they are very peaceful and they [the parents] appreciate our work. It is easy to work in collaboration with the parents.
Q: But you have only opened one kindergarten so far. What is preventing you from doing more? Is it the war?
Sister Veronica: First of all, it’s the number of Salesian sisters in Burma. There are only 21 of us at the moment and still growing. We now have 16 to 17 aspirants, eight postulants and nine novices; we are growing. This number hinders us also because we want to give 100% of ourselves. And to do it well! We have four houses in Myanmar and the 21 sisters are distributed among these houses.
Q: What is the day to day relationship between the Catholics and Buddhists?
Sister Veronica: It is very peaceful. For example, in the village where I was born, of the 800 families, eight are Catholics and they’re all my relatives. So all my friends are mostly Buddhist. We live peacefully and this is the norm. The Buddhist monks are kind and compassionate.
Q: Sister, there are, as part of evangelization in the Church, young people called “Zetemans.” Can you tell us about the “Zeteman” and what they do?
Sister Veronica: They are young Catholic missionaries, aged 18 and above; so they are very young. They dedicate their lives and give their services to their dioceses for three years. They go to the remote places — mountains, forests within their dioceses — to serve. Their main goal is to serve and do charitable work in education, health care, for the elderly. They do not catechize but if the people ask about Jesus and the faith then they share their faith. They do this service and sometimes risk their own lives; they often succumb to sickness, often times from their travels through the jungles. It is a very important service they provide because, often times, the religious and priests cannot visit these places.
Q: How long are they [young people] gone and how long does it take them to reach a village in the mountains?
Sister Veronica: Two of our Salesian sisters did that service before becoming sisters; so their Salesian vocation was born from this “Zeteman” service. And what I know is that they travel to distant places, for example, even traveling by car, it would take them three days to reach their destination, often visiting very poor villages and often times without food. They often live with the villagers.
Q: Sister, can you tell us a little bit about your vocation?
Sister Veronica: When I was young I never thought about becoming a sister. My ambition was to become a doctor to care for the sick. I did try to study very hard because in my country to be a doctor requires hard work. In my 10th year I also wanted to study computers and English. My father, at this time in the year 1997-1998, became acquainted with the Salesian missionary sisters. He met two Salesian sisters and was struck by their joy and welcoming attitude. He asked me, after coming back home from the city, if I would like to study under them. I said yes and he accompanied me there.
During my stay with them, I started to ask myself and witnessed their joy despite the difficulties. I was 17-18 years old at this time and searching for the real happiness in life. I often questioned why they were always happy while I was not always and afterward, I realized that their true happiness was in loving God and serving one’s neighbors. This I now know. To search for real happiness was what made me follow the Salesian way; to be joyful in serving and helping to educate these young people.
Q: Sister, you are here studying in Rome. What brought you here?
Sister Veronica: Firstly it was out of obedience to my superior. I was asked to study and to prepare for my future mission. The other thing is that my superior informed me that she received a scholarship from Aid to the Church in Need. ACN provided a scholarship for five years. I have been very grateful to ACN. I’ve also prayed for all those who have supported me in my studies, my formation, and I always remind myself, and I’m very convinced, that if I do not know anything I cannot share anything. I can only share what I know and what I’ve learned. The most important thing I can share when I go back is the love of God. This is more precious than anything else and we are in much need of it.
Q: And now you feel as if your fruits are being used: your education, your languages, you’re now here in Rome, you’re completing your studies in education and you’ll be going back soon to Myanmar, yes? Sister, what is your hope for the Church in Myanmar?
Sister Veronica: I’m very hopeful. I see a very good future for the Catholic Church in Burma. First of all there is an increase in the number of young people who are very generous of themselves. The other fact is the Catholic Church is well known for her charity, and very close to the poor. We want to continue on this strength and mandate — joy, poverty and service to the poor. I also believe in God’s grace. God is working in and through us and with our dedication to the faithful. We will grow.
* * *
This interview was conducted for “Where God Weeps,” a weekly television and radio show produced by Catholic Radio and Television Network in conjunction with the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.
By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
The Burmese authorities are poised to ban all stage and theatre performances – often scenes of dissidence and criticism – ahead of elections planned for early next month.
Reports in exiled media say the authorities are to use the excuse of security concerns to prohibit almost all performances during a period that is traditionally marked with festivals and events. Certain exceptions might be allowed for those able or willing to pay large sums for permits.
Par Par Lay, a well-known Burmese comedian and a member of the Moustache Brothers troupe which is based in the northern city of Mandalay, told the Irrawaddy website: “I heard that they will not allow anyone to perform on stage at festivals, but they have not said why and have not yet officially announced the ban.”
The manager of another performing troupe in Mandalay said: “The authorities have told organisers to put up guarantees of about 1 million kyat (£630) if they want to have stage performances. They are making organisers responsible for security and will seize the deposit if there is any trouble.”
Comedy and theatre has long had a tradition of quiet dissent in Burma, a country where the only media is strictly controlled by the government. One of the country’s best-known comics, Zarganar, spent many years making barbed puns about the regime. Eventually, in 2008, the junta ran out of patience with him and seized on an interview he had given to the BBC criticising the authorities’ response after Cyclone Nargis and jailed him for 35 years.
Members of the Moustache Brothers have been in and out of jail over the past two decades for their celebrated performances which sometimes poke fun at the junta.
October and November see many Buddhist festivals across the country and troupes of artists who sing, dance and perform sketches are usually a regular sight. With an election due to take place on 7 November, the country’s first poll for two decades, the authorities are doing all they can to keep a lid on dissent or criticism.
More than 2,000 political prisoners remain behind bars, visas for tourists have been all but stopped and independent observers will not be invited to observe the poll, which many analysts believe will cement the position of the military.
Source: Malteser International
Date: 12 Oct 2010
13 October: International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction
Cologne. „Every Euro we spend on disaster risk reduction does not only save lives but also helps us save five Euros which we would have to spend for emergency relief later on”, Ingo Radtke, Secretary General of Malteser International, the relief service of the Order of Malta for worldwide humanitarian aid, states on the occasion of the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction on 13 October. With regard to the increasing frequency of natural catastrophes all around the world, Malteser International carries out more and more relief missions to assist people in acute need. Already during the phase of emergency relief, Malteser International strives to ensure that the affected population will be better prepared in case of a future disaster: “After the catastrophe the people need to be protected better than they were before”, Radtke emphasises. “It’s not enough to repair old structures.” The expert further states that disaster risk reduction is all about saving human lives and using financial means even more efficiently. “I am convinced that emergency relief and disaster risk reduction need to be combined more and more.”
The work of Malteser International in Myanmar, India, and Pakistan, where flooding after monsoon rains and cyclones caused severe damage over the last three years, shows how disaster risk reduction can be implemented on a sustainable basis and in a community-based approach. During these disasters more than hundred thousand people lost their lives and millions were and still are directly affected.
In Myanmar where cyclone „Nargis” ended more than 130,000 human lives two years ago, Malteser International is implementing various disaster risk reduction measures: Mangrove forests are being reforested. Adapted to seawater, these trees and bushes are able to function as a shelterbelt and forestall erosion. Simultaneously they can be used as firewood and serve as a habitat for fish and shrimps. In addition, Malteser International promotes new stoves in the villages; these stoves need considerably less firewood than the transitionally used ones. With regard to new flooding, evacuation routes have been developed in cooperation with the local authorities and the village communities and then prepared for save evacuation. They facilitate the quick evacuation of the people from afflicted coastal areas into the hinterland.
In India and Pakistan, disaster risk reduction primarily focuses on improved protection against flooding due to the monsoon season. In addition, Pakistan is especially prone to earthquakes. The last severe quake hit the country five years ago. Dr. Juergen Clemens, Pakistan expert of Malteser International, points out: “Today, about 60,000 people are better prepared and know what to do in case of a future earthquake”. In the districts of Muzaffarabad and Bagh, Malteser International has connected a technology which had been developed in Germany to detect the first waves of an earthquake – waves people are not able to perceive – with a public alarm siren. So, the people will be warned in due time against the second waves which, in general, will cause severe damage. The people will win very important seconds to leave their houses on time. In the north of India, Malteser International has installed water pumps on elevated concrete bases in order to protect the pumps against flooding and to prevent the surface water from contaminating the clean drinking water. During flooding, the people can reach these hand pumps by boat and use them. In addition, thanks to a simple early warning system the villages alongside the rivers are being warned against the danger. Hand sirens and warnings via cell phones prevent natural forces from turning into catastrophes.
Malteser International is the worldwide relief agency of the Sovereign Order of Malta for humanitarian aid. The organisation provides aid in about 100 projects in more than 20 countries without distinction of religion, race or political persuasion. Christian values and the humanitarian principles of impartiality and independence are the foundation of its work. For further information: www.malteser-international.org and www.orderofmalta.org
Minneapolis Star Tribune – Refugees speak the language of teamwork
By Jon Tevlin
They came from the far corners of the Earth, from poverty and gunfire and constant fear, from squalid camps and makeshift huts to a very different place where today the sun is shining and there is the smell of fallen leaves and freshly cut grass.
They play tag, scrambling around the soccer field to let the nervous energy out, shouting and laughing. There is the rhythm of foreign languages and hesitant, awkward shouts in English.
“No bounce. No bounce.”
Myat Aye gets a pass from Abdi Mohamud near the goal and takes a shot. It is blocked by the goalkeeper, Tin Tun Naing, who booms the ball back down the field.
Less than eight months ago, Aye was living in a camp in Thailand with thousands of Karen refugees who also fled the chaos and violence of Myanmar.
About two years ago, Naing was living in a bamboo hut his family built after they also fled the country. The military government of Myanmar, long known as Burma, had taken his family’s rice farm, and they were desperate.
Mohamud came to this country in 2006 from Somalia’s civil strife.
Because they are all still learning English, they don’t know all the details of each other’s stories.
“I just know the Karen people came here to get away from war,” said Mohamud. “Like me.”
Soccer is now their common denominator, a couple hours of something familiar in a place where the food, language and culture is often confounding. Somehow, they all ended up on this field at Humboldt High School in St. Paul.
While most schools have immigrants on their soccer teams, 16 of Humboldt’s 17 varsity team members are from other countries, most of them are political refugees who fled turmoil and ended up in St. Paul.
There are as many as 3,000 Karen refugees in Minnesota, many sponsored by a St. Paul Baptist church. Thirteen of them have ended up on Humboldt’s soccer field, due mostly to the efforts of Naing, who recruits them through the Karen community, where he is active.
By WAI MOE – Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The working alliance between the main pro-democracy parties running in the November polls has become uncertain after a Rangoon journal reported funding had come from contoversial businessman Hla Maung Shwe.
The quarrel among the pro-democracy political parties broke out following a report in the Sept. 29 edition of the Rangoon journal The Myanmar Post saying that Hla Maung Shwe, a well-known businessman and vice chairman of the NGO, Myanmar Egress, said he funded the National Democratic Force (NDF) and Shan, Karen, Chin and Arakan ethnic parties.
Hla Maung Shwe said the funding came from his own money and was not related to any persons or organizations, according to the journal.
Hla Maung Shwe is the brother of Brig-Gen Hla Myint Shwe, the commandant of the National Defense College. Along with US-sanctioned business associates of the junta like Tay Za, Htay Myint and Aung Thet Mann, he was among those the junta honored for their involvement in state-projects in the Irrawaddy delta in Naypyidaw on Aug. 31.
The Myanmar Post said Hla Maung Shwe is vice chairman of the Myanmar Fisheries Federation and an executive of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Both are junta-managed organizations.
The Democracy and Peace Party (DPP) announced on Oct. 6 that it was suspending the six-party alliance called the “Parties of Democratic Friends,” saying, “the suspension was pending clarification of the issue [the role played by controversial figure Hla Maung Shwe].”
“U Hla Maung Shwe is a chairman and executive of two government-backed organizations, so we don’t want to be associated with him and run the risk of being in contravention of the election law,” said Aung Than of the DPP.
The six-party alliance is between the NDF, the DPP, the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), the Rakhine (Arakan) Nationalities Development Party (RNDP), the Union Democratic Party (UDP) and the Chin National Party.
Political sources in Rangoon said apart from funding, Myanmar Egress’s involvement with the political parties included appointing candidates and electoral training ahead of the poll, though the NGO had denied earlier allegations of its involvement in politics.
Although the political parties denied there was any deal with Hla Maung Shwe for Myanmar Egress’s funding, some candidates in Rangoon understood there was some kind of agreement between him and the political parties regarding voting for the future president in the parliament in the post-election period and replacing the mainstream opposition role currently led by Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy.
Hla Maung Shwe declined to comment on the issue when contacted by The Irrawaddy.
However, Khin Maung Swe, an NDF leader who supports Suu Kyi, told The Irrawaddy last week that Hla Maung Shwe funded NDF candidates who are associated with Myanmar Egress.
“After all, we are allowed to accept clean money from legal organizations within the country. We cannot reveal these issues before the election because people who are helping us may face threats,” he said.
Though the Myanmar Post did not mention specific ethnic parties that were funded by Hla Maung Shwe by name, ethnic leaders were quick to put distance between their parties, Myanmar Egress and Hla Maung Shwe.
Sai Eik Paung, chairman of the SNDP, said his party had not received any funding from Hla Maung Shwe or Myanmar Egress, accusing The Myanmar Post of spreading misinformation.
He confirmed that avoiding funding “shortcuts” had been the biggest challenge for his party, however.
“We have resolved our funding problem,” he said.
“Our friends are funding us and none of it is black money.”
Aye Maung, chairman of the RNDP, also denied any relationship with Hla Maung Shwe, confirming the party had received no money and likening the journal’s report to an attack on the RNDP.
Thein Htay of the UDP took an opposing stance, however, saying that all businesses in Burma were related to the military, “so if someone’s support is providing something positive for the people, we accept it.”
Hla Maung Shwe and Myanmar Egress’s other executive, Nay Win Maung, came to Bangkok, Thailand, in July for a meeting regarding the Burma election with European diplomats and donors, and received cooperation from the Chiang Mai-based Vahu Development Institute.
Using data supplied by Myanmar Egress, Nay Win Maung said 78 percent of Burmese voters would turn out on the election day and 85 percent of voters supported the junta’s 2008 constitution.
He said key political parties gave a mandate to the NGO to lobby for financial support of the election internationally, a policy considered controversial by political parties and Burmese intellectuals because of Nay Win Maung’s close ties to the military due to his father’s career as a former military officer and director of the Military Museum.
“We did not give any mandate to any organization or any person, though we participated in some of the training provided by Myanmar Egress,” said the SNDP’s Sai Eik Paung.
The six parties met on Tuesday to resolve the issue and have reached some agreement but have not yet made an official announcement.
Irrawaddy reporter Khin Oo Thar contributed to this story.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010 RANGOON — The pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has put up campaign posters of its candidates in respective constituencies across Burma, according to sources.
USDP sources said the party has also finished putting up campaign posters for its candidates in eight townships in Naypyidaw as well as townships in Rangoon.
They said the USDP plans to place at least 10 campaign posters in each township in the country, costing thousands of US dollars.
According to government employees, campaign leaflets for USDP candidates, USDP newsletters, hats and T-shirts with the USDP logo, USDP flags and other items have been produced free of charge using equipment controlled by the regime’s Ministry of Information and garment factories under the Ministry of Industry 1.
Ministers Kyaw Hsan of the Ministry of Information, and Aung Thaung of the Ministry of Industry 1, who will both USDP candidates, have been using printing presses and factories controlled by their ministries to produce campaign related material, sources said.
Meanwhile, the USDP has reportedly been campaigning in governmental offices in Naypyidaw, Rangoon and other places.
A staff member at the Internal Revenue Department of the Ministry of Finance and Revenue told The Irrawaddy that USDP candidates recently visited her office and asked staff members to vote for them.
“We were summoned for a closed door meeting so I was worried. But it was just to tell us to vote for the USDP,” she said.
A person close to USDP headquarters in Naypyidaw told The Irrawaddy that staff members at governmental offices across the country have been ordered to cast their ballots for the USDP.
“All my family members will have no choice but to vote for the USDP,” said a staff member of the Myanmar Economic Bank.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The junta’s proxy, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), has started buying votes and intimidating voters in collaboration with government authorities in several parts of the country, according to local sources.
With less than three weeks before the country’s first parliamentary election in 20 years, USDP members are now going door to door in townships in Rangoon, Irrawaddy Division and Arakan State, asking people for advanced votes with offers of money and other opportunities in return, say local sources.
Residents in those areas reported the presence of local authorities among the USDA members.
“On Tuesday, the USDP members and authorities asked us if there were any eligible voter in the house. And then they told us to cast an advanced vote for the USDP in return for some financial support,” said a resident of North Dagon Township in Rangoon.
“We don’t know how much money they would give to people who agreed to vote for the USDP in advance,” he said. “But they left with a list of voters’ names.”
Residents living in blocks 46, 47 and 50 in the township also reported similar USDP tactics in their areas, saying that the accompanying authorities were led by the chairman of the township authority and his deputy.
A Rangoon-based opposition party, the Democratic Party (Myanmar), has sent a complaint to the the regime-appointed election commission about the USDP activities, which it said violated the election law.
According to the election law, anyone who is found to be guilty of threatening, bribing or imposing undue influence on voters can face either a one-year jail sentence or a 100,000 kyat (US $100) fine, or both.
Observers say it is unlikely that the commission would take any action against the USDP, which is led by incumbent Prime Minister Thein Sein.
“These were mere complaints. They would go nowhere because the USDP, the local authorities and the election commission are all the same,” said Than Zaw Aung, a Democratic Party (Myanmar) candidate who is contesting for a seat in North Dagon Township.
In other townships in Rangoon, such as South Dagon, East Dagon and Dawbon, local residents said that USDP members and authorities made an offer of 10,000 kyat (US $10) for a single advanced vote.
“They asked us to give an advance vote to them if we don’t plan to go and vote on the polling day,” said a resident of South Dagon Township. “I was upset. So I replied that I would vote for nobody.”
On Sept. 11, authorities in Gwa Township in Arakan State also asked residents to appear in their office and tried to persuade them to vote for the USDP, said local sources.
“We were openly told that we would receive a financial loan if we voted for the USDP,” said a resident in Gwa Township, adding that some local people were also offered free National Registration Cards since many people in Arakan State still do not have legal registration cards and use temporary IDs.
Similar incidents were reported in Chaung Gyi village in Irrawaddy Division. Villagers said that the authorities showed them some names and photos of USDP candidates and asked them to vote for those candidates.
Some villagers said a local official threatened them, saying, “Don’t bang your head against the wall. Vote for the people we suggest. You know what will happen if you don’t listen to us, because we’ll know who you vote for.”
Sources in Rangoon said the USDP election campaigns are now in full swing. Posters bearing the names of its candidates are now seen in the former capital and its campaign ads have appeared in local journals.
By KO HTWE Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) discussed five options for securing advance votes from government staff, soldiers and junta-backed civic organizations to ensure their victory in the upcoming elections, according to a USDP township official.
The order to secure advance votes came from party headquarters after Township and quarter-level leaders held a meeting in Rangoon on Monday.
“We discussed how to take advance votes from members of 30 civil societies in Rangoon,” said a USDP official from Alone Township, Rangoon, on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The meeting focused on five options that included taking advance votes from adults more than 50-years-old and from civil service personnel who support the party. They also discussed cooperating with ward authorities and sub Election Commissions in order to get votes for USDP candidates.
Votes would also be sought from families who live in areas where the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), the forerunner of the USDP, had paved roads.
Finally, the order included taking advance votes from families who are member of government-sponsored civic organization such as the Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association, the Myanmar Women’s Affairs Federation, the Myanmar Red Cross Society and the Myanmar Fire Brigade and other government-sponsored groups.
The junta formed these civil organizations to build up strong civilian backing in the government. Most of the junta leaders’ wives are patrons or have taken active leadership in the organizations.
Meanwhile, ward authorities took family lists at the beginning of the month in Tarmway Township in Rangoon but have not given documents back to the families, said another local resident.
“The USDP created a community-based organization in our street and they began paving the road but then stopped, requesting the head of the organization to sign at least 100 members for the party if they wanted the paving to be completed,” said a Tarmway township resident speaking on condition of anonymity.
According to local authorities pressure is being put on people to vote USDP but the junta-backed proxy party has an infamous reputation among the public.
The USDP originated from the USDA, which was formed in 1993. Snr-Gen Than Shwe was patron and most junta chiefs played important roles in the organization. In April, the USDA was transformed into the USDP, which inherited all the assets of the former mass organization.
USDA members participated in the deadly attack on pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s convoy near Depayin in May 2003 as well as the brutal crackdowns on monks and demonstrators throughout September 2007.
Wednesday, 13 October 2010 23:38 Myint Maung
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Ethnic leaders from the group made up of ethnic political parties that contested in the 1990 general election, have joined the National League for Democracy’s “no vote” campaign ahead of elections on November 7.
The main opposition NLD party left Rangoon yesterday for Kachin State on week-long roadshow trip organisational trip accompanied by Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) party leader and Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP) secretary Aye Thar Aung. They briefed NLD township, ward and village level organising committee members from 11 townships in Mandalay Division.
“I am glad and encouraged at meeting organising committee members from townships, wards and villages for the first time after the authority dissolved NLD,” Aye Thar Aung said.
NLD central executive committee member Ohn Kyaing, NLD women’s wing members Phyu Phyu Thin, Hla Hla Moe, Aye Aye Mar, NLD youth wing member Myo Nyunt and Aye Thar Aung met organisers from Mogok, Singu, Madaya, Thapeikkyin, Patheingyi, Tadaoo, Amrapura, Singai and Pyinoolwin townships and exchanged their views on boycotting this year’s national elections.
Fellow ethnic minority and CRPP leader, Zomi National Congress (ZNC) chairman Pu Cing Tsian Thang, joined NLD leaders in a similar trip to southern Shan State and Soe Win from the National Democracy Party joined NLD leaders in their trip to western Pegu Division.
Upon reaching Kachin State, Aye Thar Aung said he would pass on some of the motions passed at the CRPP meeting held on September 3 month including a resolution not to vote in upcoming polls.
The group resolved to boycott 2010 general election, to discuss issues and difficulties being faced by ethnic people including concerns over the building possibility that a new wave of civil war would break out amid growing tension between junta forces and armed ethnic groups under ceasefire that have rejected the junta’s Border Guard Force (BGF) demand.
They also decided to discuss the 2008 constitution and to tell people in ethnic areas that building a genuine federal union and national unity could only be achieved through enacting a constitution based on the Panlong spirit that would entrench democratic and ethnic rights.
“The Kachin [Independence Organisation’s armed wing] said that they would not need to bear arms if the Union [of Burma] was based on the Panlong agreement. And the CRPP has reached a resolution on how to build a Union in future based on that agreement. We will discuss these matters with the people during this trip. Another topic will be on the current situation of distrust of the SPDC [junta] by armed ethnic groups and their delay in disarming themselves,” Aye Thar Aung said.
The junta’s electoral watchdog, the Union Election Commission (UEC), issued a notice mid-last month that claimed five old political parties including the NLD were automatically dissolved as they had failed to re-register with the UEC during the stipulated time. The NLD has since conducted roadshows to explain to the public their no-vote policy. They have completed trips to almost 10 of the states and divisions.
“Party members are more consolidated and the party is stronger after these meetings. We can say this is a significant and progressive result of survival and revival. Party members abide by our policy of non-voting in the election. If some of them go and cast their vote this time, they will never be free from fear. But we can say how many people didn’t vote only after the election,” Ohn Kyaing told Mizzima.
The CRPP was established on September 16, 1998 by the NLD, which won more than 80 per cent of seats in the 1990 general election and ethnic parties that also won seats, to call on the junta to convene the Hluttaw (parliament)
Member parties are the ALD, the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, the Shan State Kokang Democratic Party, the Mon Nationality Democratic Front, the ZNC and Union Nationalities League for Democracy.
Wednesday, 13 October 2010 22:10 Mizzima News Interview
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Tin Oo, vice-chairman of the National League Democracy that decided to boycott Burma’s first elections for two decades on November 7 underwent eye surgery in Singapore early this month.
Mizzima reporter Khin Pyu Win interviewed the opposition leader and former commander-in-chief of the Burmese military while as he recuperated in hospital in the island city-state.
How do you see the future of NLD and its existence?
They [junta] announced that NLD could not stand anymore as a party but the NLD is still the NLD (National League for Democracy). NLD has the chance of continuously standing as a party. Its role is to come back to reclaim our rights.
As NLD has decided not to re-register as a party with the election commission, how do you prepare for the continuance and progress of the party programme and activities?
Though they [the junta] claimed that NLD had been dissolved and nullified, they cannot dissolve our party as per the law because the NLD won the largest number of seats in the 1990 general election. This people’s verdict and mandate given by people are still with the NLD and its elected MPs. Dissolving and nullifying our party is meaningless because NLD has never violated any law, committed any offences or never carried out any unlawful activities, and because this mandate has never been implemented and executed. So the NLD still exists. Let it be as they think the NLD no longer exists but the NLD will always continue to exist among the people as a people’s party … by winning people’s support, sympathy and kindness.
The NLD will always exist as a party living among the people and relying on the people. We will carry out work as supported and mandated by the people. This is a point we firmly believe in. We shall reclaim our lost rights. As per the law, the right enjoyed by an individual or an organisation under the preceding law cannot be infringed by the succeeding law. If there is an infringement, it can be remedied by the courts. We have submitted all these points to the court. These grievances arising from the infringement of rights are not suffered only by the NLD and its elected MPs but also by the people who voted for the NLD to achieve liberty, democracy and human rights.
These grievances must be remedied by the court. As per the 1945 Specific Relief Act, any individual or organisation whose lawful rights enjoyed under a preceding law are infringed by a succeeding law, said individual or organisation can claim remedy for the relief of the grievances.
We have submitted our application to the court in accordance with the law. We firmly believe the court will pass its judgment correctly in this case. We are still waiting to give argument in this case and we can’t say how the court will decide on this case … Thus the NLD still legally exists. Flags, seals and office buildings of the party are not important. The election is also unimportant. The most important thing is to know that political stability cannot be achieved only through the electoral process. In a democracy, an election is a step and a part of it. That is right.
However, it is impossible to achieve political stability throughout the whole country only through such a process. Lasting peace can be achieved only through dialogue and agreement among the ruling military regime, pro-democracy forces and ethnic people. This is the firm belief and the firm stance of the NLD. So the NLD will never be nullified, it will always survive in this way now and in the future. The NLD firmly believes the party can serve the people in accordance with people’s desires in future as well. In this firm belief, NLD is bravely continuing to carry out its work.
In the 1990 general election, the people gave a great mandate to the NLD. What would the NLD like to say to the people in this upcoming election?
It’s very clear as we didn’t re-register our party and decided not to contest in this election … So we’ve made it very clear the people that we objected to the election and have boycotted it. The law says the people have to vote according to democratic principles. But at the same time, the law stipulates that the voter has the right to vote or not vote … So if they don’t like the candidates, they should not vote for them. As Daw Aung San Suu Kyi says, if the people do not like both the USDP [Union Solidarity and Development Party] or the NUP [National Unity Party], and some of the candidates as they appeared only in this election period, they should not vote for them. If they only want to vote for NLD, they should stay away from voting. So we gave a very clear message to the people to boycott the election, otherwise they will be confused. Talking about the election and boycotting the election at the same time would be inconsistent. So we told people clearly to boycott this election. Some ethnic people asked us for advice about voting for ethnic parties as they have difficulties and want to vote for these parties. We told them that if they believed these ethnic parties could give them autonomy, equality and the federal principles they wanted, to go ahead and vote for them. ‘It’s up to you’, we said.
In your view, what are the prospects for the second generation of the armed forces in current circumstances?
The military is governed by command. But even in the military, the soldiers want democracy and have democratic spirit because they are also people of Burma … they don’t want to see their relatives and fellow people suffer and they don’t want any governance anymore by military rule, military dictatorship and a single party. Among these servicemen, there are a lot of people who want democracy and human rights. But since they are under military command within the military establishment, they cannot yet work for these democratic and human rights. I believe they will join our democratic struggle when the political situation prevails in openness and peace. I don’t think all the Tatmadaw (military) servicemen would like to continue living under the current system.
What is your view on the formation of the Border Guard Force (BGF)?
I don’t like to speak out on this BGF issue because it will only serve to confuse the issue. It will be good if the junta can keep the promises it made when they reached those agreements. I’ve heard that both sides were giving different versions of events. So we don’t want to make any comment on these different versions because it can only add to the confusion of this issue. So I’d like to tell them only to continue this process between them peacefully and amicably.
Twenty-five per cent of seats are reserved for the military in parliament. Some believe this is wrong. How do you see this issue?
They [the junta generals] say they are leading the way to democracy. They coined their democratic system as genuine and disciplined democracy. Then they reserve 25 per cent of seats in parliament for servicemen. They can become MPs without contesting in elections. Now the leaders of the military are doing as they planned before. And then they formed Union Solidarity and Development Party to ensure victory in this general election.
This USDP was transformed from the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), which was formed as a social organisation and used as a tool and as stooges of the junta through the military-sponsored mass rallies that protested and chanted slogans against the pro-democracy movements and organisations. We knew well since its inception this so-called social organisation would certainly be transformed into a political party some day. So we protested against it in the past too. Now the situation has become very clear. This social organisation-turned-political party will utilise all possessions of the former USDA, money, finance, buildings, assets to stand in this election and to enslave the entire people and country under their military boots by winning … by all possible means.
They will legitimise their military rule by this election and this is just a magic show to the world to win world support. If they really believed in democracy, they wouldn’t need the 25 per cent reservation in parliament. Democracy must be represented by elected representatives. So it is contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which stipulates that the governance shall be derived from the will of the people shown in periodic elections. Now 25 per cent of seats in parliament will be occupied by unelected servicemen. This is not the democracy. The USDP forced people to cast their votes in advance. And also they forced public servants to vote for them. They gave small loans to poor people and forced them to join their party and to vote for them. We do not have trust in them because of the 25 per cent quote. We were well aware of their plans in advance. So we have consistently protested against it.
In the next elections, will the NLD re-register and stand against in them?
We must wait and see the situation how much these current political parties can do after being elected … We must wait and see what the international community will say on the fairness and freedom of this election or if they [the junta generals] actually reform themselves with firm belief in democracy. We can say just that at this moment. Prevailing situations are hopeless for the emergence of democracy in our country.
By AYE NAI
Published: 13 October 2010 Floodwaters in Mandalay town are now subsiding but relief workers say that victims are still in need of drinking water and food supplies.
Water levels reached a record high last week, state media in Burma said. Up to 2000 people have since been hospitalised in Mandalay, in central Burma, where the flooding was worst. Many are also now homeless, while around 10 deaths have been reported.
“The water level has gone down a lot but it is still as high as man in some lowland areas,” said Ko Gyi, an organising committee member of National League for Democracy (NLD), which has been handing out food for flood victims.
“We are handing out food parcels at the [victims'] doors. Though the flood is subsiding, people are in need of fresh, clean water for drinking.”
He added that monks had been involved in the relief effort alongside local aid groups. But victims were “in turmoil” yesterday evening after it was announced via loudspeakers that flood gates at Kywese Kan Dam, in Mandalay’s Pyigyitagon township, would be opened, Ko Gyi said.
Swathes of farmland in southern Irrawaddy division and western Arakan state have also been hit by heavy flooding, some of the worst to have affected Burma in recent years. It follows heavy flooding in August in Bago division. Farmers are concerned that rice paddy, which is due for harvesting, will be ruined.
“The water-level was quite high the other day,” said a farmer in the Irrawaddy delta’s Bogale township. “In Bogale wards six and seven, people had to move their beds upstairs. In our villages, those who grow the high yielding rice are facing problems as the plants were flooded.”
Because of the late arrival of rainy season this year, many farmers had opted for the high yielding strains of rice, which invariably have a shorter lifespan. The Bogale farmer said that “thousands” of nearby acres of land had been taken up with the strain.
A local in Irrawaddy division’s Ngapudaw township said however that although damage to crops had so far been minimal, “we will find out when we make the produce”. He said that farmers were predicting a loss in output because of the floods, which were caused by “unnaturally” high rainfall.
By NANG KHAM KAEW
Published: 13 October 2010
The owner of the powerful Yuzana construction company who became the subject of a lawsuit filed by aggrieved farmers in Kachin state has been absolved of any wrongdoing.
Farmers had claimed that Htay Myint, who is also standing as a candidate for the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in elections next month, had orchestrated the illegal confiscation up to 200,000 acres of farmland in Burma’s northern Kachin state.
Yuzana took over swathes of land in the Hukawng Valley, which was recently declared the world’s largest tiger reserve, for the planting of sugar cane. Locals there said that bulldozers had been sent in to flatten villages in preparation for the plantations. Recent reports also claim that employees have been given weapons training.
Instead the courtroom in Myitkyina, capital of Kachin state, cleared Htay Myint and pointed the finger at the coordinator of the Hukawng project, Pu Kyi, who happens to be Htay Myint’s brother.
“The judge said the coordinator can compensate for the farmers’ loss and decided that the trial may go on with the coordinator but not…U Htay Myint, who is currently working on projects and lives in Rangoon,” said Bauk Ja, who has been assisting in the lawsuit.
The prosecution has protested that Pu Kyi was only following orders, and that it should be Htay Myint who is in the dock. I knew that [the court decision] was to save the owners’ name,” Bauk Ja said.
Around 600 farmers in five villages in the area have been affected by the land grab, which began in 2007. They were moved to a newly built village and given 80,000 kyat (US$80) per acre of land normally valued at 300,000 kyat (US$300).
The 17 farmers who filed the lawsuit had rejected the compensation. Twenty more later filed for more compensation, and their trial will be held on 15 October. DVB has learnt that 50 more farmers are also seeking more compensation.