UN Security Council to Discuss Burma
VOA News 24 March 2010
The United Nations Security Council will hold consultations on Burma Wednesday to consider how to respond to the military government's controversial new election laws.
Harriet Cross, a spokeswoman for Britain's U.N. mission, confirmed the meeting to VOA's Burmese service.
She did not say what Council members were considering, but noted that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown supports a proposed global arms embargo on Burma.
The briefing will precede a meeting that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is holding on Burma Thursday with representatives from 15 governments.
Mr. Ban has expressed concern about Burma's voting process, saying indications suggest the new election laws do not meet expectations of an inclusive political process.
The laws, in effect, prohibit detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners from taking part in the elections.
Burma has not yet set a date for the elections, which will be the country's first since 1990.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won the last elections, but the military government refused to give up power.
The democracy leader says she is opposed to her party registering for this year's vote. But she told her lawyer Tuesday that the party must decide for itself whether to participate in the election.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the last 20 years and is currently under house arrest.
VOA News 24 March 2010
The United Nations Security Council will hold consultations on Burma Wednesday to consider how to respond to the military government's controversial new election laws.
Harriet Cross, a spokeswoman for Britain's U.N. mission, confirmed the meeting to VOA's Burmese service.
She did not say what Council members were considering, but noted that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown supports a proposed global arms embargo on Burma.
The briefing will precede a meeting that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is holding on Burma Thursday with representatives from 15 governments.
Mr. Ban has expressed concern about Burma's voting process, saying indications suggest the new election laws do not meet expectations of an inclusive political process.
The laws, in effect, prohibit detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners from taking part in the elections.
Burma has not yet set a date for the elections, which will be the country's first since 1990.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won the last elections, but the military government refused to give up power.
The democracy leader says she is opposed to her party registering for this year's vote. But she told her lawyer Tuesday that the party must decide for itself whether to participate in the election.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the last 20 years and is currently under house arrest.
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The Jakarta Post - Myanmar poll to take center stage at ASEAN summit
Lilian Budianto , Jakarta | Wed, 03/24/2010 10:55 AM | World
Myanmar’s upcoming elections will likely hog the spotlight at the 16th ASEAN Summit in Vietnam in April, as regional leaders try to steer clear of the junta’s poll agenda to avoid further embarrassment.
The 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will convene in Hanoi from April 8 to April 9 with an agenda officials say will range from economic integration to political reforms in Myanmar, in which leaders will try to push the junta to allow opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to take part in the country’s elections.
Pressure has mounted for the military junta in Yangon to repeal electoral regulations prohibiting convicts to join political parties and run for office, and allow Suu Kyi to take part in the polls.
The poll date has not been announced, but it will be held before Suu Kyi’s house arrest is over.
The Nobel laureate is currently serving 18 months on charges of violating the terms of her previous stint under house arrest.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said the country would push the demand that Suu Kyi be made part of the solution in Myanmar’s democratization.
“It is very important for all the parties concerned to be part of the solution; in other words, not to have a mindset that one party is being sidelined or pushed into a corner or pressed,” he said at a press conference last week.
“Everyone must see that they have a stake in an orderly democratization process.
“Suu Kyi’s role [in a future government] could be a positive one, and we hope very much that the authorities in Myanmar also see this.”
Jakarta has not announced its agenda in the ASEAN Summit, but officials say leaders will take stock of the development of the bloc’s economic, security and sociocultural integration under one ASEAN community by 2015, as well as the thorny issue of Myanmar.
In previous ASEAN Summits, Myanmar has always been one of the key issues in the agenda.
In July, ASEAN foreign ministers will convene for the 43rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting.
Observers say the Myanmar polls will be a turning point for which ASEAN will be judged by its success in engaging the junta in democratization.
They add the Myanmar junta has for years been an embarrassment to ASEAN leaders, who are criticized by accommodating the interests of a rogue state.
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) researcher Yasmin Sungkar said the exclusivity of Myanmar’s polls would not only hurt the democratization process of the country, but also impact on ASEAN integration.
“The success of Myanmar’s election depends much on its inclusiveness, but how the current leaders are allowing that to happen isn’t satisfactory,” she said.
“Democratization in Myanmar might have to wait.”
ASEAN leaders, particularly from democracies such as Indonesia and the Philippines, have issued several statements appealing for their Myanmar counterparts to quash Suu Kyi’s conviction and allow her to join the elections.
Lilian Budianto , Jakarta | Wed, 03/24/2010 10:55 AM | World
Myanmar’s upcoming elections will likely hog the spotlight at the 16th ASEAN Summit in Vietnam in April, as regional leaders try to steer clear of the junta’s poll agenda to avoid further embarrassment.
The 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will convene in Hanoi from April 8 to April 9 with an agenda officials say will range from economic integration to political reforms in Myanmar, in which leaders will try to push the junta to allow opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to take part in the country’s elections.
Pressure has mounted for the military junta in Yangon to repeal electoral regulations prohibiting convicts to join political parties and run for office, and allow Suu Kyi to take part in the polls.
The poll date has not been announced, but it will be held before Suu Kyi’s house arrest is over.
The Nobel laureate is currently serving 18 months on charges of violating the terms of her previous stint under house arrest.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said the country would push the demand that Suu Kyi be made part of the solution in Myanmar’s democratization.
“It is very important for all the parties concerned to be part of the solution; in other words, not to have a mindset that one party is being sidelined or pushed into a corner or pressed,” he said at a press conference last week.
“Everyone must see that they have a stake in an orderly democratization process.
“Suu Kyi’s role [in a future government] could be a positive one, and we hope very much that the authorities in Myanmar also see this.”
Jakarta has not announced its agenda in the ASEAN Summit, but officials say leaders will take stock of the development of the bloc’s economic, security and sociocultural integration under one ASEAN community by 2015, as well as the thorny issue of Myanmar.
In previous ASEAN Summits, Myanmar has always been one of the key issues in the agenda.
In July, ASEAN foreign ministers will convene for the 43rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting.
Observers say the Myanmar polls will be a turning point for which ASEAN will be judged by its success in engaging the junta in democratization.
They add the Myanmar junta has for years been an embarrassment to ASEAN leaders, who are criticized by accommodating the interests of a rogue state.
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) researcher Yasmin Sungkar said the exclusivity of Myanmar’s polls would not only hurt the democratization process of the country, but also impact on ASEAN integration.
“The success of Myanmar’s election depends much on its inclusiveness, but how the current leaders are allowing that to happen isn’t satisfactory,” she said.
“Democratization in Myanmar might have to wait.”
ASEAN leaders, particularly from democracies such as Indonesia and the Philippines, have issued several statements appealing for their Myanmar counterparts to quash Suu Kyi’s conviction and allow her to join the elections.
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Channel NewsAsia - UN to host informal meet on Myanmar this week
Posted: 24 March 2010 0345 hrs
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations said Tuesday it would host a meeting on Myanmar here later this week amid concern about new electoral laws that disqualify detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told a press briefing that the so-called Group of Friends of Myanmar would meet at UN headquarters Thursday.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for the informal meeting to mull Myanmar's new electoral laws ahead of upcoming national polls, which will be the first to be held in 20 years.
The new laws relate to the registration of political parties and bar anyone serving a prison term from being a member of an official party.
The Group of friends of Myanmar brings together Australia, Britain, China, the European Union, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
It was set up in December 2007 as a forum for informal discussions and for developing shared approaches to back UN efforts to promote democracy and national reconciliation in Myanmar.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon earlier this month said Myanmar's new electoral laws did not "measure up to the international community's expectations of what is needed for an inclusive political process."
He then reiterated his call for "an inclusive political process leading to fair, transparent and credible elections in which all citizens of Myanmar, including Aung San Suu Kyi can freely participate."
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) has yet to announce whether it will take part in the polls, which are expected in October or November although the government has still not set a date.
The 64-year-old opposition leader has been in detention for 14 of the last 20 years since the previous elections.
She was already barred from standing as a candidate under a new constitution approved in a 2008 referendum that stipulates that those married to foreigners are ineligible. Her husband, British academic Michael Aris, died in 1999.
The Nobel Peace laureate was sentenced to three years' jail last August over an incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside home. Suu Kyi's sentence was commuted by military supremo Than Shwe to 18 months under house arrest.
Posted: 24 March 2010 0345 hrs
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations said Tuesday it would host a meeting on Myanmar here later this week amid concern about new electoral laws that disqualify detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told a press briefing that the so-called Group of Friends of Myanmar would meet at UN headquarters Thursday.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for the informal meeting to mull Myanmar's new electoral laws ahead of upcoming national polls, which will be the first to be held in 20 years.
The new laws relate to the registration of political parties and bar anyone serving a prison term from being a member of an official party.
The Group of friends of Myanmar brings together Australia, Britain, China, the European Union, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
It was set up in December 2007 as a forum for informal discussions and for developing shared approaches to back UN efforts to promote democracy and national reconciliation in Myanmar.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon earlier this month said Myanmar's new electoral laws did not "measure up to the international community's expectations of what is needed for an inclusive political process."
He then reiterated his call for "an inclusive political process leading to fair, transparent and credible elections in which all citizens of Myanmar, including Aung San Suu Kyi can freely participate."
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) has yet to announce whether it will take part in the polls, which are expected in October or November although the government has still not set a date.
The 64-year-old opposition leader has been in detention for 14 of the last 20 years since the previous elections.
She was already barred from standing as a candidate under a new constitution approved in a 2008 referendum that stipulates that those married to foreigners are ineligible. Her husband, British academic Michael Aris, died in 1999.
The Nobel Peace laureate was sentenced to three years' jail last August over an incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside home. Suu Kyi's sentence was commuted by military supremo Than Shwe to 18 months under house arrest.
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The Sydney Morning Herald - Suu Kyi's party 'in disarray' over polls
March 25, 2010
RANGOON: Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi says she'll ''never accept'' her party registering for elections this year because laws governing the polls are unjust.
The leadership committee of her National League for Democracy party has said it would decide on March 29 whether to register for the polls, which are expected to be held in October or November.
Under the ruling junta's new laws, which have been internationally condemned, Suu Kyi cannot take part in the elections because she is a prisoner.
Suu Kyi ''says she will never accept registration under unjust law but her personal opinion is not to give orders nor instructions to the NLD,'' her lawyer, Nyan Win, said after visiting the Nobel peace laureate on Tuesday. ''She asked the NLD to decide democratically.''
Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention at her Rangoon home.
The new laws also officially annul the result of military-ruled Burma's last elections in 1990, which the NLD won by a landslide. The junta never allowed it to take power.
Suu Kyi's comments came after senior members of the NLD went to the Supreme Court in an attempt to take legal action against the junta over the new laws, but officials refused to accept their application.
Critics say the polls are a sham designed to legitimise the ruling generals' grip on power and a boycott by the NLD would further damage their credibility.
Last week, an NLD spokesman, Khin Maung Swe, said opinions among senior party members were ''not black or white'' after talks to discuss the recent laws.
If the party signs up, it will have to accept a controversial constitution approved in a 2008 referendum, which it has previously refused to recognise.
But Khin Maung Swe said that even if the party registered, it would decide later whether to participate in the elections.
''The NLD is in deep disarray,'' said David Mathieson, a Burma expert at Human Rights Watch. ''I wouldn't be surprised if they boycotted the whole thing because they've signalled that in the past.
''The NLD has got to decide whether to adapt to the deeply unfair situation and try to contest in some way or take the moral high ground and continue to be excluded.''
March 25, 2010
RANGOON: Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi says she'll ''never accept'' her party registering for elections this year because laws governing the polls are unjust.
The leadership committee of her National League for Democracy party has said it would decide on March 29 whether to register for the polls, which are expected to be held in October or November.
Under the ruling junta's new laws, which have been internationally condemned, Suu Kyi cannot take part in the elections because she is a prisoner.
Suu Kyi ''says she will never accept registration under unjust law but her personal opinion is not to give orders nor instructions to the NLD,'' her lawyer, Nyan Win, said after visiting the Nobel peace laureate on Tuesday. ''She asked the NLD to decide democratically.''
Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention at her Rangoon home.
The new laws also officially annul the result of military-ruled Burma's last elections in 1990, which the NLD won by a landslide. The junta never allowed it to take power.
Suu Kyi's comments came after senior members of the NLD went to the Supreme Court in an attempt to take legal action against the junta over the new laws, but officials refused to accept their application.
Critics say the polls are a sham designed to legitimise the ruling generals' grip on power and a boycott by the NLD would further damage their credibility.
Last week, an NLD spokesman, Khin Maung Swe, said opinions among senior party members were ''not black or white'' after talks to discuss the recent laws.
If the party signs up, it will have to accept a controversial constitution approved in a 2008 referendum, which it has previously refused to recognise.
But Khin Maung Swe said that even if the party registered, it would decide later whether to participate in the elections.
''The NLD is in deep disarray,'' said David Mathieson, a Burma expert at Human Rights Watch. ''I wouldn't be surprised if they boycotted the whole thing because they've signalled that in the past.
''The NLD has got to decide whether to adapt to the deeply unfair situation and try to contest in some way or take the moral high ground and continue to be excluded.''
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Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Fox News - China Consortium Starts Work On Myanmar Hydroelectric Project
BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- Chinese state-owned enterprises have set up a consortium to build a $9 billion, 7.1-gigawatt hydropower station across Myanmar's Salween River, a Chinese government agency said on its Web site.
China's State Asset Supervision and Administration Commission said the dam in Myanmar would be jointly developed by China, Myanmar, and Thailand.
The Chinese consortium includes China Three Gorges Corp., Sinohydro Corp., and China Southern Power Grid. The three companies have started work on the project, the commission said on its web site.
Upon completion, the hydropower station will be the largest in Southeast Asia by installed capacity.
The three Chinese companies, which first signed an agreement to cooperate on the project in November 2009, are proceeding with the development plans.
The commission didn't say whether the electricity produced by the dam would all be used in Myanmar, or if some would go to China.
China needs power and wants to reduce its carbon emissions, and it sees hydropower as a plentiful resource.
According to a report by China's state-run Xinhua news agency, the country will be revising its hydropower target for 2020 to 270 gigawatts, 37% above an earlier target of 197 GW.
Myanmar's military government is planning up to five big dams along the Salween to supply power to China and Thailand, and has stepped up attacks on tribal groups in the area, mostly Kokang, Shan and Karen, according to reports in Thai media and on the Web sites of activists monitoring dam development in the area.
The areas of the Upper Salween to be developed by the Chinese were secured last year in a series of Myanmar government offensives against the Kokang in northern Shan State, according to an Oct. 19, 2009, report on www.salweenwatch.org.
Fox News - China Consortium Starts Work On Myanmar Hydroelectric Project
BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- Chinese state-owned enterprises have set up a consortium to build a $9 billion, 7.1-gigawatt hydropower station across Myanmar's Salween River, a Chinese government agency said on its Web site.
China's State Asset Supervision and Administration Commission said the dam in Myanmar would be jointly developed by China, Myanmar, and Thailand.
The Chinese consortium includes China Three Gorges Corp., Sinohydro Corp., and China Southern Power Grid. The three companies have started work on the project, the commission said on its web site.
Upon completion, the hydropower station will be the largest in Southeast Asia by installed capacity.
The three Chinese companies, which first signed an agreement to cooperate on the project in November 2009, are proceeding with the development plans.
The commission didn't say whether the electricity produced by the dam would all be used in Myanmar, or if some would go to China.
China needs power and wants to reduce its carbon emissions, and it sees hydropower as a plentiful resource.
According to a report by China's state-run Xinhua news agency, the country will be revising its hydropower target for 2020 to 270 gigawatts, 37% above an earlier target of 197 GW.
Myanmar's military government is planning up to five big dams along the Salween to supply power to China and Thailand, and has stepped up attacks on tribal groups in the area, mostly Kokang, Shan and Karen, according to reports in Thai media and on the Web sites of activists monitoring dam development in the area.
The areas of the Upper Salween to be developed by the Chinese were secured last year in a series of Myanmar government offensives against the Kokang in northern Shan State, according to an Oct. 19, 2009, report on www.salweenwatch.org.
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EarthTimes - Myanmar opposition party to decide next week on contesting polls
Posted : Wed, 24 Mar 2010 04:57:30 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar's main opposition party - the National League for Democracy - is due to announce next week whether it is tocontest a general election planned this year, a senior member of the party said Wednesday.
"About 100 members of the central executive committee will attend discussions on the election on March 29," NLD Vice Chairman Tin Oo said.
"We will try our best to reach a consensus and regain our unity, as there are several opinions on the matter," Tin Oo said.
Tin Oo, 83, a founding father of the NLD, was freed from seven years of house arrest on February 13.
NLD Secretary-General Aung San Suu Kyi, who is still under house arrest, has advised the party not to register for the upcoming polls.
In talks with her lawyers Kyi Win and Nyan Win on Tuesday, Suu Kyi said it was her opinion that the NLD should not register to contest the polls but the NLD must decide the matter for themselves.
Suu Kyi, who won the 1990 Nobel peace prize for championing Myanmar's struggle for democracy, has been effectively barred from contesting the 2010 polls by election laws promulgated earlier this month by the ruling junta.
The newly passed Political Party Registration Law barred people currently serving prison terms from belonging to political parties.
Suu Kyi, who is serving an 18-month house detention term, is not due to be freed until October at the earliest. There are another 2,100 political prisoners in Myanmar jails who will also be excluded from joining political parties.
Former prisoners are likewise barred from contesting the election.
If the NLD wishes to contest the polls, a date for which has yet to be set, the party would need to drop Suu Kyi from its membership list.
All political parties must register within the next 60 days.
Myanmar political activists outside the country have called on the international community to ignore the outcome of the coming polls in light of the unfair election laws.
Myanmar, which has been ruled by military dictatorships since 1962, last held an election in 1990.
That election was won by a landslide by the NLD, but the military refused to hand over power to civilians on the grounds that a new constitution was needed first.
The new charter took 18 years to draft by a military-appointed committee. It was approved by what many saw as sham referendum in May 2008, and is due to go into effect after the forthcoming election.
Among other things, the new constitution assures the military of control over the Senate, which allows them veto power over any new legislation, effectively cementing their control over any future elected government.
Posted : Wed, 24 Mar 2010 04:57:30 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar's main opposition party - the National League for Democracy - is due to announce next week whether it is tocontest a general election planned this year, a senior member of the party said Wednesday.
"About 100 members of the central executive committee will attend discussions on the election on March 29," NLD Vice Chairman Tin Oo said.
"We will try our best to reach a consensus and regain our unity, as there are several opinions on the matter," Tin Oo said.
Tin Oo, 83, a founding father of the NLD, was freed from seven years of house arrest on February 13.
NLD Secretary-General Aung San Suu Kyi, who is still under house arrest, has advised the party not to register for the upcoming polls.
In talks with her lawyers Kyi Win and Nyan Win on Tuesday, Suu Kyi said it was her opinion that the NLD should not register to contest the polls but the NLD must decide the matter for themselves.
Suu Kyi, who won the 1990 Nobel peace prize for championing Myanmar's struggle for democracy, has been effectively barred from contesting the 2010 polls by election laws promulgated earlier this month by the ruling junta.
The newly passed Political Party Registration Law barred people currently serving prison terms from belonging to political parties.
Suu Kyi, who is serving an 18-month house detention term, is not due to be freed until October at the earliest. There are another 2,100 political prisoners in Myanmar jails who will also be excluded from joining political parties.
Former prisoners are likewise barred from contesting the election.
If the NLD wishes to contest the polls, a date for which has yet to be set, the party would need to drop Suu Kyi from its membership list.
All political parties must register within the next 60 days.
Myanmar political activists outside the country have called on the international community to ignore the outcome of the coming polls in light of the unfair election laws.
Myanmar, which has been ruled by military dictatorships since 1962, last held an election in 1990.
That election was won by a landslide by the NLD, but the military refused to hand over power to civilians on the grounds that a new constitution was needed first.
The new charter took 18 years to draft by a military-appointed committee. It was approved by what many saw as sham referendum in May 2008, and is due to go into effect after the forthcoming election.
Among other things, the new constitution assures the military of control over the Senate, which allows them veto power over any new legislation, effectively cementing their control over any future elected government.
********************************************************
last updated at 11:48 GMT, Wednesday, 24 March 2010
BBC News - War veteran to fly to Burma to honour dead comrades
By Neil Prior BBC Wales
Sixty-five years after Burma Star-winner David Norman Davies helped liberate the country now known as Myanmar from Japanese occupation, he's returning to south east Asia to honour his fallen comrades.
"I wouldn't say I think about Burma every day or wake up dreaming about it every night - it was an awfully long time ago now.
"But a smell, a sound or something on telly can take you back there in a flash," said Mr Davies who lives in Cardiff.
"I'm probably more afraid of it looking back now, than I was at the time.
"I lost a lot of good friends, and saw some horrible sights which haunt me as an old man, but as a 22-year-old I don't think anything frightened me."
His trip has been made possible by the National Lottery's Heroes Return programme, which awards grants of between £150 and £5,500 for World War II veterans and their families or carers to visit the places in which they fought and is open to new applications until January.
To date in Wales it has provided more than £150,000 allowing 90 servicemen to travel to battlefields across Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle and Far East.
Mr Davies volunteered for the RAF in 1940, as an 18-year-old banking clerk in Cardiff.
But it was two years before he received his call-up for service, 6,500 miles (10,458 km) away in Burma.
He originally hoped to be a pilot, until that is, he was allowed behind the controls of a plane for the first time.
"All of us who fancied ourselves as pilots were given our turn in a Tiger Moth trainer, and within minutes I knew I wasn't going to make the grade.
"There was just too much to do at once, keep the nose up, the wings straight… I was a liability."
"After that the instructor told me the Japanese are doing for enough of our boys without you helping them. So I was trained as a navigator."
In 1944, Japan, under General Renya Mutaguchi, launched a failed invasion attempt on southern India.
In December that year, allied forces, commanded by Lord Mountbatten, took advantage of the dry season and over-stretched Japanese supply lines to launch a counter offensive to retake Burma.
It was during this six-month campaign that Mr Davies saw his first action.
As the navigator on an RAF Dakota, he ferried troops and parachuted in supplies, in support of the 14th Army's advance to Rangoon and on to Mandalay.
"We secured the port at Rangoon with just hours to spare before the monsoon broke in May," said Mr Davies.
"That was the tipping point for the campaign really, but for the air crews it was just the start."
As the advance penetrated deeper into the jungle, Mr Davies explained that landing strips became more rudimentary, and even harder to find.
"With the monsoons battering the planes it was neigh-on impossible to keep to a given air speed and altitude.
"We had an instrument called a drift indicator, which was supposed to help us measure how far off course the winds were blowing us.
"But it relied on being able to work out angles from a fixed point on the ground - and all we could see on the ground was jungle.
"I can tell you, in the middle of a monsoon one tree looks pretty much the same as another.
"At the start of the advance the engineers would clear us landing strips, and cover them with bitumen, but after Rangoon the Japanese were falling back so quickly that there wasn't the time to prepare hard strips.
Harrowing memories
"By the end we were landing on metal, gravel, wood, and over shorter and shorter distances, all under Japanese fire - we began to feel grateful when we couldn't find them."
Yet for Mr Davies, his most harrowing memories came after VJ Day in August 1945, when the full extent of the Pacific War's horror began to reveal itself.
"As soon as we had news of the surrender we began badgering our officers for permission to rescue our POWs from Bangkok, where they were being held, but there was always some terribly important officials who needed ferrying, and the rescue kept being put off until tomorrow.
"After two or three weeks of this, a few crews took it upon ourselves to fly in without orders. I don't know if I should be saying this - but I suppose it's a bit late for them to court martial me now.
"We'd filled our packs with chocolate and cigarettes - we knew that things would have been tough for the POWs - but nothing could prepare us for the walking skeletons we found sitting on the tarmac at Bangkok airport, just waiting for someone to come and find them."
Human nature
However the immediate aftermath of the war also re-affirmed Mr Davies's faith in human nature, bringing him back down to earth, in more ways than one.
"It's ironic, and lucky for me I suppose, that the only time I crashed during my whole time in the RAF was a week or so after the end of the war.
"We had some sort of engine trouble, and crash-landed in a field in Phnom Penh.
"As we clambered out of the wreckage, the first thing which greeted us was an open-top Mercedes full of Japanese officers.
"I thought, 'hey up! I hope they've heard the war's over!', but the first thing they did was offer us their swords.
"They gave us dinner, and we began to realise, despite all the horrible things that happened, the individual Japanese weren't all that different to us.
"I think that helped me come to terms with things after the war, in a world full of Japanese cars and electronics."
Mr Davies and his son fly out to Rangoon in November, from where they'll sail aboard the Orient Express cruise liner to Mandalay.
After two days stay at the former Burma Governor's residence, they plan to tour the jungle sites where Mr Davies flew over 65 years ago.
"I'm glad that I'm travelling with my son, and not as part of an organised tour - you see everyone had their own war over there, and the places which hold memories for me probably aren't the same as those which other people want to remember.
"Thank God, I had quite a good war, but so many others, particularly on the ground, weren't as lucky as me.
"While I'm remembering my friends… and my adventures I suppose. I'll also make sure I take a private moment to remember the poor blokes who fought for every inch on the jungle floor."
Huw Vaughan Thomas, Wales chair of the Big Lottery Fund said "The generation of men and women who served this country during the Second World War gave so much to protect the freedoms we enjoy today.
"As they get older, pilgrimages to the areas where they saw service become ever more poignant and precious to our veterans.
"By funding these trips for those veterans who would like to attend anniversary events across the world, we hope to do our bit on behalf of the whole nation to honour the service and sacrifice so many of our veterans made."
BBC News - War veteran to fly to Burma to honour dead comrades
By Neil Prior BBC Wales
Sixty-five years after Burma Star-winner David Norman Davies helped liberate the country now known as Myanmar from Japanese occupation, he's returning to south east Asia to honour his fallen comrades.
"I wouldn't say I think about Burma every day or wake up dreaming about it every night - it was an awfully long time ago now.
"But a smell, a sound or something on telly can take you back there in a flash," said Mr Davies who lives in Cardiff.
"I'm probably more afraid of it looking back now, than I was at the time.
"I lost a lot of good friends, and saw some horrible sights which haunt me as an old man, but as a 22-year-old I don't think anything frightened me."
His trip has been made possible by the National Lottery's Heroes Return programme, which awards grants of between £150 and £5,500 for World War II veterans and their families or carers to visit the places in which they fought and is open to new applications until January.
To date in Wales it has provided more than £150,000 allowing 90 servicemen to travel to battlefields across Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle and Far East.
Mr Davies volunteered for the RAF in 1940, as an 18-year-old banking clerk in Cardiff.
But it was two years before he received his call-up for service, 6,500 miles (10,458 km) away in Burma.
He originally hoped to be a pilot, until that is, he was allowed behind the controls of a plane for the first time.
"All of us who fancied ourselves as pilots were given our turn in a Tiger Moth trainer, and within minutes I knew I wasn't going to make the grade.
"There was just too much to do at once, keep the nose up, the wings straight… I was a liability."
"After that the instructor told me the Japanese are doing for enough of our boys without you helping them. So I was trained as a navigator."
In 1944, Japan, under General Renya Mutaguchi, launched a failed invasion attempt on southern India.
In December that year, allied forces, commanded by Lord Mountbatten, took advantage of the dry season and over-stretched Japanese supply lines to launch a counter offensive to retake Burma.
It was during this six-month campaign that Mr Davies saw his first action.
As the navigator on an RAF Dakota, he ferried troops and parachuted in supplies, in support of the 14th Army's advance to Rangoon and on to Mandalay.
"We secured the port at Rangoon with just hours to spare before the monsoon broke in May," said Mr Davies.
"That was the tipping point for the campaign really, but for the air crews it was just the start."
As the advance penetrated deeper into the jungle, Mr Davies explained that landing strips became more rudimentary, and even harder to find.
"With the monsoons battering the planes it was neigh-on impossible to keep to a given air speed and altitude.
"We had an instrument called a drift indicator, which was supposed to help us measure how far off course the winds were blowing us.
"But it relied on being able to work out angles from a fixed point on the ground - and all we could see on the ground was jungle.
"I can tell you, in the middle of a monsoon one tree looks pretty much the same as another.
"At the start of the advance the engineers would clear us landing strips, and cover them with bitumen, but after Rangoon the Japanese were falling back so quickly that there wasn't the time to prepare hard strips.
Harrowing memories
"By the end we were landing on metal, gravel, wood, and over shorter and shorter distances, all under Japanese fire - we began to feel grateful when we couldn't find them."
Yet for Mr Davies, his most harrowing memories came after VJ Day in August 1945, when the full extent of the Pacific War's horror began to reveal itself.
"As soon as we had news of the surrender we began badgering our officers for permission to rescue our POWs from Bangkok, where they were being held, but there was always some terribly important officials who needed ferrying, and the rescue kept being put off until tomorrow.
"After two or three weeks of this, a few crews took it upon ourselves to fly in without orders. I don't know if I should be saying this - but I suppose it's a bit late for them to court martial me now.
"We'd filled our packs with chocolate and cigarettes - we knew that things would have been tough for the POWs - but nothing could prepare us for the walking skeletons we found sitting on the tarmac at Bangkok airport, just waiting for someone to come and find them."
Human nature
However the immediate aftermath of the war also re-affirmed Mr Davies's faith in human nature, bringing him back down to earth, in more ways than one.
"It's ironic, and lucky for me I suppose, that the only time I crashed during my whole time in the RAF was a week or so after the end of the war.
"We had some sort of engine trouble, and crash-landed in a field in Phnom Penh.
"As we clambered out of the wreckage, the first thing which greeted us was an open-top Mercedes full of Japanese officers.
"I thought, 'hey up! I hope they've heard the war's over!', but the first thing they did was offer us their swords.
"They gave us dinner, and we began to realise, despite all the horrible things that happened, the individual Japanese weren't all that different to us.
"I think that helped me come to terms with things after the war, in a world full of Japanese cars and electronics."
Mr Davies and his son fly out to Rangoon in November, from where they'll sail aboard the Orient Express cruise liner to Mandalay.
After two days stay at the former Burma Governor's residence, they plan to tour the jungle sites where Mr Davies flew over 65 years ago.
"I'm glad that I'm travelling with my son, and not as part of an organised tour - you see everyone had their own war over there, and the places which hold memories for me probably aren't the same as those which other people want to remember.
"Thank God, I had quite a good war, but so many others, particularly on the ground, weren't as lucky as me.
"While I'm remembering my friends… and my adventures I suppose. I'll also make sure I take a private moment to remember the poor blokes who fought for every inch on the jungle floor."
Huw Vaughan Thomas, Wales chair of the Big Lottery Fund said "The generation of men and women who served this country during the Second World War gave so much to protect the freedoms we enjoy today.
"As they get older, pilgrimages to the areas where they saw service become ever more poignant and precious to our veterans.
"By funding these trips for those veterans who would like to attend anniversary events across the world, we hope to do our bit on behalf of the whole nation to honour the service and sacrifice so many of our veterans made."
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ASIAONE NEWS - Migrant workers 'raped, abused, unpaid' in Malaysia
Wed, Mar 24, 2010
AFP
KUALA LUMPUR - Amnesty International on Wednesday urged Malaysia to end appalling treatment of migrant workers, saying many were raped, abused and unpaid and endured conditions "close to bonded labour".
In a damning report, the human rights group accused the Malaysian government of "facilitating" human trafficking after it found cases of immigration officials delivering Myanmar detainees to gangs on the Thai border.
Malaysia is one of Asia's largest importers of labour, with a workforce of 2.2 million, but Amnesty said they were too often "lured" to Malaysia and "used in forced labour or exploited in other ways".
"Migrants, many from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nepal, are forced to work in hazardous situations, often against their will, and toil for 12 hours a day or more," the group said in a statement.
"Many are subject to verbal, physical and sexual abuse," it added.
Amnesty said most workers borrowed substantial sums to pay recruitment agents to secure a job - only to discover too late that they had been given empty promises and could not afford to return home.
"Some are in situations close to bonded labour," it said, adding that laws allowing employers to hold workers' passports prevented them from leaving abusive workplaces for fear of arrest.
"Coercive practices such as these are indicators of forced labour," it said.
Amnesty said its findings were based on interviews with more than 200 migrant workers, many of whom told horrifying stories of being abused, beaten, threatened with death, or at the least unpaid for long stretches.
A 26-year-old domestic helper from Indonesia said she was raped twice and attacked with a hot iron by her employer after being accused of not picking up the phone quickly enough.
"I didn't know why he told me to turn on the iron. He shouted, "Is that iron hot?" And then tried to iron me. Push the iron toward my body," the unidentified worker was quoted as saying.
Another worker, Mawar, who was only 15 when she came to Malaysia, said her recruitment agent burned her nipple with a cigarette, and forced her to clean the floor with her tongue "just like a dog".
"Another time the agent forced me to eat five cockroaches while they were still alive. She also forced me to drink urine from other workers," said Mawar, whose nationality was not given.
Amnesty also documented over a dozen cases in which Malaysian immigration officials allegedly handed over Myanmar detainees to traffickers operating on Malaysia's northern border with Thailand between 2006 and 2009.
"The Malaysian government has the responsibility to prevent such abuses, but instead facilitates trafficking through its loose regulation of recruitment agents and through laws and policies that fail to protect workers," it said.
An official from the home ministry, which oversees the immigration department, said it would not respond to the allegations until it had an opportunity to study the report.
Amnesty said that workers often face indiscriminate raids from authorities and demands for bribes from police, and that those who cannot pay end up in detention centres in deplorable conditions.
The government said last year it was mulling new laws to enshrine conditions for foreign workers, after persistent complaints that they lack protection.
"Until Malaysia's labour laws offer effective protection and are effectively enforced, exploitation will continue," said Michael Bochenek, Amnesty's policy director who authored the report.
Wed, Mar 24, 2010
AFP
KUALA LUMPUR - Amnesty International on Wednesday urged Malaysia to end appalling treatment of migrant workers, saying many were raped, abused and unpaid and endured conditions "close to bonded labour".
In a damning report, the human rights group accused the Malaysian government of "facilitating" human trafficking after it found cases of immigration officials delivering Myanmar detainees to gangs on the Thai border.
Malaysia is one of Asia's largest importers of labour, with a workforce of 2.2 million, but Amnesty said they were too often "lured" to Malaysia and "used in forced labour or exploited in other ways".
"Migrants, many from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nepal, are forced to work in hazardous situations, often against their will, and toil for 12 hours a day or more," the group said in a statement.
"Many are subject to verbal, physical and sexual abuse," it added.
Amnesty said most workers borrowed substantial sums to pay recruitment agents to secure a job - only to discover too late that they had been given empty promises and could not afford to return home.
"Some are in situations close to bonded labour," it said, adding that laws allowing employers to hold workers' passports prevented them from leaving abusive workplaces for fear of arrest.
"Coercive practices such as these are indicators of forced labour," it said.
Amnesty said its findings were based on interviews with more than 200 migrant workers, many of whom told horrifying stories of being abused, beaten, threatened with death, or at the least unpaid for long stretches.
A 26-year-old domestic helper from Indonesia said she was raped twice and attacked with a hot iron by her employer after being accused of not picking up the phone quickly enough.
"I didn't know why he told me to turn on the iron. He shouted, "Is that iron hot?" And then tried to iron me. Push the iron toward my body," the unidentified worker was quoted as saying.
Another worker, Mawar, who was only 15 when she came to Malaysia, said her recruitment agent burned her nipple with a cigarette, and forced her to clean the floor with her tongue "just like a dog".
"Another time the agent forced me to eat five cockroaches while they were still alive. She also forced me to drink urine from other workers," said Mawar, whose nationality was not given.
Amnesty also documented over a dozen cases in which Malaysian immigration officials allegedly handed over Myanmar detainees to traffickers operating on Malaysia's northern border with Thailand between 2006 and 2009.
"The Malaysian government has the responsibility to prevent such abuses, but instead facilitates trafficking through its loose regulation of recruitment agents and through laws and policies that fail to protect workers," it said.
An official from the home ministry, which oversees the immigration department, said it would not respond to the allegations until it had an opportunity to study the report.
Amnesty said that workers often face indiscriminate raids from authorities and demands for bribes from police, and that those who cannot pay end up in detention centres in deplorable conditions.
The government said last year it was mulling new laws to enshrine conditions for foreign workers, after persistent complaints that they lack protection.
"Until Malaysia's labour laws offer effective protection and are effectively enforced, exploitation will continue," said Michael Bochenek, Amnesty's policy director who authored the report.
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Published: Wednesday March 24, 2010 MYT 8:01:00 PM
Malaysia Star - Govt looking into abused migrant workers problem: Hisham
By IZATUN SHARI
KUALA LUMPUR: Efforts are under way to end the dreadful treatment of migrant workers with the formation of an anti-trafficking council, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.
He said his ministry would act against those who exploited and abusesd migrant workers, but added that this required the cooperation of the relevant ministries.
He also he warned employers that they would be held responsible for mistreating migrant workers.
“We are well aware of the state of migrant workers in Malaysia. In relation to this, we have the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act to combat the trafficking of migrant workers.
“The anti-trafficking council has also been formed and it is collaborating with international organisations of migration workers to tackle this problem,” he said when asked to comment on Amnesty International urging Malaysia to end the ill-treatment of migrant workers.
According to the 100-page Amnesty report entitled Trapped -- The Exploitation of Migrant Workers in Malaysia, which was released Wednesday, many migrant workers were raped, abused and unpaid and also endured conditions similar to bonded labour.
Amnesty said its findings were based on interviews with more than 200 migrant workers in July 2009, many of whom told horrifying stories of being abused, beaten, threatened with death or, at the least, unpaid for long stretches of time.
The Home Ministry set up the anti-trafficking council in July last year following the US-based Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2009 which had downgraded Malaysia to Tier 3 on the list of worst offenders of human trafficking.
Hishammuddin said when employers disregarded the welfare and conditions of migrant workers, it gave a bad image of Malaysians to the world.
“I would like to remind employers that they are responsible for their treatment of migrant workers. ... I understand the problem and we will take proper action. My ministry needs the cooperation of other ministries to tackle this problem,” he said.
On the ploy used by some local men claiming to be married to “China dolls” working in entertainment outlets to avoid being arrested by police, Hishammuddin said the Cabinet Committee on Migrant Workers, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, was pooling the resources of all relevant agencies to resolve the issue.
However, his Cabinet colleague Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam took a different tack, saying that the Government has cast doubt over Amnesty International’s report, adding that it was “not accurate,” according to Bernama.
While admitting that there have been some cases of abuse, he said they could have been resolved if only the affected migrant workers had reported the matter to the Labour Department under his ministry, the national news agency said.
Speaking to reporters after launching the ministry’s blog on the minimum wage here, the minister said the department had acted on several cases of abuse involving migrant workers.
He also said that migrant and local workers enjoyed the same treatment and protection under the Employment Act 1955 and that there was no discrimination against migrant workers.
“The problem is that many of the migrant workers (who complained of abuse by their employers) were working illegally and as such, they will face problems from employers,” Bernama quoted him as saying.
“This is why we (the Government) insists that foreign workers come to Malaysia on valid working permits and work in the sectors assigned to them,” he said.
Malaysia Star - Govt looking into abused migrant workers problem: Hisham
By IZATUN SHARI
KUALA LUMPUR: Efforts are under way to end the dreadful treatment of migrant workers with the formation of an anti-trafficking council, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.
He said his ministry would act against those who exploited and abusesd migrant workers, but added that this required the cooperation of the relevant ministries.
He also he warned employers that they would be held responsible for mistreating migrant workers.
“We are well aware of the state of migrant workers in Malaysia. In relation to this, we have the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act to combat the trafficking of migrant workers.
“The anti-trafficking council has also been formed and it is collaborating with international organisations of migration workers to tackle this problem,” he said when asked to comment on Amnesty International urging Malaysia to end the ill-treatment of migrant workers.
According to the 100-page Amnesty report entitled Trapped -- The Exploitation of Migrant Workers in Malaysia, which was released Wednesday, many migrant workers were raped, abused and unpaid and also endured conditions similar to bonded labour.
Amnesty said its findings were based on interviews with more than 200 migrant workers in July 2009, many of whom told horrifying stories of being abused, beaten, threatened with death or, at the least, unpaid for long stretches of time.
The Home Ministry set up the anti-trafficking council in July last year following the US-based Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2009 which had downgraded Malaysia to Tier 3 on the list of worst offenders of human trafficking.
Hishammuddin said when employers disregarded the welfare and conditions of migrant workers, it gave a bad image of Malaysians to the world.
“I would like to remind employers that they are responsible for their treatment of migrant workers. ... I understand the problem and we will take proper action. My ministry needs the cooperation of other ministries to tackle this problem,” he said.
On the ploy used by some local men claiming to be married to “China dolls” working in entertainment outlets to avoid being arrested by police, Hishammuddin said the Cabinet Committee on Migrant Workers, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, was pooling the resources of all relevant agencies to resolve the issue.
However, his Cabinet colleague Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam took a different tack, saying that the Government has cast doubt over Amnesty International’s report, adding that it was “not accurate,” according to Bernama.
While admitting that there have been some cases of abuse, he said they could have been resolved if only the affected migrant workers had reported the matter to the Labour Department under his ministry, the national news agency said.
Speaking to reporters after launching the ministry’s blog on the minimum wage here, the minister said the department had acted on several cases of abuse involving migrant workers.
He also said that migrant and local workers enjoyed the same treatment and protection under the Employment Act 1955 and that there was no discrimination against migrant workers.
“The problem is that many of the migrant workers (who complained of abuse by their employers) were working illegally and as such, they will face problems from employers,” Bernama quoted him as saying.
“This is why we (the Government) insists that foreign workers come to Malaysia on valid working permits and work in the sectors assigned to them,” he said.
********************************************************
TMCnet - Myanmar International TV to be formally launched on March 31
YANGON, Mar 23, 2010 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Myanmar International TV (MITV), which is also MRTV-3 channel, will start launching its regular programs on March 31 at 9 a.m. (local time), according to the state Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) Wednesday, which is a parent organization of the MITV.
The MITV will beam documentaries and current affairs on Myanmar in English language 24 hours daily through some satellites -- Thaicom-5 (Asia), Hot Bird-8 (Europe) , Galaxy-19 (North America), Apstar-V (Asia Beam)), and Optus D2 (NANAZ Beam).
Its round-the-clock programs also include local and international news in English and entertainment and popular Myanmar films and videos subtitled in English, the sources said.
MITV beams reach North America, Europe, Australian, New Zealand, China, India and Indochina regions and arrangements have been made for its round-the-clock programs to cover the whole world, it said.
The parent MRTV will also air the channel for domestic audiences from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. daily, the sources added.
MRTV-3 started trial run of MITV on Feb. 11 as a new channel transmitting daily 24-hour programs.
The MRTV, established 60 years ago, began with four channels including Myanmar and English languages to telecast news, education and entertainment programs since color television was introduced in the country in 1980.
Meanwhile, the military-run Myawaddy TV, which is next to MRTV, started telecasting in March 1995 and has morning and evening services at present.
In cooperation with China Central Television (CCTV), Cable Networks News (CNN) and the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), there are satellite news available with the MRTV.
YANGON, Mar 23, 2010 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Myanmar International TV (MITV), which is also MRTV-3 channel, will start launching its regular programs on March 31 at 9 a.m. (local time), according to the state Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) Wednesday, which is a parent organization of the MITV.
The MITV will beam documentaries and current affairs on Myanmar in English language 24 hours daily through some satellites -- Thaicom-5 (Asia), Hot Bird-8 (Europe) , Galaxy-19 (North America), Apstar-V (Asia Beam)), and Optus D2 (NANAZ Beam).
Its round-the-clock programs also include local and international news in English and entertainment and popular Myanmar films and videos subtitled in English, the sources said.
MITV beams reach North America, Europe, Australian, New Zealand, China, India and Indochina regions and arrangements have been made for its round-the-clock programs to cover the whole world, it said.
The parent MRTV will also air the channel for domestic audiences from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. daily, the sources added.
MRTV-3 started trial run of MITV on Feb. 11 as a new channel transmitting daily 24-hour programs.
The MRTV, established 60 years ago, began with four channels including Myanmar and English languages to telecast news, education and entertainment programs since color television was introduced in the country in 1980.
Meanwhile, the military-run Myawaddy TV, which is next to MRTV, started telecasting in March 1995 and has morning and evening services at present.
In cooperation with China Central Television (CCTV), Cable Networks News (CNN) and the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), there are satellite news available with the MRTV.
********************************************************
eTaiwan News - Key nations to meet on Myanmar election
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press
2010-03-24 04:32 AM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has invited key nations to a meeting Thursday to discuss the new electoral laws for Myanmar's upcoming election that bar detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Tuesday that Ban believes it is an appropriate time for another meeting of the Group of Friends of Myanmar focusing on the election.
The group includes about 15 countries _ Myanmar's neighbors, interested Asian and European nations, and the five permanent U.N. Security Council members, the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France.
Suu Kyi's lawyer said earlier Tuesday in the capital Yangon that she is against registering her National League for Democracy party for the elections because the ruling junta's restrictions on the vote are "unjust."
Suu Kyi's comments came hours after Myanmar's highest court refused to accept a lawsuit filed by Suu Kyi's party seeking to revoke the five election laws, which were enacted earlier this month.
The laws set out rules for the vote, but have been widely criticized as designed to keep Suu Kyi out of the race. One law prohibits anyone convicted of a crime from being a member of a political party and instructs parties to expel convicted members or face de-registration.
Suu Kyi's house arrest was extended last year after she was convicted on charges of violating the terms of her detention when an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside property. She is serving an additional 18-months of house arrest and many top members of her party and ethnic-based parties are in prison. Under the new laws they would be barred from the vote.
The electoral laws set out rules for the vote, but have been widely criticized as designed to keep Suu Kyi out of the race.
One law prohibits anyone convicted of a crime from being a member of a political party and instructs parties to expel convicted members or face de-registration.
The elections will be the first since 1990, when the National League for Democracy won a landslide victory. The junta ignored the results of that vote and has kept the Nobel Peace laureate jailed or under detention for 14 of the past 20 years. No date has been set for the new election.
The junta says the new laws have formally invalidated the results of the 1990 election because the election law under which those laws were held was repealed by the new legislation.
The elections are part of the junta's long-announced "roadmap to democracy," which critics deride as a sham designed to cement the power of the military, which has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962.
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press
2010-03-24 04:32 AM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has invited key nations to a meeting Thursday to discuss the new electoral laws for Myanmar's upcoming election that bar detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Tuesday that Ban believes it is an appropriate time for another meeting of the Group of Friends of Myanmar focusing on the election.
The group includes about 15 countries _ Myanmar's neighbors, interested Asian and European nations, and the five permanent U.N. Security Council members, the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France.
Suu Kyi's lawyer said earlier Tuesday in the capital Yangon that she is against registering her National League for Democracy party for the elections because the ruling junta's restrictions on the vote are "unjust."
Suu Kyi's comments came hours after Myanmar's highest court refused to accept a lawsuit filed by Suu Kyi's party seeking to revoke the five election laws, which were enacted earlier this month.
The laws set out rules for the vote, but have been widely criticized as designed to keep Suu Kyi out of the race. One law prohibits anyone convicted of a crime from being a member of a political party and instructs parties to expel convicted members or face de-registration.
Suu Kyi's house arrest was extended last year after she was convicted on charges of violating the terms of her detention when an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside property. She is serving an additional 18-months of house arrest and many top members of her party and ethnic-based parties are in prison. Under the new laws they would be barred from the vote.
The electoral laws set out rules for the vote, but have been widely criticized as designed to keep Suu Kyi out of the race.
One law prohibits anyone convicted of a crime from being a member of a political party and instructs parties to expel convicted members or face de-registration.
The elections will be the first since 1990, when the National League for Democracy won a landslide victory. The junta ignored the results of that vote and has kept the Nobel Peace laureate jailed or under detention for 14 of the past 20 years. No date has been set for the new election.
The junta says the new laws have formally invalidated the results of the 1990 election because the election law under which those laws were held was repealed by the new legislation.
The elections are part of the junta's long-announced "roadmap to democracy," which critics deride as a sham designed to cement the power of the military, which has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962.
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The New Straits Times - Myanmar flees with gold
2010/03/24
By Jason Gerald John
MALACCA: Police are looking for a Myanmar who is believed to have escaped with 3.5kg of gold dust worth RM400,000 from the factory where he was employed at the Krubong Industrial Park here between Sunday night and Monday morning.
Khin Maung Myint, 26, who had the keys to the store where the precious metal was kept, was found missing by his superior, together with the gold dust that was collected from used and rejected electronic products, computer parts and telecommunication devices.
State Criminal Investigation Department chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Adnan Abdullah said Khin had been working with Victory Recovery Sdn Bhd (VRSB), for the past four years.
VRSB is a leading firm specialising in recycling and reclamation of scheduled and non-scheduled industrial waste, ferrous and non-ferrous metal waste and precious metals from electronic production rejects, computer parts and telecommunication equipment.
"We believe that Khin fled from the factory with the gold dust between 7.30pm on Sunday and 8am on Monday," said Adnan.
"Initial investigations showed the worker was not at his workstation when checked by his supervisor on Monday morning. The container where the gold dust was kept had also vanished.
"It is believed that Khin had run away with it as he was the only one holding the store keys where the gold dust was kept."
Adnan urged the public who knew Khin's whereabouts to contact Inspector Ahmad Fahmi Abd Aziz at 012-3069746 or Assistant Superintendent Zabidi Kadir Mohamad at 012-4505020.
2010/03/24
By Jason Gerald John
MALACCA: Police are looking for a Myanmar who is believed to have escaped with 3.5kg of gold dust worth RM400,000 from the factory where he was employed at the Krubong Industrial Park here between Sunday night and Monday morning.
Khin Maung Myint, 26, who had the keys to the store where the precious metal was kept, was found missing by his superior, together with the gold dust that was collected from used and rejected electronic products, computer parts and telecommunication devices.
State Criminal Investigation Department chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Adnan Abdullah said Khin had been working with Victory Recovery Sdn Bhd (VRSB), for the past four years.
VRSB is a leading firm specialising in recycling and reclamation of scheduled and non-scheduled industrial waste, ferrous and non-ferrous metal waste and precious metals from electronic production rejects, computer parts and telecommunication equipment.
"We believe that Khin fled from the factory with the gold dust between 7.30pm on Sunday and 8am on Monday," said Adnan.
"Initial investigations showed the worker was not at his workstation when checked by his supervisor on Monday morning. The container where the gold dust was kept had also vanished.
"It is believed that Khin had run away with it as he was the only one holding the store keys where the gold dust was kept."
Adnan urged the public who knew Khin's whereabouts to contact Inspector Ahmad Fahmi Abd Aziz at 012-3069746 or Assistant Superintendent Zabidi Kadir Mohamad at 012-4505020.
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BANGLADESH: Self-reliant refugees win resettlement
COX’S BAZAR, 24 March 2010 (IRIN) - Khaleda Begum, born and raised in a Rohingya refugee camp in southern Bangladesh, is over the moon.
The 19-year-old and her entire family have just been approved for resettlement in Australia.
“I’m so excited… I know this is a big chance for my family.”
Khaleda has just the sort of profile the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) wants when looking for candidates to resettle out of the two camps for documented Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh; she was the catalyst for her entire family’s approval as well.
Smart and brimming with enthusiasm, Khaleda is a former teaching assistant for a local NGO at Kutupalong camp. She is making significant progress in learning English, and currently volunteers for Handicap International at the camp, while her 14-year-old sister Hasina also works as a volunteer at the camp’s new computer centre.
Begum’s father has always actively encouraged his daughters to complete their education and not to marry too early, making him a role model of sorts in this largely conservative Muslim refugee community.
By prioritizing such families for third country resettlement, UNHCR hopes similar attitudes and behaviour can be reinforced, which also complements initiatives in the camps relating to livelihoods, reproductive health, education and protection.
“The change is undeniable,” Arjun Jain, acting country representative for UNHCR, told IRIN in Dhaka. “The refugees now see and understand the type of people that are being considered for resettlement and want to replicate their behaviour… They understand it goes beyond just the protection issue now, and this allows more people to benefit.”
The third country resettlement process at the two camps began in 2006, but few are selected.
“Less than 1 percent of all refugees worldwide ever have the chance for resettlement, so positively reinforcing such behaviour allows us to benefit more people, and the community,” Jain said.
Positive change
Teenage pregnancy at the two camps has dropped from 11 percent in 2007 to 3.8 percent in 2009, according to UNHCR.
More refugees are now engaged in some form of employment or training in the camps, while a growing number of young people are involved in community awareness issues such as reproductive health.
In short, refugees are aware that becoming more self-reliant will ultimately enhance their future prospects, including resettlement.
“I’m trying to learn to be an electrician,” said 20-year-old Nurl Amin.
Two years ago, hardly any Rohingya in the camps knew how to speak English, but today the desire to learn is very strong.
Parents are increasingly aware that discrimination against girls in terms of education does not benefit their resettlement prospects, UNHCR says, adding that even polygamous marriages in the two camps - currently 10 percent - are down on earlier years as people understand that their prospects for resettlement are limited if they are in such relationships.
Resettlement to date
Since 2006, 171 Rohingya families (749 individuals) have been resettled in third countries, UNHCR reports.
Most went to Canada (278), followed by the UK (166), Australia (126), Ireland (82), New Zealand (50), the USA (24), Sweden (19), and Norway (4).
An additional 102 cases are pending, including 54 cases for the USA.
Between 500 and 1,000 documented Rohinga refugees are being resettled annually from the two official camps.
According to the UNHCR, there are 28,000 documented Rohingya - an ethnic, linguistic and religious minority who fled persecution in neighbouring Myanmar - in the two official refugee camps near the southern coastal town of Cox’s Bazaar: Kutupalong has 11,000, and Nayapara, further south, 17,000.
COX’S BAZAR, 24 March 2010 (IRIN) - Khaleda Begum, born and raised in a Rohingya refugee camp in southern Bangladesh, is over the moon.
The 19-year-old and her entire family have just been approved for resettlement in Australia.
“I’m so excited… I know this is a big chance for my family.”
Khaleda has just the sort of profile the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) wants when looking for candidates to resettle out of the two camps for documented Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh; she was the catalyst for her entire family’s approval as well.
Smart and brimming with enthusiasm, Khaleda is a former teaching assistant for a local NGO at Kutupalong camp. She is making significant progress in learning English, and currently volunteers for Handicap International at the camp, while her 14-year-old sister Hasina also works as a volunteer at the camp’s new computer centre.
Begum’s father has always actively encouraged his daughters to complete their education and not to marry too early, making him a role model of sorts in this largely conservative Muslim refugee community.
By prioritizing such families for third country resettlement, UNHCR hopes similar attitudes and behaviour can be reinforced, which also complements initiatives in the camps relating to livelihoods, reproductive health, education and protection.
“The change is undeniable,” Arjun Jain, acting country representative for UNHCR, told IRIN in Dhaka. “The refugees now see and understand the type of people that are being considered for resettlement and want to replicate their behaviour… They understand it goes beyond just the protection issue now, and this allows more people to benefit.”
The third country resettlement process at the two camps began in 2006, but few are selected.
“Less than 1 percent of all refugees worldwide ever have the chance for resettlement, so positively reinforcing such behaviour allows us to benefit more people, and the community,” Jain said.
Positive change
Teenage pregnancy at the two camps has dropped from 11 percent in 2007 to 3.8 percent in 2009, according to UNHCR.
More refugees are now engaged in some form of employment or training in the camps, while a growing number of young people are involved in community awareness issues such as reproductive health.
In short, refugees are aware that becoming more self-reliant will ultimately enhance their future prospects, including resettlement.
“I’m trying to learn to be an electrician,” said 20-year-old Nurl Amin.
Two years ago, hardly any Rohingya in the camps knew how to speak English, but today the desire to learn is very strong.
Parents are increasingly aware that discrimination against girls in terms of education does not benefit their resettlement prospects, UNHCR says, adding that even polygamous marriages in the two camps - currently 10 percent - are down on earlier years as people understand that their prospects for resettlement are limited if they are in such relationships.
Resettlement to date
Since 2006, 171 Rohingya families (749 individuals) have been resettled in third countries, UNHCR reports.
Most went to Canada (278), followed by the UK (166), Australia (126), Ireland (82), New Zealand (50), the USA (24), Sweden (19), and Norway (4).
An additional 102 cases are pending, including 54 cases for the USA.
Between 500 and 1,000 documented Rohinga refugees are being resettled annually from the two official camps.
According to the UNHCR, there are 28,000 documented Rohingya - an ethnic, linguistic and religious minority who fled persecution in neighbouring Myanmar - in the two official refugee camps near the southern coastal town of Cox’s Bazaar: Kutupalong has 11,000, and Nayapara, further south, 17,000.
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Voters Divided on NLD's Fate
By THE IRRAWADDY - Wednesday, March 24, 2010
A survey of Rangoon residents conducted by The Irrawaddy indicates that voters are divided on whether Burma's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), should contest this year's general election.
Our team in Rangoon questioned 374 eligible voters, including civil servants, who are not affiliated to any political party. Two hundred men and women in the 20-40 age group were surveyed, while 174 were over 40.
In response to the question: “Should the NLD participate in the election?” 166 people out of 374–– over 44 percent––said the NLD should not, while 146 respondents––39 percent––said it should.
Sixty-two respondents did not want to answer the question, with many saying they did not want to put additional pressure on the opposition party.
“Contesting the election means that the NLD is accepting the 2008 constitution,” said a teacher. “The party must understand that, for the sake of the people, it should not accept the constitution. I believe the NLD should not compete in the election. The party still represents the will of the people.”
A 35-year-old engineer said that he did not think the NLD should register for the election because the party has called for, through its Shwegondaing Declaration, the military regime to conduct a review of the Constitution. He said if the NLD decided to take part in the election, it would be annulling its own declaration, which would in turn affect the party's reputation.
“The NLD has to expel Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners from the party in order to compete, so I don't think it should register for the election. It should not accept those conditions,” said a graduate student.
“The NLD cannot contest the election freely, so it should not take part.” said a woman in her 20s.
“The NLD cannot win the election, so it is better that it stays out of it,” said a civil servant.
Of the respondents who said that the NLD should not participate, the most common reason given was because the party was being forced to expel its leader and other political prisoners. The second most common reason was that the Constitution is unacceptable.
However, others favored the NLD participating in the election.
“The NLD has to contest the election in order to maintain its status as a political party. Otherwise it will be dissolved, resulting in greater difficulties for the democracy movement,” a 40-year old IT technician said.
“I think the NLD should register for the election,” said a retired headmaster. “People are on the party's side. If the NLD is dissolved, people will be left without hope. I think the party should consider that.”
Of those respondents who favored the NLD's participating in the election, the most common reasons given were related to the party maintaining its status within the political arena.
Those who declined to answer generally said they would accept the party's decision whatever it may be.
“The NLD is now in the middle of a crisis. We will let the party members decide by themselves and we will support their decision. They are our leaders,” said a 47-year-old female market trader.
“Our collective view may put pressure on the NLD. That's why we should not answer the survey,” said a retired army officer in his 70s. “We have to respect the decision made by the NLD members.”
The NLD has announced that it will hold a ballot among its members on March 29 on whether to compete in the general election or not.
Led by Suu Kyi, the NLD won a landslide victory in the 1990 election, but was never allowed to take power by the military junta.
By THE IRRAWADDY - Wednesday, March 24, 2010
A survey of Rangoon residents conducted by The Irrawaddy indicates that voters are divided on whether Burma's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), should contest this year's general election.
Our team in Rangoon questioned 374 eligible voters, including civil servants, who are not affiliated to any political party. Two hundred men and women in the 20-40 age group were surveyed, while 174 were over 40.
In response to the question: “Should the NLD participate in the election?” 166 people out of 374–– over 44 percent––said the NLD should not, while 146 respondents––39 percent––said it should.
Sixty-two respondents did not want to answer the question, with many saying they did not want to put additional pressure on the opposition party.
“Contesting the election means that the NLD is accepting the 2008 constitution,” said a teacher. “The party must understand that, for the sake of the people, it should not accept the constitution. I believe the NLD should not compete in the election. The party still represents the will of the people.”
A 35-year-old engineer said that he did not think the NLD should register for the election because the party has called for, through its Shwegondaing Declaration, the military regime to conduct a review of the Constitution. He said if the NLD decided to take part in the election, it would be annulling its own declaration, which would in turn affect the party's reputation.
“The NLD has to expel Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners from the party in order to compete, so I don't think it should register for the election. It should not accept those conditions,” said a graduate student.
“The NLD cannot contest the election freely, so it should not take part.” said a woman in her 20s.
“The NLD cannot win the election, so it is better that it stays out of it,” said a civil servant.
Of the respondents who said that the NLD should not participate, the most common reason given was because the party was being forced to expel its leader and other political prisoners. The second most common reason was that the Constitution is unacceptable.
However, others favored the NLD participating in the election.
“The NLD has to contest the election in order to maintain its status as a political party. Otherwise it will be dissolved, resulting in greater difficulties for the democracy movement,” a 40-year old IT technician said.
“I think the NLD should register for the election,” said a retired headmaster. “People are on the party's side. If the NLD is dissolved, people will be left without hope. I think the party should consider that.”
Of those respondents who favored the NLD's participating in the election, the most common reasons given were related to the party maintaining its status within the political arena.
Those who declined to answer generally said they would accept the party's decision whatever it may be.
“The NLD is now in the middle of a crisis. We will let the party members decide by themselves and we will support their decision. They are our leaders,” said a 47-year-old female market trader.
“Our collective view may put pressure on the NLD. That's why we should not answer the survey,” said a retired army officer in his 70s. “We have to respect the decision made by the NLD members.”
The NLD has announced that it will hold a ballot among its members on March 29 on whether to compete in the general election or not.
Led by Suu Kyi, the NLD won a landslide victory in the 1990 election, but was never allowed to take power by the military junta.
********************************************************
‘D-Day’ for Burma
Wednesday, 24 March 2010 17:31 Dr. Tint Swe
(Mizzima) – The long awaited electoral announcement was ultimately made by Burma’s military junta on the occasion of International Women’s Day, and it deliberately barred the Lady of Burma from running for election and even being a member of a political party.
The so-called electoral laws were not passed by legislators but by the office of the coup leaders, so all the laws naturally represent what the military desires and what the opposition opposes.
The military regime has their constitution to guarantee supremacy of the army at all levels of administration; the sham referendum to enshrine the document being held only days after more than 130,000 people died due to a devastating cyclone. Now they have announced electoral laws to bury more people.
The junta also passed a law nine days after the events of September 18, 1988; barring a woman married to a foreigner from headlining Burmese politics. So for the last 20 years all the coup leaders have done is nothing but deal with a single woman.
In the election laws of 1988 members of the armed forces and government employees could not be members of political parties and contest the polls. But that clause was omitted in the new laws, with the constitution instead guaranteeing the military 25 percent of parliamentary seats.
Further, legally registered political parties have to respect the 2008 constitution. The National League for Democracy (NLD) and other ethnic parties leftover from the 1990 election have been asking for a review of the controversial constitution. If that legitimate demand is not met then all those parties cannot register and remain as political parties.
There are ten parties that contested the previous elections presently enjoying legal status. However, according to Article 25 they have to register again before May 7. And according to Chapter II, Article 4 (e) of the Political Parties Registration Law, Aung San Suu Kyi must be excluded as a member of the party. Most people believe that without her the NLD is nothing. The party must thus make its most critical decision in a tightly constructed timeline.
It is indeed a Catch-22 situation. In Burmese it is the example of a thorn apple, or datura stramonium – your hand will be hurt if you hold it and you will be mad if you swallow it. Most of the opposition would rather bleed than be hoodwinked by the junta.
After announcing the laws, the regime reopened all NLD offices sealed since 2003. It was an act not of relaxation but meant to press the NLD to register so as to offer the spectrum of an inclusive election as demanded by the international community. Wanting the NLD’s participation in the election cannot be interpreted as positive. The regime has placed a trap.
NLD General Secretary and Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is against her party being registered with the Election Commission because the electoral regulations are unjust. She is fighting for justice and freedom. Those who believe an election as an opportunity will go against her raison d'être. Meanwhile, township NLD offices are one-by-one giving notice of their support for Daw Suu’s stand.
On March 29th all headlines will tell of the NLD’s decision. The NLD party looks divided and the Senior General is smiling. The destiny of the pro-democracy struggle depends on the wisdom of NLD leadership.
There are political veterans, some youth and political opportunists who are desperate to play the game as set by the junta. For them a seat in parliament is better than democracy and freedom. They are happy to swallow the thorn apple.
(Dr. Tint Swe was elected as NLD MP in the 1990 elections and lives in New Delhi.)
Wednesday, 24 March 2010 17:31 Dr. Tint Swe
(Mizzima) – The long awaited electoral announcement was ultimately made by Burma’s military junta on the occasion of International Women’s Day, and it deliberately barred the Lady of Burma from running for election and even being a member of a political party.
The so-called electoral laws were not passed by legislators but by the office of the coup leaders, so all the laws naturally represent what the military desires and what the opposition opposes.
The military regime has their constitution to guarantee supremacy of the army at all levels of administration; the sham referendum to enshrine the document being held only days after more than 130,000 people died due to a devastating cyclone. Now they have announced electoral laws to bury more people.
The junta also passed a law nine days after the events of September 18, 1988; barring a woman married to a foreigner from headlining Burmese politics. So for the last 20 years all the coup leaders have done is nothing but deal with a single woman.
In the election laws of 1988 members of the armed forces and government employees could not be members of political parties and contest the polls. But that clause was omitted in the new laws, with the constitution instead guaranteeing the military 25 percent of parliamentary seats.
Further, legally registered political parties have to respect the 2008 constitution. The National League for Democracy (NLD) and other ethnic parties leftover from the 1990 election have been asking for a review of the controversial constitution. If that legitimate demand is not met then all those parties cannot register and remain as political parties.
There are ten parties that contested the previous elections presently enjoying legal status. However, according to Article 25 they have to register again before May 7. And according to Chapter II, Article 4 (e) of the Political Parties Registration Law, Aung San Suu Kyi must be excluded as a member of the party. Most people believe that without her the NLD is nothing. The party must thus make its most critical decision in a tightly constructed timeline.
It is indeed a Catch-22 situation. In Burmese it is the example of a thorn apple, or datura stramonium – your hand will be hurt if you hold it and you will be mad if you swallow it. Most of the opposition would rather bleed than be hoodwinked by the junta.
After announcing the laws, the regime reopened all NLD offices sealed since 2003. It was an act not of relaxation but meant to press the NLD to register so as to offer the spectrum of an inclusive election as demanded by the international community. Wanting the NLD’s participation in the election cannot be interpreted as positive. The regime has placed a trap.
NLD General Secretary and Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is against her party being registered with the Election Commission because the electoral regulations are unjust. She is fighting for justice and freedom. Those who believe an election as an opportunity will go against her raison d'être. Meanwhile, township NLD offices are one-by-one giving notice of their support for Daw Suu’s stand.
On March 29th all headlines will tell of the NLD’s decision. The NLD party looks divided and the Senior General is smiling. The destiny of the pro-democracy struggle depends on the wisdom of NLD leadership.
There are political veterans, some youth and political opportunists who are desperate to play the game as set by the junta. For them a seat in parliament is better than democracy and freedom. They are happy to swallow the thorn apple.
(Dr. Tint Swe was elected as NLD MP in the 1990 elections and lives in New Delhi.)
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Protests in the offing if NLD re-registers
Wednesday, 24 March 2010 21:33 Kyaw Kha
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - If the, National League for Democracy, re-registers with the Election Commission, members of the party from 24 townships will revolt and protest the party decision.
“According to sources, members of NLD in Insein Township from Rangoon Division, the members of NLD in 19 townships from Bago Division, and the members of NLD in four townships from Mandalay Divisions will object to the possible re-registration of the party and urge responsible townships’ leaders to stand by the Shwegondaing declaration.
Myat Hla, the chairman of Bago Township, told Mizzima, “We, NLD members from Bago Division complained on March 18. Four Townships from Taung Ngoo District, seven Townships from Bago District, and eight Townships from Tharyarwaddy District have already complained against a possible party registration. After we have collected the opinions of the members from the rest of the Townships within Bago Division, we will submit it to the central party leadership. Our deadline is 27 March.”
In the statement of the Bago Division, they have decided to protest if NLD steps away from the Shwegodine declaration and decides to contest in the election.
The NLD chairman of Meiktila Township, a 1990-elect MP, Dr Thein Lwin said, “Ya Me Thin, Meiktila, Wan Twin, and Thazi Townships from Mandalay Division have also protested against any move to re-register”.
“If the party re-registers without the approval of Aung San Suu Kyi, we can’t accept it. We have decided to urge the Central Executive Committee to stand by the Shwegondaing Declaration,” he said.
Dr Thein Lwin added, “NLD is Aung San Suu Kyi and Aung San Suu Kyi is NLD. That’s why we can’t accept it without her approval”.
Khin Maung Shein’s lawyer who is also a NLD member of Insein Township (Rangoon Division) said, “the statement of Insein Township mentions that we complained against some of the CEC members’ reported desire to re-register the party because the junta has not accepted the demands of the Shwegondaing Declaration such as “reviewing and amending the 2008 constitution”, “to release all political prisoners”, and “to initiate a political dialogue”. The electoral laws don’t lead to national reconciliation. That’s why we complained.”
Khin Saw Htay, from Magway Division said when they carried out a survey in the villages of Magway Division, all of them were against re-registration of the party.
She added, “In Yay Nan Chaung and Chauk Townships, there is only one party (NLD) that fights for the rights of people, so they rely on the NLD and they don’t want NLD to accept junta’s control.”
The meeting of members form Magway Division will be held at 26 March, in Rangoon. The meeting of members from Yay Nan Chaung Township was held today.
They will submit the protest notes to the central party on 27 March. On 29 March, members of the Central Executive Committee and members of Central Committee from Divisions/States will discuss the issue at the Rangoon main office and will decide whether NLD will register at all.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the General Secretary of the party, who is under house arrest, communicated to her lawyers that she can’t accept the junta’s one-sided unjust electoral laws.
Wednesday, 24 March 2010 21:33 Kyaw Kha
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - If the, National League for Democracy, re-registers with the Election Commission, members of the party from 24 townships will revolt and protest the party decision.
“According to sources, members of NLD in Insein Township from Rangoon Division, the members of NLD in 19 townships from Bago Division, and the members of NLD in four townships from Mandalay Divisions will object to the possible re-registration of the party and urge responsible townships’ leaders to stand by the Shwegondaing declaration.
Myat Hla, the chairman of Bago Township, told Mizzima, “We, NLD members from Bago Division complained on March 18. Four Townships from Taung Ngoo District, seven Townships from Bago District, and eight Townships from Tharyarwaddy District have already complained against a possible party registration. After we have collected the opinions of the members from the rest of the Townships within Bago Division, we will submit it to the central party leadership. Our deadline is 27 March.”
In the statement of the Bago Division, they have decided to protest if NLD steps away from the Shwegodine declaration and decides to contest in the election.
The NLD chairman of Meiktila Township, a 1990-elect MP, Dr Thein Lwin said, “Ya Me Thin, Meiktila, Wan Twin, and Thazi Townships from Mandalay Division have also protested against any move to re-register”.
“If the party re-registers without the approval of Aung San Suu Kyi, we can’t accept it. We have decided to urge the Central Executive Committee to stand by the Shwegondaing Declaration,” he said.
Dr Thein Lwin added, “NLD is Aung San Suu Kyi and Aung San Suu Kyi is NLD. That’s why we can’t accept it without her approval”.
Khin Maung Shein’s lawyer who is also a NLD member of Insein Township (Rangoon Division) said, “the statement of Insein Township mentions that we complained against some of the CEC members’ reported desire to re-register the party because the junta has not accepted the demands of the Shwegondaing Declaration such as “reviewing and amending the 2008 constitution”, “to release all political prisoners”, and “to initiate a political dialogue”. The electoral laws don’t lead to national reconciliation. That’s why we complained.”
Khin Saw Htay, from Magway Division said when they carried out a survey in the villages of Magway Division, all of them were against re-registration of the party.
She added, “In Yay Nan Chaung and Chauk Townships, there is only one party (NLD) that fights for the rights of people, so they rely on the NLD and they don’t want NLD to accept junta’s control.”
The meeting of members form Magway Division will be held at 26 March, in Rangoon. The meeting of members from Yay Nan Chaung Township was held today.
They will submit the protest notes to the central party on 27 March. On 29 March, members of the Central Executive Committee and members of Central Committee from Divisions/States will discuss the issue at the Rangoon main office and will decide whether NLD will register at all.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the General Secretary of the party, who is under house arrest, communicated to her lawyers that she can’t accept the junta’s one-sided unjust electoral laws.
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DVB News - ‘Third Force’ parties register for election
By AHUNT PHONE MYAT
Published: 24 March 2010
Some political parties including so-called Third Force parties have begun to register for Burma’s upcoming elections after the ruling junta last week announced regulations for political parties registration.
Aye Lwin of Union of Myanmar Federation of National Politics (UMFNP) said registration forms for his party and 88 Generation Students and Youths-Union of Myanmar, led by his younger brother Ye Htun, were submitted to the Election Committee in the capital Naypyidaw Monday.
“We have submitted applications to form political parties as provided in the [Election] Laws. I applied for the registration of the Union of Myanmar Federation of National Politics,” said Aye Lwin.
“The 88 Generation Students and Youths-Union of Myanmar led by Ye Htun will stand as a separate party.”
Aye Lwin, known to have close ties with the ruling State Peace and Development Council, was a student activist in 1988 uprising against the military rule. Later, he switched sides and started running campaigns against international sanctions on Burma under the banner of 88 Generation Students –Union of Myanmar, in contrast with prominent pro-democracy 88 Generation Students led by Min Ko Naing.
Thu Wei, chairman of another Third Force group the Democratic Party said the group has decided to enter registration and stand for the election.
“We summoned a Central Executive Committee meeting on Sunday and concluded to register,” said Thu Wei.
“We are to send a representative among our CEC members to travel to Naypyidaw and submit our application.”
Other Third Force groups planning to register for the election are – Diversity and Unity party led by Nay Myo Wei, a yet to be named group led by former 88 generation student activists Phyo Min Thein and Thein Tin Aung and the Union Democracy Party led by Shan politician Shwe Ohn.
Currently, about nine political groups are preparing to enter the elections.
Meanwhile, the main opposition National League for Democracy is to decide on March 29 on whether to register and stand for the elections or not. Regulation for political party registration pointed in the Election Laws requires the group to expel its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
She recently told her lawyers she would not even think of registering for elections but added she would let the party decide for itself whether or not to participate.
By AHUNT PHONE MYAT
Published: 24 March 2010
Some political parties including so-called Third Force parties have begun to register for Burma’s upcoming elections after the ruling junta last week announced regulations for political parties registration.
Aye Lwin of Union of Myanmar Federation of National Politics (UMFNP) said registration forms for his party and 88 Generation Students and Youths-Union of Myanmar, led by his younger brother Ye Htun, were submitted to the Election Committee in the capital Naypyidaw Monday.
“We have submitted applications to form political parties as provided in the [Election] Laws. I applied for the registration of the Union of Myanmar Federation of National Politics,” said Aye Lwin.
“The 88 Generation Students and Youths-Union of Myanmar led by Ye Htun will stand as a separate party.”
Aye Lwin, known to have close ties with the ruling State Peace and Development Council, was a student activist in 1988 uprising against the military rule. Later, he switched sides and started running campaigns against international sanctions on Burma under the banner of 88 Generation Students –Union of Myanmar, in contrast with prominent pro-democracy 88 Generation Students led by Min Ko Naing.
Thu Wei, chairman of another Third Force group the Democratic Party said the group has decided to enter registration and stand for the election.
“We summoned a Central Executive Committee meeting on Sunday and concluded to register,” said Thu Wei.
“We are to send a representative among our CEC members to travel to Naypyidaw and submit our application.”
Other Third Force groups planning to register for the election are – Diversity and Unity party led by Nay Myo Wei, a yet to be named group led by former 88 generation student activists Phyo Min Thein and Thein Tin Aung and the Union Democracy Party led by Shan politician Shwe Ohn.
Currently, about nine political groups are preparing to enter the elections.
Meanwhile, the main opposition National League for Democracy is to decide on March 29 on whether to register and stand for the elections or not. Regulation for political party registration pointed in the Election Laws requires the group to expel its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
She recently told her lawyers she would not even think of registering for elections but added she would let the party decide for itself whether or not to participate.
