Law bars Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi from elections
Wed Mar 10, 3:22 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar's military rulers have barred pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from running in upcoming elections and may force her own political party to expel her under a new election law unveiled Wednesday.
The Political Parties Registration Law, published in official newspapers, prohibits anyone convicted by a court of law from joining a political party, making them ineligible to become a candidate.
It also instructs parties to expel members who are "not in conformity with the qualification to be members of a party," a clause that could force Suu Kyi's expulsion. Parties that don't register automatically cease to exist, the law says.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention, was convicted last August of violating the terms of her house arrest by briefly sheltering an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside residence. She was sentenced to a new term of house arrest that is to end this November.
The sentence was seen as a way to keep Suu Kyi locked up during the election campaign. Last month, the Supreme Court dismissed her latest appeal for freedom.
The new election law was immediately criticized by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party and by the United States and Britain.
League Deputy Chairman Tin Oo called the law unfair, politically motivated and designed to restrict activities of the party, which has already been battered by arrests and harassment.
"The fact that (party) registration will be allowed only after expulsion of a convicted member is too much. This is politically motivated" toward Suu Kyi, he told reporters.
The junta enacted five election-related laws Monday, two of which have now been made public. Three more are to be unveiled in coming days.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Suu Kyi should be released from house arrest so she can "play an active role in the political life of the country going forward."
"We've seen the first of five (laws). I think it would be fair to say that what we've seen so far is disappointing and regrettable," Campbell said during a visit to Malaysia.
The registration law says existing political parties have 60 days from Monday to register with an Election Committee whose members are to be appointed by the junta. The government currently recognizes 10 parties.
The law also bars members of religious orders and civil servants from joining political parties.
The date of the elections has not been announced, and Suu Kyi's party has not said whether it will contest the balloting.
The government announced in 2008 that elections will take place sometime in 2010. The last elections in 1990 were won overwhelmingly by Suu Kyi's party, but the military refused to hand over power.
Her party says the new constitution of 2008 is unfair and gives the military controlling say in government.
Suu Kyi's lawyer and a senior party member, Nyan Win, said the new law also bars people who have lodged an appeal against a conviction, which he said "clearly refers" to Suu Kyi.
"It is very unfair that a party member serving a prison term for his or her political convictions has to be expelled from the party. This clause amounts to interfering in party internal affairs," said Aung Thein, a lawyer who has defended activists in the country. He said the provision would exclude many pro-democracy individuals who have been imprisoned for their beliefs.
Human rights groups say the junta has jailed about 2,100 political prisoners.
It was widely assumed that Suu Kyi would be shut out since a provision in the constitution bars anyone with foreign ties from taking part in elections. Suu Kyi's now-deceased husband was British, her two sons have British citizenship, and she has been described by the junta as enjoying special links with Britain.
"We're going to need to study the election laws carefully once they've all been released," British Ambassador Andrew Heyn said. "But it's regrettable and very disappointing that the laws are not based on a dialogue with a range of political opinion."
He stressed that the release of political prisoners, freedom for all to participate in the elections, freedom to campaign and access to media are essential for the elections to be credible.
Wed Mar 10, 3:22 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar's military rulers have barred pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from running in upcoming elections and may force her own political party to expel her under a new election law unveiled Wednesday.
The Political Parties Registration Law, published in official newspapers, prohibits anyone convicted by a court of law from joining a political party, making them ineligible to become a candidate.
It also instructs parties to expel members who are "not in conformity with the qualification to be members of a party," a clause that could force Suu Kyi's expulsion. Parties that don't register automatically cease to exist, the law says.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention, was convicted last August of violating the terms of her house arrest by briefly sheltering an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside residence. She was sentenced to a new term of house arrest that is to end this November.
The sentence was seen as a way to keep Suu Kyi locked up during the election campaign. Last month, the Supreme Court dismissed her latest appeal for freedom.
The new election law was immediately criticized by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party and by the United States and Britain.
League Deputy Chairman Tin Oo called the law unfair, politically motivated and designed to restrict activities of the party, which has already been battered by arrests and harassment.
"The fact that (party) registration will be allowed only after expulsion of a convicted member is too much. This is politically motivated" toward Suu Kyi, he told reporters.
The junta enacted five election-related laws Monday, two of which have now been made public. Three more are to be unveiled in coming days.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Suu Kyi should be released from house arrest so she can "play an active role in the political life of the country going forward."
"We've seen the first of five (laws). I think it would be fair to say that what we've seen so far is disappointing and regrettable," Campbell said during a visit to Malaysia.
The registration law says existing political parties have 60 days from Monday to register with an Election Committee whose members are to be appointed by the junta. The government currently recognizes 10 parties.
The law also bars members of religious orders and civil servants from joining political parties.
The date of the elections has not been announced, and Suu Kyi's party has not said whether it will contest the balloting.
The government announced in 2008 that elections will take place sometime in 2010. The last elections in 1990 were won overwhelmingly by Suu Kyi's party, but the military refused to hand over power.
Her party says the new constitution of 2008 is unfair and gives the military controlling say in government.
Suu Kyi's lawyer and a senior party member, Nyan Win, said the new law also bars people who have lodged an appeal against a conviction, which he said "clearly refers" to Suu Kyi.
"It is very unfair that a party member serving a prison term for his or her political convictions has to be expelled from the party. This clause amounts to interfering in party internal affairs," said Aung Thein, a lawyer who has defended activists in the country. He said the provision would exclude many pro-democracy individuals who have been imprisoned for their beliefs.
Human rights groups say the junta has jailed about 2,100 political prisoners.
It was widely assumed that Suu Kyi would be shut out since a provision in the constitution bars anyone with foreign ties from taking part in elections. Suu Kyi's now-deceased husband was British, her two sons have British citizenship, and she has been described by the junta as enjoying special links with Britain.
"We're going to need to study the election laws carefully once they've all been released," British Ambassador Andrew Heyn said. "But it's regrettable and very disappointing that the laws are not based on a dialogue with a range of political opinion."
He stressed that the release of political prisoners, freedom for all to participate in the elections, freedom to campaign and access to media are essential for the elections to be credible.
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UK, US criticize new Myanmar law that bars democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from elections
04:35 PM Mar 10, 2010
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - The U.S. and Great Britain have immediately voiced criticism to a new law set my by Myanmar's military rulers that bars pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from running in upcoming elections.
The law, which also may force Suu Kyi's own political party to expel her was unveiled Wednesday.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, speaking in Malaysia, reiterated the U.S. stance that Suu Kyi should be released from house arrest so she can "play an active role in the political life of the country going forward."
Meanwhile, British Ambassador Andrew Heyn said it's regrettable and very disappointing that the laws are not based on a dialogue with a range of political opinion.
04:35 PM Mar 10, 2010
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - The U.S. and Great Britain have immediately voiced criticism to a new law set my by Myanmar's military rulers that bars pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from running in upcoming elections.
The law, which also may force Suu Kyi's own political party to expel her was unveiled Wednesday.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, speaking in Malaysia, reiterated the U.S. stance that Suu Kyi should be released from house arrest so she can "play an active role in the political life of the country going forward."
Meanwhile, British Ambassador Andrew Heyn said it's regrettable and very disappointing that the laws are not based on a dialogue with a range of political opinion.
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Aung San Suu Kyi to be barred from polls and party
Wed Mar 10, 8:49 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been barred from standing in polls this yearand may be excluded from her own party under the military junta's new election laws unveiled on Wednesday.
In a move branded "disappointing and regrettable" by the United States, the regime said in a law printed for the first time in state newspapers that anyone serving a prison term cannot be a member of a political party.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) -- which won Myanmar's last elections in 1990 but was stopped from taking power by the junta -- would in turn be abolished if it failed to obey the rules.
The Nobel Peace laureate was sentenced to three years' jail in August over an incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside home. Suu Kyi's sentence was commuted by junta supremo Than Shwe to 18 months under house arrest.
"I have noticed that we have to expel Daw Suu. Their attitude is clear in this law," NLD spokesman Nyan Win told AFP, using a respectful form of address to refer to Suu Kyi.
"I was extremely surprised when I saw this, I did not think it would be so bad."
The Political Parties Registration Act also gives the NLD just 60 days from Monday, when the law was enacted, to register as a party if it wants to take part in the elections, or else face dissolution.
The NLD has yet to announce whether it will take part in the polls promised by the junta, which are expected in October or November although the government has still not set a date.
"The NLD also needs to reply clearly but I cannot say how we will respond," Nyan Win said.
Critics have dismissed the polls as a sham aimed at legitimising the military's nearly five-decade grip on power and giving the appearance of democratic reform in the face of international sanctions.
The 64-year-old Suu Kyi 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 constitution reserves a quarter of all parliamentary seats for the military.
"What I can say now is the law is meant to safeguard the constitution. It will be a very big problem for us as they asked us to obey a constitution that we cannot accept," Nyan Win added.
A senior NLD official speaking on condition of anonymity said the party was expected to register anyway, noting that Suu Kyi was not officially a member for the 1990 elections either.
"I think no party members want to dissolve the party because of this law," the official said.
The new law effectively also prevents more than 2,100 political prisoners from taking part in the elections.
It bars people from any religious order -- including Buddhist monks -- and members of the civil service from standing. Monks led mass protests in 2007, which the regime suppressed with the loss of at least 31 lives.
The act is the second of five laws to have been enacted on Monday ahead of the polls.
The first law, details of which were revealed Tuesday, stipulates that the regime itself will hand-pick members of the electoral commission.
The United States expressed concerns over the new laws and reiterated calls for Suu Kyi's release.
"We would like to see steps taken by the government to encourage domestic dialogue in anticipation and in advance of the elections," US regional envoy Kurt Campbell said in Malaysia, as part of a tour of Southeast Asia.
"I think it would be fair to say what we have seen so far is disappointing and regrettable," Campbell said.
Aung Din from the US Campaign for Burma, which uses Myanmar's former name, urged worldwide action in response to the new laws.
"Now, the ball is in the court of the United Nations, United States, and the international community, who have been repeatedly calling for the regime to make an inclusive, free and fair election," said Aung Din.
Thailand-based analyst Aung Naing Oo said the new law was a big blow to the NLD because Suu Kyi had always been its most important part, but added: "The NLD strategy is survival, I think they will get themselves registered."
Wed Mar 10, 8:49 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been barred from standing in polls this yearand may be excluded from her own party under the military junta's new election laws unveiled on Wednesday.
In a move branded "disappointing and regrettable" by the United States, the regime said in a law printed for the first time in state newspapers that anyone serving a prison term cannot be a member of a political party.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) -- which won Myanmar's last elections in 1990 but was stopped from taking power by the junta -- would in turn be abolished if it failed to obey the rules.
The Nobel Peace laureate was sentenced to three years' jail in August over an incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside home. Suu Kyi's sentence was commuted by junta supremo Than Shwe to 18 months under house arrest.
"I have noticed that we have to expel Daw Suu. Their attitude is clear in this law," NLD spokesman Nyan Win told AFP, using a respectful form of address to refer to Suu Kyi.
"I was extremely surprised when I saw this, I did not think it would be so bad."
The Political Parties Registration Act also gives the NLD just 60 days from Monday, when the law was enacted, to register as a party if it wants to take part in the elections, or else face dissolution.
The NLD has yet to announce whether it will take part in the polls promised by the junta, which are expected in October or November although the government has still not set a date.
"The NLD also needs to reply clearly but I cannot say how we will respond," Nyan Win said.
Critics have dismissed the polls as a sham aimed at legitimising the military's nearly five-decade grip on power and giving the appearance of democratic reform in the face of international sanctions.
The 64-year-old Suu Kyi 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 constitution reserves a quarter of all parliamentary seats for the military.
"What I can say now is the law is meant to safeguard the constitution. It will be a very big problem for us as they asked us to obey a constitution that we cannot accept," Nyan Win added.
A senior NLD official speaking on condition of anonymity said the party was expected to register anyway, noting that Suu Kyi was not officially a member for the 1990 elections either.
"I think no party members want to dissolve the party because of this law," the official said.
The new law effectively also prevents more than 2,100 political prisoners from taking part in the elections.
It bars people from any religious order -- including Buddhist monks -- and members of the civil service from standing. Monks led mass protests in 2007, which the regime suppressed with the loss of at least 31 lives.
The act is the second of five laws to have been enacted on Monday ahead of the polls.
The first law, details of which were revealed Tuesday, stipulates that the regime itself will hand-pick members of the electoral commission.
The United States expressed concerns over the new laws and reiterated calls for Suu Kyi's release.
"We would like to see steps taken by the government to encourage domestic dialogue in anticipation and in advance of the elections," US regional envoy Kurt Campbell said in Malaysia, as part of a tour of Southeast Asia.
"I think it would be fair to say what we have seen so far is disappointing and regrettable," Campbell said.
Aung Din from the US Campaign for Burma, which uses Myanmar's former name, urged worldwide action in response to the new laws.
"Now, the ball is in the court of the United Nations, United States, and the international community, who have been repeatedly calling for the regime to make an inclusive, free and fair election," said Aung Din.
Thailand-based analyst Aung Naing Oo said the new law was a big blow to the NLD because Suu Kyi had always been its most important part, but added: "The NLD strategy is survival, I think they will get themselves registered."
********************************************************
US says Myanmar election law 'disappointing, regrettable'
1 hr 44 mins ago
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Myanmar election laws that bar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from standing in polls this year are "disappointing and regrettable", US envoy Kurt Campbell said Wednesday.
"I think it would be fair to say what we have seen so far is disappointing and regrettable," Campbell told a press conference during a visit to Malaysia, part of a tour of Southeast Asia.
Campbell reiterated calls for the release of Suu Kyi, who has been detained for 14 of the last 20 years since the military junta annulled 1990 elections which her National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide.
"We stand by our continuing statements about having her released and playing an active and full role inside the country," he said.
"We want her to play an active role in the political life of the country going forward."
The US has led calls from governments and human rights groups for the Myanmar junta to ensure the credibility of elections planned for this year by making the process fair and inclusive.
"We would like to see steps taken by the government to encourage domestic dialogue in anticipation and in advance of the elections," Campbell said.
However, newly released elections laws have lent weight to criticism that the polls will be a sham aimed at legitimising and entrenching the military's nearly five-decade grip on power.
Under one of the laws, Suu Kyi faces expulsion from her own party and is barred from standing in the polls -- for which a date has not yet been set -- an NLD spokesman said Wednesday.
1 hr 44 mins ago
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Myanmar election laws that bar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from standing in polls this year are "disappointing and regrettable", US envoy Kurt Campbell said Wednesday.
"I think it would be fair to say what we have seen so far is disappointing and regrettable," Campbell told a press conference during a visit to Malaysia, part of a tour of Southeast Asia.
Campbell reiterated calls for the release of Suu Kyi, who has been detained for 14 of the last 20 years since the military junta annulled 1990 elections which her National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide.
"We stand by our continuing statements about having her released and playing an active and full role inside the country," he said.
"We want her to play an active role in the political life of the country going forward."
The US has led calls from governments and human rights groups for the Myanmar junta to ensure the credibility of elections planned for this year by making the process fair and inclusive.
"We would like to see steps taken by the government to encourage domestic dialogue in anticipation and in advance of the elections," Campbell said.
However, newly released elections laws have lent weight to criticism that the polls will be a sham aimed at legitimising and entrenching the military's nearly five-decade grip on power.
Under one of the laws, Suu Kyi faces expulsion from her own party and is barred from standing in the polls -- for which a date has not yet been set -- an NLD spokesman said Wednesday.
********************************************************
Western sanctions fuel rare strikes in Myanmar
Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:18am IST
By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON (Reuters) - Western sanctions that have decimated Myanmar's once-thriving garment sector have led to a rare spate of strikes that have unnerved its military rulers, fearful of civil unrest in the run-up to long-awaited elections.
Four South Korean-owned factories were brought to a halt for several days last week and another on Monday by sit-in protests by more than 3,000 workers demanding better working conditions and higher pay, demands owners say they cannot meet.
They were among 20 garment factories in the commercial capital, Yangon, that have suffered strikes since Feb. 8.
"We are doing our best to help the workers and management negotiate and reach an agreement," a senior Labour Ministry official told Reuters.
"The security measures imposed around the factories are not meant to suppress the strikes but just to contain them so that there will not be any infiltration from outside and the strike will not grow into civil unrest," he added.
Strikes and other forms of protests are rare in Myanmar, where small demonstrations over increases in fuel and cooking gas prices in 2007 mushroomed into countrywide marches by Buddhist monks, sparking a crackdown in which at least 31 people died.
Analysts and diplomats say the government appears to be especially sensitive to the risk of unrest with elections scheduled for this year under the a seven-step "roadmap to democracy" drawn up by the junta.
The workers say their aims are not political.
"Our strike was nothing to do with democracy or elections," said factory worker Khin Kyaw. "None of us wants our factories to close down. If that happens, we workers and our families would be hit worse than our employers."
CRIPPLING SANCTIONS
Myanmar's garment industry has shrunk by an estimated 75 percent since sanctions were imposed in 2001 by the United States, the sector's biggest market and the main source of the $816 million in revenue generated that year.
Trade embargoes led to a sharp fall in the years that followed and the latest figure, for fiscal 2008/09 (April-March), was $292 million.
Many Western governments admit sanctions, imposed because of Myanmar's poor human rights record, have had only a limited impact on the rich ruling generals. Meanwhile, many ordinary citizens are struggling to make ends meet.
The Labour Ministry estimates Myanmar had 400 garment factories employing 300,000 workers in 2000, now down to 120 factories and with a combined total of 60,000 staff.
There is little hope of business picking up, with increased competition from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, which are less bureaucratic and offer low costs and cheap labour.
Those countries are also entitled to the European Union's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), reduced trade tariffs not available to Myanmar because of sanctions on the regime.
"The shrinking market has hit us a lot. To make matters worse, we are not entitled to GSP ... which can make your profit rise by 11 percent to 17 percent," Myint Soe, chairman of Myanmar's Garment Entrepreneurs Association, told Reuters.
Monthly salaries of Myanmar garment workers range from 35,000 to 45,000 kyat (about $35 to $45) compared with the $65 monthly minimum wage of their Vietnamese counterparts.
Along with hundreds of riot police, the government has dispatched Labour Ministry officials to help negotiate an end to the recent strikes, but factory owners say they have little room to manoeuvre and fear the worst.
"If they can agree an increase of 5,000 kyat, it's okay, we can adjust it," said one owner, who asked not to be identified. "But if they demand more than that, we won't break even and our last resort will be to close the factory."
Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:18am IST
By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON (Reuters) - Western sanctions that have decimated Myanmar's once-thriving garment sector have led to a rare spate of strikes that have unnerved its military rulers, fearful of civil unrest in the run-up to long-awaited elections.
Four South Korean-owned factories were brought to a halt for several days last week and another on Monday by sit-in protests by more than 3,000 workers demanding better working conditions and higher pay, demands owners say they cannot meet.
They were among 20 garment factories in the commercial capital, Yangon, that have suffered strikes since Feb. 8.
"We are doing our best to help the workers and management negotiate and reach an agreement," a senior Labour Ministry official told Reuters.
"The security measures imposed around the factories are not meant to suppress the strikes but just to contain them so that there will not be any infiltration from outside and the strike will not grow into civil unrest," he added.
Strikes and other forms of protests are rare in Myanmar, where small demonstrations over increases in fuel and cooking gas prices in 2007 mushroomed into countrywide marches by Buddhist monks, sparking a crackdown in which at least 31 people died.
Analysts and diplomats say the government appears to be especially sensitive to the risk of unrest with elections scheduled for this year under the a seven-step "roadmap to democracy" drawn up by the junta.
The workers say their aims are not political.
"Our strike was nothing to do with democracy or elections," said factory worker Khin Kyaw. "None of us wants our factories to close down. If that happens, we workers and our families would be hit worse than our employers."
CRIPPLING SANCTIONS
Myanmar's garment industry has shrunk by an estimated 75 percent since sanctions were imposed in 2001 by the United States, the sector's biggest market and the main source of the $816 million in revenue generated that year.
Trade embargoes led to a sharp fall in the years that followed and the latest figure, for fiscal 2008/09 (April-March), was $292 million.
Many Western governments admit sanctions, imposed because of Myanmar's poor human rights record, have had only a limited impact on the rich ruling generals. Meanwhile, many ordinary citizens are struggling to make ends meet.
The Labour Ministry estimates Myanmar had 400 garment factories employing 300,000 workers in 2000, now down to 120 factories and with a combined total of 60,000 staff.
There is little hope of business picking up, with increased competition from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, which are less bureaucratic and offer low costs and cheap labour.
Those countries are also entitled to the European Union's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), reduced trade tariffs not available to Myanmar because of sanctions on the regime.
"The shrinking market has hit us a lot. To make matters worse, we are not entitled to GSP ... which can make your profit rise by 11 percent to 17 percent," Myint Soe, chairman of Myanmar's Garment Entrepreneurs Association, told Reuters.
Monthly salaries of Myanmar garment workers range from 35,000 to 45,000 kyat (about $35 to $45) compared with the $65 monthly minimum wage of their Vietnamese counterparts.
Along with hundreds of riot police, the government has dispatched Labour Ministry officials to help negotiate an end to the recent strikes, but factory owners say they have little room to manoeuvre and fear the worst.
"If they can agree an increase of 5,000 kyat, it's okay, we can adjust it," said one owner, who asked not to be identified. "But if they demand more than that, we won't break even and our last resort will be to close the factory."
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Myanmar Opposition Weighs Joining Election After Suu Kyi Banned
By Daniel Ten Kate
March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar’s opposition party will begin assessing election laws announced yesterday that ban detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, a spokesman for the party said.
“These laws make it very, very difficult for the National League for Democracy to participate,” said Moe Zaw Oo, a Thailand-based spokesman for the exiled wing of the party.
“They are a very big disappointment. The future is unforeseeable.”
The party’s central committee in Myanmar will analyze the laws and decide whether to participate, he said. The regulations prohibit political prisoners from standing and give political parties 60 days to register or face dissolution.
Excluding Suu Kyi and some 2,100 other political prisoners from the election may set back U.S. President Barack Obama’s attempts to engage with Myanmar’s military, which has ruled the country formerly known as Burma since 1962. The U.S. has sent senior envoys to Myanmar recently to push for a dialogue that would lead to political reconciliation.
“We remain skeptical that the elections planned for this year will be credible, and we urge the authorities to begin a genuine political dialogue with all stakeholders as a first step towards credible elections,” U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley told reporters in Washington yesterday.
The election laws say that political parties must pledge to uphold a constitution approved in a 2008 referendum in which voters weren’t allowed to cast ballots in secret. The constitution, approved by 92 percent of voters, includes a clause effectively barring Suu Kyi from holding office.
UN Demands Transparency
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote to junta leader Senior General Than Shwe last month emphasizing that the election must be held in a “transparent manner.” Yesterday he called on Myanmar to release all political prisoners and allow them to participate in the elections.
Suu Kyi, 64, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention, had her house arrest order extended for 18 months in August after a court found her guilty of violating her detention terms, a decision that would ensure her being excluded from the elections. Myanmar’s Supreme Court last month rejected her appeal against the extension.
The election would be the first since the 1990 contest won by Suu Kyi’s party, a result the military rejected. The government hasn’t set a date for the ballot.
The U.S. has repeatedly called on the junta to release political prisoners before the election. Obama is pursuing a policy of engaging with the military leaders while maintaining trade and financial sanctions that are aimed at pressing the junta to make democratic changes in the country of more than 48 million people.
By Daniel Ten Kate
March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar’s opposition party will begin assessing election laws announced yesterday that ban detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, a spokesman for the party said.
“These laws make it very, very difficult for the National League for Democracy to participate,” said Moe Zaw Oo, a Thailand-based spokesman for the exiled wing of the party.
“They are a very big disappointment. The future is unforeseeable.”
The party’s central committee in Myanmar will analyze the laws and decide whether to participate, he said. The regulations prohibit political prisoners from standing and give political parties 60 days to register or face dissolution.
Excluding Suu Kyi and some 2,100 other political prisoners from the election may set back U.S. President Barack Obama’s attempts to engage with Myanmar’s military, which has ruled the country formerly known as Burma since 1962. The U.S. has sent senior envoys to Myanmar recently to push for a dialogue that would lead to political reconciliation.
“We remain skeptical that the elections planned for this year will be credible, and we urge the authorities to begin a genuine political dialogue with all stakeholders as a first step towards credible elections,” U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley told reporters in Washington yesterday.
The election laws say that political parties must pledge to uphold a constitution approved in a 2008 referendum in which voters weren’t allowed to cast ballots in secret. The constitution, approved by 92 percent of voters, includes a clause effectively barring Suu Kyi from holding office.
UN Demands Transparency
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote to junta leader Senior General Than Shwe last month emphasizing that the election must be held in a “transparent manner.” Yesterday he called on Myanmar to release all political prisoners and allow them to participate in the elections.
Suu Kyi, 64, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention, had her house arrest order extended for 18 months in August after a court found her guilty of violating her detention terms, a decision that would ensure her being excluded from the elections. Myanmar’s Supreme Court last month rejected her appeal against the extension.
The election would be the first since the 1990 contest won by Suu Kyi’s party, a result the military rejected. The government hasn’t set a date for the ballot.
The U.S. has repeatedly called on the junta to release political prisoners before the election. Obama is pursuing a policy of engaging with the military leaders while maintaining trade and financial sanctions that are aimed at pressing the junta to make democratic changes in the country of more than 48 million people.
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Monsters and Critics - Vietnam bank to open branch in Myanmar
Mar 10, 2010, 12:07 GMT
Hanoi - The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam has received state approval to open a branch in Myanmar, local media reported Wednesday.
The Voice of Vietnam's website reported the bank had been given the go-ahead to open a branch in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, by Vietnam's State Bank Tuesday.
The country has been broadening its trade ties with Myanmar in recent months.
The agriculture newspaper Nong Nghiep reported Tuesday that Vietnam is to grow 200,000 hectares of rubber trees on plantations in Myanmar. The agreement was reportedly sealed when Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat visited Myanmar last week.
In February, Vietnam Airlines started direct flights between Hanoi and Yangon. That followed a visit by Deputy Foreign Minister Doan Xuan Huong to Myanmar in January, during which he pledged to increase commercial ties.
Bilateral trade between the two countries reached 60 million dollars in the first nine months of 2009.
Mar 10, 2010, 12:07 GMT
Hanoi - The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam has received state approval to open a branch in Myanmar, local media reported Wednesday.
The Voice of Vietnam's website reported the bank had been given the go-ahead to open a branch in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, by Vietnam's State Bank Tuesday.
The country has been broadening its trade ties with Myanmar in recent months.
The agriculture newspaper Nong Nghiep reported Tuesday that Vietnam is to grow 200,000 hectares of rubber trees on plantations in Myanmar. The agreement was reportedly sealed when Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat visited Myanmar last week.
In February, Vietnam Airlines started direct flights between Hanoi and Yangon. That followed a visit by Deputy Foreign Minister Doan Xuan Huong to Myanmar in January, during which he pledged to increase commercial ties.
Bilateral trade between the two countries reached 60 million dollars in the first nine months of 2009.
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MYANMAR: Abortion a leading cause of maternal death
YANGON, 10 March 2010 (IRIN) - In Myanmar, where abortions are illegal, complications arising from unsafe terminations are the third leading cause of maternal deaths after post-partum haemorrhage and eclampsia, according to the government's 2006-2011 National Health Plan.
The latest survey by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Department of Health in 2005 shows that Myanmar's maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is persistently high at 316 per 100,000 live births. Nearly 10 percent of all maternal deaths are abortion-related.
Pansy Tun Thein, assistant representative of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) in Myanmar, said the government recognised that abortion-related deaths were one of the leading causes of maternal mortality.
"The government is currently promoting the reduction of maternal mortality. It's high on their agenda and abortion is one of the issues being addressed through improved quality services for maternal health," she told IRIN.
Some gains
The government's 2006-2011 National Health Plan lists addressing abortion as a priority.
While data remains grim, there have been gains over the past two decades, when unsafe abortions were considered the leading cause of maternal mortality, according to the World Health Organization.
As part of efforts to address reproductive health issues, the government is undertaking several activities, including research and advocacy, and has made birth spacing methods publicly available since 1991.
One initiative is a reproductive health information telephone hotline set up last year in the Department of Medical Research.
Ko Ko Zaw, research scientist for the project, said birth spacing was the second most asked about topic after infertility. He said 20 percent of callers were between the ages of 15-24, who mostly asked about birth spacing.
"It is good if we can provide information which can prevent the problem of unwanted pregnancy, because it's important in reducing MMR," he told IRIN.
Contraceptive use growing
In Myanmar, there is almost universal knowledge of at least one modern method of contraception, although usage varies widely according to where women live and their level of education.
The 2007 Fertility and Reproductive Health Survey (FRHS), released in October 2009 and conducted by the Department of Population and UN Population Fund (UNFPA), found increased use of contraception among married women, although figures were still relatively low.
Single women were not included in the survey questions on contraception use, since pre-marital sex is discouraged and considered a sensitive issue.
The survey found the proportion of married women who use modern contraceptive methods increased from 32 percent in 2001 to 38.4 percent in 2007. In urban areas, 49 percent of married women use modern contraception, compared with only 34 percent of rural women. Modern contraceptives such as the birth control pill are also more widely available and easier to access in urban areas. About 70 percent of the country's population of about 57.5 million is rural.
The survey also found that 17.7 percent of married women had an unmet need for contraception for either preventing or spacing births.
YANGON, 10 March 2010 (IRIN) - In Myanmar, where abortions are illegal, complications arising from unsafe terminations are the third leading cause of maternal deaths after post-partum haemorrhage and eclampsia, according to the government's 2006-2011 National Health Plan.
The latest survey by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Department of Health in 2005 shows that Myanmar's maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is persistently high at 316 per 100,000 live births. Nearly 10 percent of all maternal deaths are abortion-related.
Pansy Tun Thein, assistant representative of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) in Myanmar, said the government recognised that abortion-related deaths were one of the leading causes of maternal mortality.
"The government is currently promoting the reduction of maternal mortality. It's high on their agenda and abortion is one of the issues being addressed through improved quality services for maternal health," she told IRIN.
Some gains
The government's 2006-2011 National Health Plan lists addressing abortion as a priority.
While data remains grim, there have been gains over the past two decades, when unsafe abortions were considered the leading cause of maternal mortality, according to the World Health Organization.
As part of efforts to address reproductive health issues, the government is undertaking several activities, including research and advocacy, and has made birth spacing methods publicly available since 1991.
One initiative is a reproductive health information telephone hotline set up last year in the Department of Medical Research.
Ko Ko Zaw, research scientist for the project, said birth spacing was the second most asked about topic after infertility. He said 20 percent of callers were between the ages of 15-24, who mostly asked about birth spacing.
"It is good if we can provide information which can prevent the problem of unwanted pregnancy, because it's important in reducing MMR," he told IRIN.
Contraceptive use growing
In Myanmar, there is almost universal knowledge of at least one modern method of contraception, although usage varies widely according to where women live and their level of education.
The 2007 Fertility and Reproductive Health Survey (FRHS), released in October 2009 and conducted by the Department of Population and UN Population Fund (UNFPA), found increased use of contraception among married women, although figures were still relatively low.
Single women were not included in the survey questions on contraception use, since pre-marital sex is discouraged and considered a sensitive issue.
The survey found the proportion of married women who use modern contraceptive methods increased from 32 percent in 2001 to 38.4 percent in 2007. In urban areas, 49 percent of married women use modern contraception, compared with only 34 percent of rural women. Modern contraceptives such as the birth control pill are also more widely available and easier to access in urban areas. About 70 percent of the country's population of about 57.5 million is rural.
The survey also found that 17.7 percent of married women had an unmet need for contraception for either preventing or spacing births.
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Amnesty International
Myanmar opposition must be free to fight elections
Chris Robinson
10 March 2010
Amnesty International has urged Myanmar to overturn a new law that bars all political prisoners, including detained Nobel Peace-prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, from belonging to a political party before upcoming national elections.
"There are at least 2,200 political prisoners in Myanmar, most of whom are in prison simply because they tried to exercise their rights peacefully," said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International's Myanmar researcher
"Instead of passing laws that strip away more of their rights, the Myanmar authorities should immediately release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and remove restrictions on their political activity."
Aung San Suu Kyi was already blocked from running in the elections by the 2008 constitution, which ruled that marriage to a foreign national would exclude candidates from running.
"Amnesty International is greatly concerned that activists are going to come under increased repression in the lead up to the elections," said Benjamin Zawacki. "The Myanmar authorities seem determined to stamp out any political challenge to their rule."
In a recent report, Repression of ethnic minority activists in Myanmar, Amnesty International documented the government's systematic efforts to silence activists from the country’s large ethnic minority population. The report warned the election may lead to an even harder crackdown against activists.
Myanmar opposition must be free to fight elections
Chris Robinson
10 March 2010
Amnesty International has urged Myanmar to overturn a new law that bars all political prisoners, including detained Nobel Peace-prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, from belonging to a political party before upcoming national elections.
"There are at least 2,200 political prisoners in Myanmar, most of whom are in prison simply because they tried to exercise their rights peacefully," said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International's Myanmar researcher
"Instead of passing laws that strip away more of their rights, the Myanmar authorities should immediately release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and remove restrictions on their political activity."
Aung San Suu Kyi was already blocked from running in the elections by the 2008 constitution, which ruled that marriage to a foreign national would exclude candidates from running.
"Amnesty International is greatly concerned that activists are going to come under increased repression in the lead up to the elections," said Benjamin Zawacki. "The Myanmar authorities seem determined to stamp out any political challenge to their rule."
In a recent report, Repression of ethnic minority activists in Myanmar, Amnesty International documented the government's systematic efforts to silence activists from the country’s large ethnic minority population. The report warned the election may lead to an even harder crackdown against activists.
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The New Straits Times - SEA GAMES: Myanmar ponders 2013 bid
2010/03/10
YANGON: Military-ruled Myanmar is considering applying to host the 2013 Southeast Asian Games, possibly in the new capital Naypyidaw, after Singapore said it wanted to pull out, official sources said on Monday.
Singapore's sports minister said in January that the city-state wanted to withdraw because of delays in the construction of a new sports hub, and would prefer to host the event in 2015.
"We are now planning to host the coming Southeast Asian Games 2013 but we have not officially announced that," said a senior official at the sports ministry in Naypyidaw on condition of anonymity.
"It's still early to say whether we will hold this event in Naypyidaw."
Myanmar is the target of tough Western sanctions because of its detention of dissidents including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi but its Asian neighbours have pursued a policy of engagement.
The country's ruling generals moved their entire government from the economic hub Yangon to Naypyidaw four years ago, after building the new administrative capital in secret over the previous three years.
Another official at the ministry said it was trying to get more qualified sportsmen involved to prepare for the possibility of hosting the Games.
"We are now preparing for that event and discussing necessary things with other ministries to get more qualified sportsmen," the official said.
Other officials said the government was planning to build some sports grounds and hotels in Naypyidaw ahead of a bid for the Games in 2013 but there were no further details.
The last country to host the biennial Southeast Asian Games was communist Laos in December.
2010/03/10
YANGON: Military-ruled Myanmar is considering applying to host the 2013 Southeast Asian Games, possibly in the new capital Naypyidaw, after Singapore said it wanted to pull out, official sources said on Monday.
Singapore's sports minister said in January that the city-state wanted to withdraw because of delays in the construction of a new sports hub, and would prefer to host the event in 2015.
"We are now planning to host the coming Southeast Asian Games 2013 but we have not officially announced that," said a senior official at the sports ministry in Naypyidaw on condition of anonymity.
"It's still early to say whether we will hold this event in Naypyidaw."
Myanmar is the target of tough Western sanctions because of its detention of dissidents including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi but its Asian neighbours have pursued a policy of engagement.
The country's ruling generals moved their entire government from the economic hub Yangon to Naypyidaw four years ago, after building the new administrative capital in secret over the previous three years.
Another official at the ministry said it was trying to get more qualified sportsmen involved to prepare for the possibility of hosting the Games.
"We are now preparing for that event and discussing necessary things with other ministries to get more qualified sportsmen," the official said.
Other officials said the government was planning to build some sports grounds and hotels in Naypyidaw ahead of a bid for the Games in 2013 but there were no further details.
The last country to host the biennial Southeast Asian Games was communist Laos in December.
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Arakan Party to boycott election 2010
Wednesday, 10 March 2010 20:29 Kyaw Kha
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - The Arakan League for Democracy (ALD), one of the winning parties in the 1990 elections, has ruled out joining the poll fray unless the 2008 Constitution is reviewed and amended.
Aye Thar Aung, Secretary of ALD told Mizzima that the 2008 Constitution, which was forcibly approved by the regime in May 2008, neglects the rights of ethnic nationalities as well as federal set-ups of the states and divisions of the country.
"There are no rights guaranteed for the States in the constitution. Moreover, the military will have its representation in both the National Parliament and State Assemblies. The Constitution also stipulates that the President will be from a military background and can nominate Chief Ministers of the States without following democratic norms," he added.
The ALD won 11 seats in the 1990 elections while the main opposition party the National League for Democracy won 392 out of 485 parliamentary seats.
Those opposing the Constitution at home and abroad have pointed out that the 2008 Constitution is legitimising the military’s role in politics by clauses such as 25 per cent of the parliamentary seats will be automatically for representatives of the military, the President of the country must be from a military background, the President can declare Emergency and can abolish the Parliament, the ministers for Defence, Home, Security and Border Areas have to be from the military.
"The 2008 Constitution will take Burma further away from democracy. If it is not amended, it is not possible for us to contest the elections," he told Mizzima.
He also pointed out that it is almost impossible for the Constitution to be amended at a later stage beyond the wish of the Commander-in-chief of the military. According to the constitution, at least two thirds of the parliament will have to vote ‘yes’ for amending the constitution, whereas 25 per cent of the total parliamentary seats have already been given to the military.
Another political party that participated in the 1990 elections also said that it has not decided whether to contest the elections because the regime has not accepted any demand to review the 2008 constitution.
"We did not agree with the 2008 constitution in the first place. Now the law, the regime has promulgated says that the party that wants to contest in the elections will have to protect the constitution. What else can we say?" said Pu Chin Sain Thang, Chairman of the Zomi National Congress that won two seats in the 1990 elections.
However, a political group that is known to be close to the regime welcomed the electoral laws. It felt the elections would open up a chance for those who want to be involved in politics.
"The laws for formation of political parties and registration with the Election Commission are needed. With the laws being promulgated, it has opened up a chance for those who want to be in politics," said Aye Lwin, Chairman of the 88 Generation Students and Youth (Union of Myanmar).
He added that his party will have a meeting of its central committee members tomorrow to discuss and decide the registration of the party.
Although the military government has announced the Election Commission Law, the Commission itself is not formed yet raising eye brows. According to the party registration law dated March 8, a party has to apply for registration with the Election Commission within 60 days from the time the law is promulgated. The junta is yet to announce the dates for elections.
Wednesday, 10 March 2010 20:29 Kyaw Kha
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - The Arakan League for Democracy (ALD), one of the winning parties in the 1990 elections, has ruled out joining the poll fray unless the 2008 Constitution is reviewed and amended.
Aye Thar Aung, Secretary of ALD told Mizzima that the 2008 Constitution, which was forcibly approved by the regime in May 2008, neglects the rights of ethnic nationalities as well as federal set-ups of the states and divisions of the country.
"There are no rights guaranteed for the States in the constitution. Moreover, the military will have its representation in both the National Parliament and State Assemblies. The Constitution also stipulates that the President will be from a military background and can nominate Chief Ministers of the States without following democratic norms," he added.
The ALD won 11 seats in the 1990 elections while the main opposition party the National League for Democracy won 392 out of 485 parliamentary seats.
Those opposing the Constitution at home and abroad have pointed out that the 2008 Constitution is legitimising the military’s role in politics by clauses such as 25 per cent of the parliamentary seats will be automatically for representatives of the military, the President of the country must be from a military background, the President can declare Emergency and can abolish the Parliament, the ministers for Defence, Home, Security and Border Areas have to be from the military.
"The 2008 Constitution will take Burma further away from democracy. If it is not amended, it is not possible for us to contest the elections," he told Mizzima.
He also pointed out that it is almost impossible for the Constitution to be amended at a later stage beyond the wish of the Commander-in-chief of the military. According to the constitution, at least two thirds of the parliament will have to vote ‘yes’ for amending the constitution, whereas 25 per cent of the total parliamentary seats have already been given to the military.
Another political party that participated in the 1990 elections also said that it has not decided whether to contest the elections because the regime has not accepted any demand to review the 2008 constitution.
"We did not agree with the 2008 constitution in the first place. Now the law, the regime has promulgated says that the party that wants to contest in the elections will have to protect the constitution. What else can we say?" said Pu Chin Sain Thang, Chairman of the Zomi National Congress that won two seats in the 1990 elections.
However, a political group that is known to be close to the regime welcomed the electoral laws. It felt the elections would open up a chance for those who want to be involved in politics.
"The laws for formation of political parties and registration with the Election Commission are needed. With the laws being promulgated, it has opened up a chance for those who want to be in politics," said Aye Lwin, Chairman of the 88 Generation Students and Youth (Union of Myanmar).
He added that his party will have a meeting of its central committee members tomorrow to discuss and decide the registration of the party.
Although the military government has announced the Election Commission Law, the Commission itself is not formed yet raising eye brows. According to the party registration law dated March 8, a party has to apply for registration with the Election Commission within 60 days from the time the law is promulgated. The junta is yet to announce the dates for elections.
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NLD will stick with Shwegondaing Declaration, says Win Tin
Tuesday, 09 March 2010 20:27 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Win Tin, senior leader of Burma's main opposition party the National League for Democracy told Mizzima today that although Burma's military government has begun issuing laws concerning this year's national election, his party will maintain its stand that the regime must recognize that the NLD won Burma's last election.
"The result of the 1990 election must be recognized. That was one of the resolutions from the Shwegondaing Declaration. The result has to be recognized by one way or another. Our political stand and demand is the same as mentioned in the declaration", said Win Tin who is also a member of NLD's Central Executive Committee.
The Shwegondaing Declaration issued by the NLD on the 29th April 2009 demands that the Burmese military regime release all political prisoners, recognize the results of the 1990 election, review the 2008 constitution and begin dialogue with NLD party leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Burma's ruling military regime ignored the NLD's demands and instead is moving forward with this year's planned election. Today the regime issued a potentially restrictive Election Commission law that would severely limit the ability of main opposition party NLD to participate in elections. The regime has also indicated that over the next few days they will issue more election related laws.
The law for the election commission also abolished the previous election commission that oversaw the 1990 elections. Win Tin maintains that the result of the 1990 election, in which the NLD won 392 parliamentary seats out of a total of 485 seats, is not changed by the new law.
According to Win Tin, the NLD will decide whether or not to take part in this year's election if the military regime recognizes the result of the 1990 election. Win Tin, now 81-years old was released in September 2008 after serving 19 years in prison, much of the time spent in solitary confinement.
According to Thailand based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners - Burma (AAPPB), there are more than 2100 political prisoners presently jailed in Burma, including more than 430 members of Win Tin's NLD.
Mizzima has received an advanced copy of the law for the registration of political parties that will likely be released tomorrow. The law bans anyone serving in jail from forming political parties or even becoming a member of a political party. This clause effectively bars a large number of the regime's political opponents. The party registration law also stipulates that national party must have at least 1000 members and 15 founding members. Regional Parties must have at least 500 members.
Under the law a political party must be registered with the election commission within 60 days of the March 8 national election commission law's official proclamation. A party also must contest at least three parliamentary seats in order to avoid de-registration.
Dr Tuja, leader of the Kachin State Progressive Party, which has agreed to take part in the 2010 election, believes that when the Burmese government issued a new Election Commission law the results of the 1990 election were automatically voided.
"This newly promulgated law for Election Commission has abolished the SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council)'s Election Commission that was promulgated in 1988. It automatically abolishes the NLD's demand to recognize the 1990 election result", Dr Tuja told Mizzima.
Others observers strongly disagree, Naing Tin Aung from the Mon Democracy Party, argues that irrespective of the new election laws the Burmese military government needs to release all political prisoners and amend the 2008 constitution.
"We will consider whether to participate in the elections or not only after necessary preparations are met. An election can be held only after the constitution is amended based on democratic norms. A majority of people do not accept the constitution in its present form", he told Mizzima in a phone interview.
The new constitution which guarantees a permanent role for the military in national affairs was approved by what many agree was a sham referendum held just a few days after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma's delta areas and Rangoon in May 2008. Independent observers and political opponents of the regime widely criticized the constitution as "undemocratic" because it ensures that 25 % of the seats in parliament are reserved for military personnel appointed by the military's supreme commander. The constitution also contains a clause that would prevent Aung San Suu Kyi from serving in government because she was married to a foreigner.
Tuesday, 09 March 2010 20:27 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Win Tin, senior leader of Burma's main opposition party the National League for Democracy told Mizzima today that although Burma's military government has begun issuing laws concerning this year's national election, his party will maintain its stand that the regime must recognize that the NLD won Burma's last election.
"The result of the 1990 election must be recognized. That was one of the resolutions from the Shwegondaing Declaration. The result has to be recognized by one way or another. Our political stand and demand is the same as mentioned in the declaration", said Win Tin who is also a member of NLD's Central Executive Committee.
The Shwegondaing Declaration issued by the NLD on the 29th April 2009 demands that the Burmese military regime release all political prisoners, recognize the results of the 1990 election, review the 2008 constitution and begin dialogue with NLD party leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Burma's ruling military regime ignored the NLD's demands and instead is moving forward with this year's planned election. Today the regime issued a potentially restrictive Election Commission law that would severely limit the ability of main opposition party NLD to participate in elections. The regime has also indicated that over the next few days they will issue more election related laws.
The law for the election commission also abolished the previous election commission that oversaw the 1990 elections. Win Tin maintains that the result of the 1990 election, in which the NLD won 392 parliamentary seats out of a total of 485 seats, is not changed by the new law.
According to Win Tin, the NLD will decide whether or not to take part in this year's election if the military regime recognizes the result of the 1990 election. Win Tin, now 81-years old was released in September 2008 after serving 19 years in prison, much of the time spent in solitary confinement.
According to Thailand based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners - Burma (AAPPB), there are more than 2100 political prisoners presently jailed in Burma, including more than 430 members of Win Tin's NLD.
Mizzima has received an advanced copy of the law for the registration of political parties that will likely be released tomorrow. The law bans anyone serving in jail from forming political parties or even becoming a member of a political party. This clause effectively bars a large number of the regime's political opponents. The party registration law also stipulates that national party must have at least 1000 members and 15 founding members. Regional Parties must have at least 500 members.
Under the law a political party must be registered with the election commission within 60 days of the March 8 national election commission law's official proclamation. A party also must contest at least three parliamentary seats in order to avoid de-registration.
Dr Tuja, leader of the Kachin State Progressive Party, which has agreed to take part in the 2010 election, believes that when the Burmese government issued a new Election Commission law the results of the 1990 election were automatically voided.
"This newly promulgated law for Election Commission has abolished the SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council)'s Election Commission that was promulgated in 1988. It automatically abolishes the NLD's demand to recognize the 1990 election result", Dr Tuja told Mizzima.
Others observers strongly disagree, Naing Tin Aung from the Mon Democracy Party, argues that irrespective of the new election laws the Burmese military government needs to release all political prisoners and amend the 2008 constitution.
"We will consider whether to participate in the elections or not only after necessary preparations are met. An election can be held only after the constitution is amended based on democratic norms. A majority of people do not accept the constitution in its present form", he told Mizzima in a phone interview.
The new constitution which guarantees a permanent role for the military in national affairs was approved by what many agree was a sham referendum held just a few days after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma's delta areas and Rangoon in May 2008. Independent observers and political opponents of the regime widely criticized the constitution as "undemocratic" because it ensures that 25 % of the seats in parliament are reserved for military personnel appointed by the military's supreme commander. The constitution also contains a clause that would prevent Aung San Suu Kyi from serving in government because she was married to a foreigner.
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Junta forces NLD to a corner
Wednesday, 10 March 2010 18:25 Mizzima News
Burma's generals are determined to hold this year's national election on their own biased terms, ignoring widespread calls from both inside and outside the country for a free, fair and inclusive election. Since Monday when the regime released the first of several extremely dubious new electoral laws, the pressure on Burma's main opposition party the National League for Democracy (NLD) has increased significantly.
Will the NLD participate in an election whose outcome has been predetermined by Than Shwe and his cronies? Or will the party decide not to take part and face being "outlawed" by the Burmese regime?
It is clear that the regime will not accommodate the NLD’s demands for a review of the 2008 constitution nor will it release the more than 2100 political prisoners languishing in Than Shwe's gulags. There is little chance that NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be released anytime soon. In the extremely unlikely event that the world's most famous political prisoner is freed from house arrest in time for the country's first election in 20 years, Aung San Suu Kyi is barred under the new constitution from holding office because she was married to a foreigner. The Michael Aris clause is a constitutional choke hold the blatant purpose of which is to remove the most popular politician in the country from the electoral equation.
Adding further insult, under the newly issued Political Party Registration Law, Aung San Suu Kyi and her fellow political prisoners are barred from even being party members while they remain in detention.
In 1990 the NLD won a landslide victory, securing 392 of 485 parliamentary seats. Than Shwe and friends chose to ignore the election's outcome and instead had the winning candidates imprisoned, killed or forced into exile. The regime's relentless pursuit of the NLD has not subsided over time and the party's top leaders like Win Tin and Tin Oo were detained for years on end.
The party despite the serious setbacks it has been dealt is still Burma’s main national political opposition to the regime today. Aung San Suu Kyi remains hugely popular among both those from the ethnic majority but importantly among many members of Burma's ethnic minorities.
Since 1988 when the present Generals grabbed the reins of power from the ageing and increasingly erratic General Ne Win, Burma's junta has doubled the size of the armed forces and killed thousands of civilians in an endlessly brutal counter insurgency campaigns.
While Than Shwe and his cronies have become extremely rich exploiting Burma's natural gas, timber and mineral wealth, the vast majority of Burma's people have become poorer. The general's relentless exploitation of natural resources at the expense of everything else has resulted in Burma succumbing to the natural resources curse, where like Nigeria or Angola, a corrupt and violent government is shored up by billions in oil revenues, so much so that the extremely unequal distribution of wealth undermines the rest of the nation's economy and drives the country's majority into further poverty.
It is absolutely certain that the NLD will not form the next government even if it decides to take part in the election. The NLD may win a few token seats, the regime however will use all its levers of power including its infamous thug squad known as the Union Solidarity Development Association to intimidate voters and candidates alike and ensure that those they select and back win.
There will be no repeat of the 1990 election when the junta greatly weakened and disorganized allowed a relatively free and fair election to take place. An examination of Burma's 2008 constitution, approved by a farcical 90 per cent plus of the population in a sham referendum, shows that the military learnt its lessons from the 1990 election and copied a thing or two from Indonesian mass murderer General Suharto and his defunct rubber stamp parliament. Under the new constitution 25 per cent of the parliamentary seats in both the upper and lower houses of parliament will be reserved for members of the military handpicked by the head of the armed forces. In addition military officers are allowed to contest electoral seats, which will almost certainly result in more than the minimum 25 per cent of parliament comprising of military personnel.
Were the NLD able to overcome the odds and capture 95 per cent of the electoral seats they could still not change the constitution to weaken the role of the military, because altering the constitution requires a three quarters majority and any attempt to limit the military's power in national affairs would almost certainly be vetoed by military's appointed parliamentary representatives. The 2008 constitution also stipulates that the defence minister, home affairs and security minister, border affairs minister and their respective junior minister positions all must go to a member of the armed forces. The President, who will be the Head of State, has to come from a military background and he can declare a “State of Emergency, dissolving not only the parliament but also the state cabinet, if it goes against the military.
The regime claims that it will be the “honourable referee” in a “multi-party election” while at the same time doing everything in their power to ensure that men in uniform are victorious. For those other parties who decide to take part in the elections, it may be a small window to start the difficult fight for wider democratic space. They should be prepared for a tough struggle in the coming years under the military's version of "disciplined democracy". Those members of the "third force" however should do their utmost to ensure they do not become mere democratic window dressing in a military controlled rubber stamp parliament. The people of Burma will no doubt judge political opportunists accordingly.
After more than 20 years of struggle the NLD is battered, bruised and clinging to life but the people of Burma need it now more than ever. The NLD has very little time to make some very important choices. Will they choose to not register with the electoral commission, risk being outlawed but remain "an opposing force”? Or will they contest the election and risk legitimizing a junta victory in a contest in which their own hands are tied behind their back? The NLD is in a Catch 22 situation. Whichever way it turns, the people in Burma will remember its decision as a part of history.
Wednesday, 10 March 2010 18:25 Mizzima News
Burma's generals are determined to hold this year's national election on their own biased terms, ignoring widespread calls from both inside and outside the country for a free, fair and inclusive election. Since Monday when the regime released the first of several extremely dubious new electoral laws, the pressure on Burma's main opposition party the National League for Democracy (NLD) has increased significantly.
Will the NLD participate in an election whose outcome has been predetermined by Than Shwe and his cronies? Or will the party decide not to take part and face being "outlawed" by the Burmese regime?
It is clear that the regime will not accommodate the NLD’s demands for a review of the 2008 constitution nor will it release the more than 2100 political prisoners languishing in Than Shwe's gulags. There is little chance that NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be released anytime soon. In the extremely unlikely event that the world's most famous political prisoner is freed from house arrest in time for the country's first election in 20 years, Aung San Suu Kyi is barred under the new constitution from holding office because she was married to a foreigner. The Michael Aris clause is a constitutional choke hold the blatant purpose of which is to remove the most popular politician in the country from the electoral equation.
Adding further insult, under the newly issued Political Party Registration Law, Aung San Suu Kyi and her fellow political prisoners are barred from even being party members while they remain in detention.
In 1990 the NLD won a landslide victory, securing 392 of 485 parliamentary seats. Than Shwe and friends chose to ignore the election's outcome and instead had the winning candidates imprisoned, killed or forced into exile. The regime's relentless pursuit of the NLD has not subsided over time and the party's top leaders like Win Tin and Tin Oo were detained for years on end.
The party despite the serious setbacks it has been dealt is still Burma’s main national political opposition to the regime today. Aung San Suu Kyi remains hugely popular among both those from the ethnic majority but importantly among many members of Burma's ethnic minorities.
Since 1988 when the present Generals grabbed the reins of power from the ageing and increasingly erratic General Ne Win, Burma's junta has doubled the size of the armed forces and killed thousands of civilians in an endlessly brutal counter insurgency campaigns.
While Than Shwe and his cronies have become extremely rich exploiting Burma's natural gas, timber and mineral wealth, the vast majority of Burma's people have become poorer. The general's relentless exploitation of natural resources at the expense of everything else has resulted in Burma succumbing to the natural resources curse, where like Nigeria or Angola, a corrupt and violent government is shored up by billions in oil revenues, so much so that the extremely unequal distribution of wealth undermines the rest of the nation's economy and drives the country's majority into further poverty.
It is absolutely certain that the NLD will not form the next government even if it decides to take part in the election. The NLD may win a few token seats, the regime however will use all its levers of power including its infamous thug squad known as the Union Solidarity Development Association to intimidate voters and candidates alike and ensure that those they select and back win.
There will be no repeat of the 1990 election when the junta greatly weakened and disorganized allowed a relatively free and fair election to take place. An examination of Burma's 2008 constitution, approved by a farcical 90 per cent plus of the population in a sham referendum, shows that the military learnt its lessons from the 1990 election and copied a thing or two from Indonesian mass murderer General Suharto and his defunct rubber stamp parliament. Under the new constitution 25 per cent of the parliamentary seats in both the upper and lower houses of parliament will be reserved for members of the military handpicked by the head of the armed forces. In addition military officers are allowed to contest electoral seats, which will almost certainly result in more than the minimum 25 per cent of parliament comprising of military personnel.
Were the NLD able to overcome the odds and capture 95 per cent of the electoral seats they could still not change the constitution to weaken the role of the military, because altering the constitution requires a three quarters majority and any attempt to limit the military's power in national affairs would almost certainly be vetoed by military's appointed parliamentary representatives. The 2008 constitution also stipulates that the defence minister, home affairs and security minister, border affairs minister and their respective junior minister positions all must go to a member of the armed forces. The President, who will be the Head of State, has to come from a military background and he can declare a “State of Emergency, dissolving not only the parliament but also the state cabinet, if it goes against the military.
The regime claims that it will be the “honourable referee” in a “multi-party election” while at the same time doing everything in their power to ensure that men in uniform are victorious. For those other parties who decide to take part in the elections, it may be a small window to start the difficult fight for wider democratic space. They should be prepared for a tough struggle in the coming years under the military's version of "disciplined democracy". Those members of the "third force" however should do their utmost to ensure they do not become mere democratic window dressing in a military controlled rubber stamp parliament. The people of Burma will no doubt judge political opportunists accordingly.
After more than 20 years of struggle the NLD is battered, bruised and clinging to life but the people of Burma need it now more than ever. The NLD has very little time to make some very important choices. Will they choose to not register with the electoral commission, risk being outlawed but remain "an opposing force”? Or will they contest the election and risk legitimizing a junta victory in a contest in which their own hands are tied behind their back? The NLD is in a Catch 22 situation. Whichever way it turns, the people in Burma will remember its decision as a part of history.
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The Irrawaddy - Political Groups Prepare for Election
By KYAW THEIN KHA - Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Burmese political groups are preparing to register to contest the 2010 election following the release of the junta's election and parties registration law, group leaders said on Wednesday.
Shwe Ohn, a veteran ethnic Shan politician, said he will begin political activities to form his own party and register.
Now in his late 80s, he founded the Shan State People's Freedom League for Democracy after the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, which was disbanded by the ruling military government.
Another politician, Aye Lwin, the chairman of the Union of Myanmar National Political Force, said, “In order to participate in the 2010 election, we have called our CEC members for a meeting tomorrow. We'll discuss party registration at the meeting.
“If the government allows all political parties, the election will be an inclusive one,” Aye Lwin said.
Aye Lwin, 46, has been criticized for having close ties with high-ranking military generals and for receiving financial support from them. He organized his own political group in 2005.
The Democratic Party, which was founded late last year, has been organizing and will register soon. A leading member, Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein, said, “We've decided to participate. First, we'll have a discussion with people who have agreed to take part in the election.”
The Democratic Party is lead by Thu Wai, who was jailed in 1990 for his political activities. His party is supported by three daughters of former Burmese political leader: Mya Than Than Nu, the daughter of Burma's first prime minister, U Nu; Nay Yee Ba Swe, the daughter of late Prime Minister Ba Swe; and Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein, the daughter of the late Deputy Prime Minister Kyaw Nyein.
While attending the 7th Conference of Burma Media Association this year in Chiang Mai, Thu Wai urged Burmese political parties and groups in exile to support the election.
Meanwhile, several influential political parties and ethnic groups, including the National League for Democracy (NLD), have not yet decided to take part in the election.
Aye Thar Aung, a leader of the Arakanese League for Democracy, said, “If the military government doesn't amend the 2008 Constitution, we will not participate in the election.
There are no rights for ethnic minority groups in the 2008 Constitution.”
In the meantime, the military government has effectively banned Aung San Su Kyi from membership in the NLD through its election registration law, according to Win Tin, a NLD party leader.
“The law directly targets Daw Aung San Su Kyi and the NLD because it said prisoners can not participate in political parties,” he said.
He said the election will not be inclusive, as called for by the international community and the UN.
The NLD and the Arakan National League for Democracy are the main political parties that took leading roles in the 1990 election. In 1990, the NLD won a landslide victory with 392 out of 485 seats in the People's Assembly. The election results were never recognized by the military government.
By KYAW THEIN KHA - Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Burmese political groups are preparing to register to contest the 2010 election following the release of the junta's election and parties registration law, group leaders said on Wednesday.
Shwe Ohn, a veteran ethnic Shan politician, said he will begin political activities to form his own party and register.
Now in his late 80s, he founded the Shan State People's Freedom League for Democracy after the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, which was disbanded by the ruling military government.
Another politician, Aye Lwin, the chairman of the Union of Myanmar National Political Force, said, “In order to participate in the 2010 election, we have called our CEC members for a meeting tomorrow. We'll discuss party registration at the meeting.
“If the government allows all political parties, the election will be an inclusive one,” Aye Lwin said.
Aye Lwin, 46, has been criticized for having close ties with high-ranking military generals and for receiving financial support from them. He organized his own political group in 2005.
The Democratic Party, which was founded late last year, has been organizing and will register soon. A leading member, Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein, said, “We've decided to participate. First, we'll have a discussion with people who have agreed to take part in the election.”
The Democratic Party is lead by Thu Wai, who was jailed in 1990 for his political activities. His party is supported by three daughters of former Burmese political leader: Mya Than Than Nu, the daughter of Burma's first prime minister, U Nu; Nay Yee Ba Swe, the daughter of late Prime Minister Ba Swe; and Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein, the daughter of the late Deputy Prime Minister Kyaw Nyein.
While attending the 7th Conference of Burma Media Association this year in Chiang Mai, Thu Wai urged Burmese political parties and groups in exile to support the election.
Meanwhile, several influential political parties and ethnic groups, including the National League for Democracy (NLD), have not yet decided to take part in the election.
Aye Thar Aung, a leader of the Arakanese League for Democracy, said, “If the military government doesn't amend the 2008 Constitution, we will not participate in the election.
There are no rights for ethnic minority groups in the 2008 Constitution.”
In the meantime, the military government has effectively banned Aung San Su Kyi from membership in the NLD through its election registration law, according to Win Tin, a NLD party leader.
“The law directly targets Daw Aung San Su Kyi and the NLD because it said prisoners can not participate in political parties,” he said.
He said the election will not be inclusive, as called for by the international community and the UN.
The NLD and the Arakan National League for Democracy are the main political parties that took leading roles in the 1990 election. In 1990, the NLD won a landslide victory with 392 out of 485 seats in the People's Assembly. The election results were never recognized by the military government.
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The Irrawaddy - The NLD's Dilemma
By BA KAUNG - Wednesday, March 10, 2010
May 7 is the deadline for Burma's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), to finally decide whether it will continue to exist as a legal party after twenty years of unsuccessful struggle against the military dictatorship.
“We have to expel our own leader from the party or face dissolution of the party after May 7,” said Nyan Win, who is both party spokesman and the lawyer representing detained party leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
“Our party is facing a great dilemma,” he said.
The regime announced the enactment of its election laws on March 8. Within 60 days from the announcement date, the NLD and other currently legal parties have to apply for registration to the election commission. If they fail to do so, they will automatically cease to exist as legal entities.
The party would also have to expel Suu Kyi if it decides to register at the election commission because political parties are prohibited from having a prisoner as a party member, according to the election law revealed on Wednesday.
Suu Kyi is serving an 18-month term of house arrest, reduced from an original sentence of three years' hard labor for briefly sheltering an American citizen in August, 2009.
With her sentence due to expire in November, Suu Kyi cannot be a member of any political party if she is not released before May 7.
“If our party registers, this would mean that we have to cancel our call for a review of the regime's Constitution and at the same time expel our leader,” Nyan Win said. “ If we don't, the party will cease to exist.”
Nyaw Win said that the party would try to convene a meeting between Suu Kyi and members of the party's Central Executive Committee. “We will approach the government to allow that to happen.”
Not only is Suu Kyi not allowed to be a member of a political party member, she is also not allowed to lead any political party if the polls are held before her release from detention, according to the party registration law.
Chapter II, Article 4 (e) of the Political Parties Registration Law specifies: “A person convicted by a court and currently serving a jail term or the person in the process of a legal pursuit against the jail term for a review of it at a court are not eligible to found a political party.”
Burma's highest court last month rejected Suu Kyi's appeal against her continued detention. Nyan Win said they will try to exhaust all legal efforts appealing against the sentence.
While the election laws are meticulously framed to exclude Suu Kyi from participating in the polls, Suu Kyi herself has yet to make her position on the election clear.
On Wednesday, the Burmese state-run newspapers carried comments by the regime's prime minister, Gen. Thein Sein, who alluded to Suu Kyi at a meeting in Shan State on Tuesday, saying: “No Burmese citizen could be a stooge or an agent of an alien nation in disguise of a Myanmar [Burmese].”
Thein Sein's remarks were carried in state-run newspapers under banner headlines on Wednesday. He made similar remarks last month that were also highlighted by the state-run newspapers.
The military-drafted 2008 Constitution already bars Suu Kyi from holding the offices of President or Vice President since its provisions state that anyone whose spouse or children are citizens of a foreign country are not eligible to hold these positions. Suu Kyi was married to a British national and her two sons living in the United Kingdom hold British citizenship.
The junta election laws have been crafted to make sure that all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, the 88 Generation students leaders and Khun Htun Oo, the leader of Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), which won the most seats in the 1990 election after the NLD, will be excluded from Burma's election.
Even if the NLD and SNLD decide to expel their leaders and register at the election commission before May 7 to avoid dissolution, according to the new party registration law, they face a further threat of dissolution if they decide not to participate in the election expected to be held in October.
By BA KAUNG - Wednesday, March 10, 2010
May 7 is the deadline for Burma's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), to finally decide whether it will continue to exist as a legal party after twenty years of unsuccessful struggle against the military dictatorship.
“We have to expel our own leader from the party or face dissolution of the party after May 7,” said Nyan Win, who is both party spokesman and the lawyer representing detained party leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
“Our party is facing a great dilemma,” he said.
The regime announced the enactment of its election laws on March 8. Within 60 days from the announcement date, the NLD and other currently legal parties have to apply for registration to the election commission. If they fail to do so, they will automatically cease to exist as legal entities.
The party would also have to expel Suu Kyi if it decides to register at the election commission because political parties are prohibited from having a prisoner as a party member, according to the election law revealed on Wednesday.
Suu Kyi is serving an 18-month term of house arrest, reduced from an original sentence of three years' hard labor for briefly sheltering an American citizen in August, 2009.
With her sentence due to expire in November, Suu Kyi cannot be a member of any political party if she is not released before May 7.
“If our party registers, this would mean that we have to cancel our call for a review of the regime's Constitution and at the same time expel our leader,” Nyan Win said. “ If we don't, the party will cease to exist.”
Nyaw Win said that the party would try to convene a meeting between Suu Kyi and members of the party's Central Executive Committee. “We will approach the government to allow that to happen.”
Not only is Suu Kyi not allowed to be a member of a political party member, she is also not allowed to lead any political party if the polls are held before her release from detention, according to the party registration law.
Chapter II, Article 4 (e) of the Political Parties Registration Law specifies: “A person convicted by a court and currently serving a jail term or the person in the process of a legal pursuit against the jail term for a review of it at a court are not eligible to found a political party.”
Burma's highest court last month rejected Suu Kyi's appeal against her continued detention. Nyan Win said they will try to exhaust all legal efforts appealing against the sentence.
While the election laws are meticulously framed to exclude Suu Kyi from participating in the polls, Suu Kyi herself has yet to make her position on the election clear.
On Wednesday, the Burmese state-run newspapers carried comments by the regime's prime minister, Gen. Thein Sein, who alluded to Suu Kyi at a meeting in Shan State on Tuesday, saying: “No Burmese citizen could be a stooge or an agent of an alien nation in disguise of a Myanmar [Burmese].”
Thein Sein's remarks were carried in state-run newspapers under banner headlines on Wednesday. He made similar remarks last month that were also highlighted by the state-run newspapers.
The military-drafted 2008 Constitution already bars Suu Kyi from holding the offices of President or Vice President since its provisions state that anyone whose spouse or children are citizens of a foreign country are not eligible to hold these positions. Suu Kyi was married to a British national and her two sons living in the United Kingdom hold British citizenship.
The junta election laws have been crafted to make sure that all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, the 88 Generation students leaders and Khun Htun Oo, the leader of Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), which won the most seats in the 1990 election after the NLD, will be excluded from Burma's election.
Even if the NLD and SNLD decide to expel their leaders and register at the election commission before May 7 to avoid dissolution, according to the new party registration law, they face a further threat of dissolution if they decide not to participate in the election expected to be held in October.
********************************************************
DVB News - Migrant girls drown fleeing Thai police raid
By NAW NOREEN
Published: 10 March 2010
Two Burmese migrant sisters have drowned in a creek in Thailand’s southern beach resort town of Phuket after fleeing a raid by police on their living quarters.
The girls, 20-year-old Nyo Nyo San and Myint Myint San, aged 12, had reportedly enrolled in Thailand’s new national verification programme that looks to certify migrant workers in the country.
“Around 6pm [on 8 March], at least 10 police officers in two cars arrived at the workers’ quarters,” said fellow worker Khine Than. She added that the fear surrounding Thai police treatment of migrants had forced the workers to flee.
“The younger girl [Myint Myint San] first went into the water but she couldn’t swim so she began to drown in the middle of the creek. Her sister attempted to save her but she also drowned.”
The Thai police and other migrants watched from the riverbank, Khine Than said. “[The migrants] didn’t dare save the girls because they feared the police. Both girls died and their funeral was held [yesterday].”
The mother of the two girls, Thein Win, pinned the blame firmly on the police. “My daughters died because of them. I will not forgive them.”
Another migrant worker, Shwe Bo, told DVB that the migrant worker permits the girls were carrying often doesn’t defend against police harassment.
“It doesn’t matter whether you carry the migrant worker card or not; some police will still arrest you and you have to pay them around 6000 baht ($US180) in order to be released,” he said.
It mirrors a similar case last month in which Thai troops opened fire on a pickup truck that had sped through a police checkpoint in southwestern Thailand. The truck was carrying Burmese migrants, and three children, including a three-year-old girl and six-year-old boy, died.
A Human Rights Watch report in February criticised the Thai government for its poor treatment of migrant workers in the country, which it said were treated like “walking ATMs” by Thai police.
Around 80 percent of migrants in Thailand are Burmese, and the Thai economy is heavily reliant on the cheap labour that migrants provide.
The report said that the national verification programme, in which migrants are required to return to their home country to register for status, puts Burmese “particularly at risk” of harassment by Burmese authorities.
It added that those who refuse to comply with the demands are likely to be deported to “face ethnic and political conflict in their home country”.
By NAW NOREEN
Published: 10 March 2010
Two Burmese migrant sisters have drowned in a creek in Thailand’s southern beach resort town of Phuket after fleeing a raid by police on their living quarters.
The girls, 20-year-old Nyo Nyo San and Myint Myint San, aged 12, had reportedly enrolled in Thailand’s new national verification programme that looks to certify migrant workers in the country.
“Around 6pm [on 8 March], at least 10 police officers in two cars arrived at the workers’ quarters,” said fellow worker Khine Than. She added that the fear surrounding Thai police treatment of migrants had forced the workers to flee.
“The younger girl [Myint Myint San] first went into the water but she couldn’t swim so she began to drown in the middle of the creek. Her sister attempted to save her but she also drowned.”
The Thai police and other migrants watched from the riverbank, Khine Than said. “[The migrants] didn’t dare save the girls because they feared the police. Both girls died and their funeral was held [yesterday].”
The mother of the two girls, Thein Win, pinned the blame firmly on the police. “My daughters died because of them. I will not forgive them.”
Another migrant worker, Shwe Bo, told DVB that the migrant worker permits the girls were carrying often doesn’t defend against police harassment.
“It doesn’t matter whether you carry the migrant worker card or not; some police will still arrest you and you have to pay them around 6000 baht ($US180) in order to be released,” he said.
It mirrors a similar case last month in which Thai troops opened fire on a pickup truck that had sped through a police checkpoint in southwestern Thailand. The truck was carrying Burmese migrants, and three children, including a three-year-old girl and six-year-old boy, died.
A Human Rights Watch report in February criticised the Thai government for its poor treatment of migrant workers in the country, which it said were treated like “walking ATMs” by Thai police.
Around 80 percent of migrants in Thailand are Burmese, and the Thai economy is heavily reliant on the cheap labour that migrants provide.
The report said that the national verification programme, in which migrants are required to return to their home country to register for status, puts Burmese “particularly at risk” of harassment by Burmese authorities.
It added that those who refuse to comply with the demands are likely to be deported to “face ethnic and political conflict in their home country”.
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DVB News - Rangoon strikes pre-empt union call
By AYE NAI
Published: 10 March 2010
Two more workers’ strikes are set to take place in Rangoon as calls for the legal formation of labour unions in Burma gather momentum.
Despite a media blackout on the protests, the latest of which took place last week at a major Rangoon brewery, unrest appears to have spread around Burma’s former capital.
A strikers’ group has been formed under the unofficial name of the Workers-Farmers Unity League (WFUL) and is demanding that the government ease restrictions on the formation of trade unions.
Unions are legally allowed in Burma, although a clause in the 2008 constitution states that their formation is conditioned on not being “contrary to the laws enacted for [Burma’s] security, prevalence of law and order, community peace and tranquillity, or public order and morality”. The subsequent definitions for these criteria are vague.
The WFUL head, Yee Yee Shein, told DVB that the government must follow international standards on workers’ rights. The focus of much of the recent unrest has been targeted towards poor working conditions and inadequate pay. The average wage in Burma in less than $US20 a month.
She said the group was demanding the government “set a minimum wage in accordance with today’s commodity prices”, and warned that the strikes will continue if the situation doesn’t change.
She also slammed the mass privatisation of Burmese industry in recent months and said that the strikes were down to the monopolisation of the country’s economy by cronies of the ruling junta.
The military government has embarked on an aggressive auctioning of industry, with Burmese businessmen the main beneficiaries. Most recently, Rangoon’s electricity sector was sold to Htoo Trading Company, which is owned by junta crony, Tay Za.
A 2000-strong strike led by women at a garment factory in Rangoon last month was greeted by more than 40 riot police trucks, according to eye-witnesses. Although the strike appeared to have ended in some success, with the government agreeing to increase wages, Yee Yee Shein said the promise was not met.
“We demanded 10,000 kyat ($US10) pay raise and [employers] agreed to 5000 kyat ($US5),” she said. “But at the end of the month, they cut money from our pay and we didn’t get any more than before.”
She said that around 500 people yesterday had staged a sit-in protest at the Lucky Shoe factory in Rangoon, while workers at a nearby garment factory had also gone on strike demanding higher wages.
The manager of a clothing business in Rangoon told DVB that the strikes are likely to continue unless the government creates more job opportunities. He added that the recent rumours about a 10-fold hike in electricity prices could also destabilise businesses and foment more unrest.
By AYE NAI
Published: 10 March 2010
Two more workers’ strikes are set to take place in Rangoon as calls for the legal formation of labour unions in Burma gather momentum.
Despite a media blackout on the protests, the latest of which took place last week at a major Rangoon brewery, unrest appears to have spread around Burma’s former capital.
A strikers’ group has been formed under the unofficial name of the Workers-Farmers Unity League (WFUL) and is demanding that the government ease restrictions on the formation of trade unions.
Unions are legally allowed in Burma, although a clause in the 2008 constitution states that their formation is conditioned on not being “contrary to the laws enacted for [Burma’s] security, prevalence of law and order, community peace and tranquillity, or public order and morality”. The subsequent definitions for these criteria are vague.
The WFUL head, Yee Yee Shein, told DVB that the government must follow international standards on workers’ rights. The focus of much of the recent unrest has been targeted towards poor working conditions and inadequate pay. The average wage in Burma in less than $US20 a month.
She said the group was demanding the government “set a minimum wage in accordance with today’s commodity prices”, and warned that the strikes will continue if the situation doesn’t change.
She also slammed the mass privatisation of Burmese industry in recent months and said that the strikes were down to the monopolisation of the country’s economy by cronies of the ruling junta.
The military government has embarked on an aggressive auctioning of industry, with Burmese businessmen the main beneficiaries. Most recently, Rangoon’s electricity sector was sold to Htoo Trading Company, which is owned by junta crony, Tay Za.
A 2000-strong strike led by women at a garment factory in Rangoon last month was greeted by more than 40 riot police trucks, according to eye-witnesses. Although the strike appeared to have ended in some success, with the government agreeing to increase wages, Yee Yee Shein said the promise was not met.
“We demanded 10,000 kyat ($US10) pay raise and [employers] agreed to 5000 kyat ($US5),” she said. “But at the end of the month, they cut money from our pay and we didn’t get any more than before.”
She said that around 500 people yesterday had staged a sit-in protest at the Lucky Shoe factory in Rangoon, while workers at a nearby garment factory had also gone on strike demanding higher wages.
The manager of a clothing business in Rangoon told DVB that the strikes are likely to continue unless the government creates more job opportunities. He added that the recent rumours about a 10-fold hike in electricity prices could also destabilise businesses and foment more unrest.
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