Democratic Voice of Burma |
- UEC and party leaders split on campaign rules
- Leading political activist shows his artistic side
- ECC, INGOs inspect Kaman Muslim IDP camps
- Battle lines drawn on Interfaith Marriage proposal
- DVB Debate: The power of celebrity
- Former British PM accused of secret ‘advisory role’ in Burma
- US renews limited sanctions on Burma
| UEC and party leaders split on campaign rules Posted: 16 May 2014 03:40 AM PDT
The Union Election Commission (UEC) met with more than 60 political parties in Rangoon on Thursday to discuss the commission's recently announced electoral regulations. The "electoral stakeholder relations" meeting was organised by the Myanmar [Burma] Multiparty Democracy Programme, an initiative sponsored by the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy and the Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy. Last week, UEC edicts sharply curbed the length of campaign periods for elections in Burma. As a result of the changes, parties will be limited to a campaign time of 30 days prior to elections, reduced from the previous three month timeframe. Representative campaigning was also restricted by the UEC, meaning that party representatives will not be able to campaign on behalf of election candidates without the approval of respective District Election Commissions. Futhermore, the UEC will require campaigning parties to provide advanced event schedules as well as times and routes for campaign rallies. On the eve of the meeting, the Federal Democratic Alliance (FDA) held a press conference, where representatives called for the UEC to soften the regulations. The FDA is made up of 10 political parties including the Karen People's Party, Chin Progressive Party, Democratic Party-Myanmar, Democracy and Peace Party, Union Democracy Party, Peace and Diversity Party, New Democratic Society of Myanmar and National Democratic Force (NDF). The FDA maintains that a 60- day campaign period would be more reasonable. Khin Maung Swe, chairman of the National Democratic Force, urged the UEC to reconsider the regulations. He believes the requirement for non-candidate party representatives to seek permission in order to campaign should be scrapped. "At [Thursday's] meeting we urged the UEC to reconsider the provision that requires approval from the commission in order to stage an election campaign – we suggested that requirement should be only to 'inform' instead of seeking approval," said Khin Maung Swe. Htay Oo, vice-chairman of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party insisted that the new regulations are reasonable and that parties must ensure they are strictly followed. Related Stories"It is a standard regulation to inform the electoral body as to the details of rallies, speeches and election posters. This situation has not changed. We discussed in the meeting how we can best proceed to hold elections in conformity with new regulations based on experiences in previous polls," Htay Oo said. At Thursdays meeting, UEC chairman Tin Aye told party representatives that the new regulations were based on international electoral protocols and have simply been modified to suit Burmese institutions. "The new directives on election campaigning; regulations for parliament candidates and political parties are a 'Burmanisation' of electoral provisions from other countries that we studied," said Tin Aye. Burma is set to hold another round of by-elections this year, when 31 seats across Burma will be contested. 19 seats are required to be filled across both houses of the 664- seat Union Parliament as well as 12 seats in various divisional administrations. The by-elections are scheduled to be held late this year. |
| Leading political activist shows his artistic side Posted: 16 May 2014 03:39 AM PDT Art lovers in Rangoon were treated to a solo exhibition by leading political activist Min Ko Naing on Wednesday Fifteen paintings in watercolor and acrylic were on display to the public at Gallery 65 on Yawmingyi road. Min Ko Naing spent nearly 20 years behind bars for leading student protests in the 1988 uprising. He said the art featured in his first exhibition was heavily influenced by his time in prison. "These are interpretations of my thirst for art, and my trapped imagination while I was in prison," the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society leader said. "I was allowed to draw when I was close to being released and some of those drawings are featured here." Min Ko Naing's paintings accompany the launch of the Burmese translation of a book by former Czech Republic president Vaclav Havel, called ”The Pizh'Duks”, which was illustrated by Min Ko Naing. The famous activist hails from an artistic background as his father, Thet Nyunt, was a well-known painter. Since he was released from prison in 2012, Min Ko Naing has written a book, several poems and songs. But campaigning for democracy is still his number one priority. "I paint whenever I have free time. At the moment, it is impossible for me to become a full-time artist. So let's say I'm like a part-timer in this scene," he said. |
| ECC, INGOs inspect Kaman Muslim IDP camps Posted: 16 May 2014 03:35 AM PDT The Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC), headed by Deputy Minister of Border Affairs Maj-Gen Maung Maung Ohn, on Thursday paid a visit to a displacement camp in Myebon Township near Sittwe, accompanied by UN and INGO representatives. Arakan State government spokesperson Hla Thein said the officials went to inspect conditions in the camp as a fact-finding mission ahead of the resumption of humanitarian aid to the various camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Arakan State where some 140,000 people, mainly Muslims, remain displaced. The Myebon camp houses some 3,000 IDPs, almost exclusively Kaman Muslims whose homes were destroyed during anti-Muslim riots last October. "The ECC, led by the Union Minister [Maung Maung Ohn], are inspecting the Myebon displacement camp along with UN and INGO representatives with a view of resuming aid work," Hla Thein told DVB by telephone on Thursday. Aung Lwin, an ethnic Kaman who is the coordinator at the Myebon camp, said the IDPs explained to the delegation about the hardships they suffer every day in the camp, as well as a lack of food, education and jobs. "We are not allowed to leave the camp," he told DVB. "We are confined to this 15-acre site with no employment and no income, and we suffer considerable food shortages." Related StoriesHe added that the camp chairman requested to the delegation that the Kaman IDPs be allowed to go fishing in the area. "And for the children," said Aung Lwin. "The so-called school is little more than a cow shed." He said the border affairs minister promised to attend to their problems; however, the camp residents were saddened by Maung Maung Ohn's remarks implying that the Kaman are "visitors" in Arakan State, hence they should behave like visitors and not upset their hosts, meaning Arakanese Buddhists, the camp coordinator told DVB on Thursday. "He called us 'visitors' – we have been living on this land for generations. We did not just migrate here recently. We were really hurt by what he said," said Aung Lwin. The delegation toured the Myebon camp for about 30 minutes before continuing to camps in Pauktaw Township, which also shelter many Kaman IDPs. The recently appointed ECC is comprised of central and regional government officials, as well as local Buddhist community leaders. It was formed as a mechanism to coordinate with the UN and INGOs as to whether to resume aid to the camps and under what conditions. On 14 May, Than Tun, a local Arakanese Buddhist community leader and member of the ECC, said that he was against further assistance to bolster the capacity of the existing hospital in the Dar Paing camp near Sittwe, which shelters Rohingya IDPs. "We see that the IDP camps are only here temporarily, and so their hospital should also be temporary and it doesn't need to be permanent," he said. "We are worried that giving the [IDPs] a permanent hospital will imply that they have a permanent status to stay here." |
| Battle lines drawn on Interfaith Marriage proposal Posted: 16 May 2014 02:08 AM PDT Opposition to Burma's proposed Interfaith Marriage Act continues to grow as the legislation moves closer to parliament. Last week, 97 civil society organisations publicly denounced the new rules as discriminatory against women and minority faiths. That constituency, which has now grown to include more than 150 organisations, wrote to President Thein Sein on Wednesday to request a meeting with some of Burma's most influential politicians. "We are asking for a meeting with the president, the Rule of Law Committee chair [Aung San Suu Kyi], the parliament's Speaker, and the chairman of the drafting committee to share our opinions and submit suggestions on the legislation," said May Sabe Phyu, senior coordinator of the Gender Equality Network, who has consistently been among the most outspoken critics of the proposal. The Interfaith Marriage Act is part of a legislative package tasked to a drafting committee in February. The laws, known often as the National Race and Religion Protection Bills, were initially proposed in July 2013 by a coalition of nationalist monks associated with the National Head Monks Committee, a government-appointed religious oversight body. The laws have been controversial from the get-go, seen by many as an attempt to further institutionalise anti-Muslim sentiment in the wake of nearly two years of intensified violence against Muslims stemming from decades of dormant mistrust and contempt. As detractors catch up with the bills' supporters — who have speedily advanced the regulations — criticism has become louder, faster and broader. Related StoriesThe Interfaith Marriage Act has come under particular scrutiny. Not only does the proposed law — which would require any non-Buddhist man to convert in order to marry a Buddhist woman — create excessive barriers to a Muslim man's freedom of faith, it is also widely regarded as detrimental to women of all faiths. "This law would strip away from women their right to freely decide whom to marry, and would mark a major reversal for religious freedom and women's rights in Burma," Asia director for Human Rights Watch (HRW), Brad Adams, remarked in March. A statement by HRW said that they had viewed a draft of the legislation, which effectively bans interfaith weddings by mandating conversion to Buddhism. The law also stipulates that the bride's parents must provide written consent for the marriage, which goes beyond compromising a woman's right to choose her partner; it gives her family legal veto power over her choices. It further subjects both she and her partner to sentences of up to ten years in jail for violations. The possibility that a family would use that power against their daughter's desires is real; Buddhist women with Muslim partners are convenient targets for ethno-religious anxiety in Burma. As recently as mid-April, four family homes were burned down by a mob in Pegu after a Buddhist woman refused to "turn over" her Muslim partner for purposes that remain unknown. As Wednesday's letter to Thein Sein shows, people in Burma are speaking out on this issue, but so far they are being ignored. The authors have not received any response to their request to sit down with decision-makers and express their opinion on rules that affect their lives. Moreover, the coalition of monks that originally lobbied for the rules have publicly called their opponents "traitors" who are "not loyal to the state". The president's spokesperson Ye Htut evaded the issue last week by claiming that because the drafting committee was explicitly told that the law could not violate women’s rights, it didn’t. The "protection" package already has a spot on the packed agenda for Burma's next parliamentary session, which will begin on 28 May. As that date nears, it seems clear that civil society is becoming increasingly impatient with tautological answers. |
| DVB Debate: The power of celebrity Posted: 16 May 2014 01:38 AM PDT Across the world, countless celebrities have used their fame and status to bring attention to contemporary political issues. Now the media industry in Burma is enjoying newfound freedom following the lifting of censorship, and Burmese celebrities have more opportunities to engage with topical issues and voice their opinions to their fans. On DVB Debate's panel this week: MP and hip hop star, Zeyar Thaw; artist Aye Ko; movie director Mike Tee; and singer/songwriter A Yoe. The studio discussed whether stars involve themselves in politics for the right reasons. Zeyar Thaw believed artists and celebrities have a big influence on people. In 2000, Zeyar Thaw released the first hip hop album in Burma and topped the charts for two months. He is now an MP and concentrates mostly on politics. "Our voice is not as loud as the artists", he said, adding that the role of an artist is different to that of a politician, "artists highlight problems, politicians solve them."  Cartoon: DVB Debate Artist Aye Ko sees the positive and negative sides of celebrities becoming involved in politics, and explained that if an artist is passionate about an issue, political involvement can be good for promoting the cause "There are pros and cons," he said. "Famous people working without faith is bad. If others work with dedication, even if they are young and unknown, it may do some good." But poet Saw Wai was more sceptical. "Popular guys want to remain popular so they use politics as a tool. They fear their past mistakes so they hide under the shadow of the military government, or of politics," he said. Another poet, Mhuu Thit, believed celebrities don't represent the people and thought that the film industry's past involvement with policy propaganda movies means they can't be trusted with politics. "The Myanmar [Burma] Motion Picture Association has a major responsibility for the deterioration of the whole society. When they enter the political arena, can we trust them?" he said. Under the former military government, even well known celebrities would be imprisoned for speaking out against the government policies. Now that the country is opening up, celebrities have a chance to use their influence more freely. "Compared to ordinary politicians, artists have more power," said Mike Tee. But with the power of celebrity comes responsibility to the public. "All eyes are on us, and many people are interested in what we do. If we sing a song naked, many people will start to do that. We have a responsibility towards the youth because they imitate celebrities," said A Yoe. This idea of acting responsibly was shared with former Miss Grand Myanmar, Htar Htet Htet, who said that people view those in the public eye as role models. "Some people define us as their role models, so we have to try and act responsibly and be aware of our daily behavior," she said. The studio generally agreed that, whether they are political or not, celebrities should be aware of their influence over fans and try to act accordingly.
You can join the debate or watch the full programme online at dvbdebate.com Or share your views with us by commenting on our website below.
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| Former British PM accused of secret ‘advisory role’ in Burma Posted: 16 May 2014 12:14 AM PDT Lobby group Burma Campaign UK (BCUK) has accused former British Prime Minister Tony Blair of playing a secretive "advisory role" to Burmese President Thein Sein, alleging that Blair has made multiple trips to the former pariah state to meet him. BCUK released a statement on Thursday criticising the former leader's lack of public disclosure regarding the meetings. "Given that Tony Blair has ignored 11 requests over the past year asking what he is doing in Burma, we can only assume that it is controversial and he wants to keep it a secret," said Zoya Phan, BCUK campaigns manager. BCUK said it has been writing to Blair since May 2013, and has also appealed for information from the British Foreign Office. "The British Foreign Office, which helped to arrange at least one of his visits to Burma, has turned down a freedom of information request asking for the details and purpose of his visit," the BCUK statement reads. Blair's office has so far offered one reply, the London-based group said, however the letter failed to address any of the specific questions, and "was so general as to be meaningless". "Giving strategic, political and public relations advice to the military-backed government while its soldiers are still attacking and killing civilians and raping ethnic women, would be deplorable, said Zoya Phan. "Tony Blair used to preach the need for transparency, now he should practice it and come clean about what he is doing in Burma." BCUK have repeatedly criticised British engagement with the Burmese government, especially in regards to fresh military links. In January, British army officers provided classroom training to Burmese counterparts. Defending the training in a January interview with DVB, British Ambassador to Burma Andrew Patrick said that the training was "about human rights; it is about accountability, about legal framework, about things like child soldiers." However, BCUK director Mark Farmaner scoffed at the suggestion, and likened training the Burmese military to "training sharks not to eat fish." On Wednesday, BCUK also announced it was launching a campaign calling on British Foreign Secretary William Hague to personally intervene to secure the release of jailed DVB journalist, Zaw Pe who was recently sentenced to one year in prison.
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| US renews limited sanctions on Burma Posted: 15 May 2014 10:12 PM PDT US President Barack Obama renewed limited investment sanctions on Burma on Thursday, signing the ongoing "National Emergency" situation on the country for at least one more year. The move prohibits US businesses and individuals from investing in Burma or doing business with military, government officials and any others associated with repression of the democracy movement since the mid-1990s. In a statement issued by the White House, Obama noted the significant progress the Burmese government has made in certain areas, but cited ongoing conflict and human rights abuses in ethnic minority areas, particularly Arakan State, as reasons for the renewal of sanctions, as well as the continued role of the military in Burma's political and economic activities. "The Government of Burma has made significant progress in a number of critical areas, including the release of over 1,100 political prisoners, progress towards a nationwide ceasefire, the legalization of unions, taking steps to improve the country’s labor standards, and allowing greater freedom of association and expression," wrote the US president to the speaker of the US House of Representatives and the president of the Senate on 15 May. "In addition, Burma signed an Additional Protocol to its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, a significant step towards supporting the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons." He continued, however, that: "Despite great strides that Burma has made in its reform effort, the situation in the country continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. The political opening remains nascent, and concerns persist regarding ongoing conflict and human rights abuses in ethnic minority areas, particularly in Rakhine [Arakan] State, and the continued role of the military in the country’s political and economic activities." Obama said the US remains committed to supporting and strengthening Burma’s reform efforts to ensure that the democratic transition is "sustained and irreversible". "By renewing US investment sanctions, President Obama is recognizing the perpetuation of abuse and corruption by the Burmese government that disenfranchise and harm Burma's people," said US Campaign for Burma (USCB) Policy Director Rachel Wagley. "The US administration is sending a strong message that the Burmese government's persecution of ethnic minorities, political backsliding on crucial reforms, and drafting of new repressive laws will not be tolerated." USCB led a coalition of 29 human rights groups and NGOs earlier this month in urging the US president to continue the country's "national emergency" with respect to Burma, an ongoing policy first enacted in 1997 which listed Burma, then ruled by the former military junta, as being of special concern as an "unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the US". Although most Western countries have allowed economic sanctions against Burma to lapse due to policies of reform undertaken by the Thein Sein administration since it took office in March 2011, the US has maintained limited investment sanctions targeting the Burmese military and those closely associated with it. Related StoriesThe US has taken particular issue with the Burmese government's alleged military links with North Korea, and the armed forces' continued presence in the Burmese political arena, where it is appointed 25 percent of seats in both houses of parliament. With a 75 percent majority needed to rescind or amend any constitutional clause, the military effectively controls veto power of any amendments to the Constitution and to the passing of any parliamentary act. The US has backed the opposition National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's call for the 2008 Constitution to be amended whereby the military would no longer have a stranglehold over the parliament and the Constitution. The European Union has scrapped economic sanctions on Burma except for a longstanding arms embargo. The UK last year announced it was offering military training to the Burmese armed forces despite protests by UK-based NGOs such as Burma Campaign UK (BCUK) and other rights groups. "Until Burma's constitution and laws are changed, training the Burmese army to respect human rights is likely to be as effective as trying to train a shark not to eat fish," said BCUK's Mark Farmaner. On Friday, the UK defended its policy of engagement with the Burmese army. "The Burmese military remain a core political force in Burma and will be key to the process of political reform. It is important to engage the military and encourage them to support reforms. It is only through engagement with all actors, including the military, that we will see greater democracy in Burma," said acting Embassy spokesperson Nicola Righini. Speaking to DVB last week ahead of the decision to renew sanctions, the US Embassy's public affairs officer in Rangoon, Satrajit Sardar, said, "We appreciate the views of all those working to support ongoing democratic reforms in Myanmar. Free and open exchange of ideas is essential for a healthy democracy and a model for transitioning countries around the world. Through the easing of sanctions and increased engagement, the United States continues to acknowledge the important changes the Union Government has made, and encourage and empower the government and the people of this country to continue on the path of political and economic reform. "In consultation with Congress and key stakeholders, we have moved from general, broad restrictions to a more calibrated and limited approach. At the same time, due to ongoing human rights concerns and the need for ongoing security sector reforms, the United States continues to retain sanctions against certain entities." Shortly after visiting Burma in 2012, President Obama lifted a 1996 ban on military officers and their business associates receiving visas for the USA.
Read more: http://www.dvb.no/news/rights-groups-call-on-obama-to-renew-sanctions/40479 |
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