Wednesday, May 9, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Wedding Fashion Fair to Showcase ASEAN Designers

Posted: 09 May 2018 06:15 AM PDT

With Myanmar's wedding season almost here, Sule Shangri-La Yangon will hold the "Iconic Inspirations" wedding and lifestyle fair at its ballroom on May 26 and 27.

What sets this fair apart is that it will showcase the best of the best from the local wedding industry alongside outstanding designers from the ASEAN region, including the ASEAN Fashion Designers Showcase (AFDS) group.

"We are collaborating in order to exchange cultures and design techniques among different countries," said designer Ma Myint Zu, who serves as an ambassador for AFDS.

She added, "This wedding show is the first collaboration with talented ASEAN designers in Myanmar. People will get to see our diverse creations."

The wedding fair will showcase dresses by 13 fashion designers including four local artists: Mogok Pouk Pouk, Ma Myint Zu, Latt Latt and Charlotte Barjou, a French designer based in Myanmar.

"Iconic Inspirations" will bring together modern and traditional Burmese wedding dresses. A high tea and opening show will be held at 2 p.m. on the first day of this celebration of love featuring Ma Myint Zu, Latt Latt and Charlotte Borjou.

In the evening, Mogok Pauk Pauk will close the day with a gala cocktail show at 6 p.m. with the special participation of Laotian designer Lasavong Bandid, a member of AFDS.

The second day will be a celebration of the best dresses of ASEAN, with the members of the Fashion Designers Showcase bringing to Yangon examples of their wedding culture and evening couture in two fashion shows.

Ma Myint Za said, "Both traditional and evening wedding dresses can be seen in my collection for this show, for which I have used palm colors. As you know, dark colors are not typically used for weddings. So I will go with a simple and traditional, classic look."

On the first day, she said, models will display 10 of her traditional Myanmar wedding dresses and evening gowns.

"Even though the wedding cultures [in ASEAN countries] are different, we can still share them. Plus, here in Yangon, people are putting on weddings with different themes nowadays. So, I hope people who love new things will enjoy these wedding fashions," she said.

The wedding fair is aimed at promoting greater cross-cultural and creative collaborations between designers from Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Throughout the two-day event, the hotel will showcase distinct wedding experiences. The hotel's wedding-planning experts will be on hand to meet couples interested in Sule Shangri-La Yangon's signature wedding packages and cakes, and exclusive honeymoon offers.

Couples who confirm wedding dates at the event will receive a 10-percent discount.

Admission to the wedding fair is free.

The post Wedding Fashion Fair to Showcase ASEAN Designers appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Senior Chinese Delegation Meets with President, State Counselor in Naypyitaw

Posted: 09 May 2018 06:08 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Chinese State Councilor and Public Security Minister Zhao Kezhi met separately with President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at the presidential residence in Naypyitaw on Wednesday.

The Chinese minister was accompanied by Myanmar’s ambassador to China, Hong Liang, China’s deputy public security minister, the head of the Yunnan Province Security Department and other Chinese officials.

Deputy Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant General Kyaw Swe, International Cooperation Minister U Kyaw Tin, President's Office Deputy Minister U Min Thu and directors-general of the Foreign Affairs Ministry were also present at the meetings.

The discussions focused on promoting bilateral cooperation and China's assistance to Myanmar in the peace process, rule of law, and security matters.

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Two Kachin Youth Leaders Fined for Organizing Protest Demanding Action on IDPs

Posted: 09 May 2018 05:50 AM PDT

A court in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, on Wednesday fined two ethnic Kachin youth leaders for organizing a protest to demand that authorities assist IDPs trapped by armed clashes in the state.

The two were charged with violating Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly Law, local sources said.

They appeared at a police station in Myitkyina on Wednesday morning to hear charges relating to street protests and a sit-in at the town's Manaw grounds. The two were charged by Police Colonel Than Oo. The officer, who served as prosecutor in the case, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the court later found the two to have violated the law. They confessed to having violated the law by failing to ask for permission to stage the protest, the officer said.

Article 19 violations are punishable by either a three-month prison sentence or a fine of 30,000 kyats, and the judge opted to fine them, he said.

Lum Zawng, a youth leader who was among the two charged, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday evening after emerging from the court that he and his a co-defendants, Sut Seng Htoi had been ordered to pay 30,000 kyats each.

"Police told us we violated the Peaceful Assembly Law. We told them we staged a peaceful protest intended to help IDPs. But we take responsibility for our actions. We accept the court's decision; that's why we went there," Lum Zawng said.

The two led 700 people in a street protest and later organized a daily sit-in protest the Manaw grounds. The protesters demanded the state and Union governments evacuate Kachin IDPs trapped in the jungle by fighting between the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) and the Kachin Independence Army.

Lum Zawng said his youth group was not aiming to stir up trouble in Myitkyina. His group held a peaceful protest asking the government to rescue the IDPs, he said.

"We did what we believed we had to do," he said.

The Kachin youth protesters ended their sit-in under pressure from local authorities, but succeeded in getting the state and Union governments to negotiate the evacuation of a limited number of Kachin IDPs.

Many remain trapped in the jungle, however. The Kachin youth protesters have said they plan to adopt new protest tactics to keep the pressure on the government to help the IDPs.

Recently, two activists in Mandalay and four in Yangon were also charged under Article 19 after staging peaceful protests.

According to the UN, more than 10,000 people have fled their homes since the Tatmadaw launched a major military offensive on April 11. Of these, some 6,500 have reached Myitkyina and Tanai townships. Rights groups, the UN and other overseas organizations have issued statements of concern about human rights violations in Kachin, and reports continue to emerge of new IDPs having been forced to flee.

Fighting between the Tatmadaw and the KIA has eased in recent days, but the Myanmar Army continues to deploy fresh troops to areas formerly controlled by the KIA's Brigade 2 in Tanai Township.

Local sources from Tanai and the KIA said 50 Tatmadaw trucks had driven from Myitkyina to Tanai, leading KIA leaders there to believe the Myanmar Army planned to continue its offensive and that fighting in Kachin would resume soon.

Seven years after a ceasefire agreement broke down in the region, the number of IDPs in Kachin is estimated at 150,000. Of the state's 15 townships, 10 host IDP camps.

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Lawmakers Urge Yangon Govt for Transparency in Development Projects

Posted: 09 May 2018 05:43 AM PDT

YANGON — Lawmakers from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party urged the Yangon regional government to stick to rules and regulations when carrying out development projects.

Six lawmakers discussed on Monday the government's proposal on urban development projects funded by local and international investment in Yangon from 2018-21, including transportation infrastructure, housing and economic development projects totaling more than 1.3 trillion kyats.

The proposal also includes a new city project on 2,400 acres of land on the west bank of the Yangon River. The timeframe for that project – which is slated as a pilot for the New Yangon City project – is 2018-26 and the costs are still being calculated.

The lawmakers complained that they had little or no idea about the projects and criticized the government's lack of transparency.

During the discussion, lawmaker U Kyaw Zayya said he wanted the Yangon government to work according to the law.

Article 33 of the State and Region Government Law says "the government shall carry out state or regional level projects with the approval of the (state or regional) parliament."

"We are not against the projects. But we want the government to implement them properly. We want the government we elected to work according to the law," he said.

Lawmakers U Kyaw Min Han and U Zaw Win Naing said most of the projects in the proposal lacked detailed implementation plans and requested revisions in the details.

Lawmaker U Thein Myint said Yangon now faces problems like traffic congestion, security and rule of law, and asked whether the government was leaving this Yangon as it is now in order to build a new one.

On Monday, another six lawmakers will join the discussion on the proposal.

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Myanmar Verifies More Than 1,000 Refugees in Bangladesh for Repatriation

Posted: 09 May 2018 02:38 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Myanmar will repatriate more than 1,000 Muslim refugees who have fled northern Rakhine State for Bangladesh, Union Immigration and Population Minister U Thein Swe said on Monday.

Bangladesh gave Myanmar a list of just over 8,000 refugees willing to return to Rakhine in February. Myanmar has since verified more than 1,000 of them as former residents and provided their names to Bangladesh; it is still reviewing the rest of the list.

"We have so far verified about 1,100 refugees on the list," U Thein Swe said in Naypyitaw at the launch of a video on migration in Myanmar.

According to the UN, nearly 700,000 mostly Rohingya Muslims have fled northern Rakhine for Bangladesh since late August, when militant attacks on security posts there triggered a sweeping military clearance operation. Myanmar has denied the figure and said it would only accept refugees who have lived in Myanmar and volunteer to return.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a repatriation agreement in January, but none of the refugees has returned to Myanmar to date, U Thein Swe said.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Parties Gear Up for November By-election

Posted: 09 May 2018 02:25 AM PDT

Myanmar's political parties have begun preparing to contest a by-election slated for early November.

The Union Election Commission (UEC) announced Tuesday evening that it would hold the second by-election of the National League for Democracy-led government's term on Nov. 3.

The election will fill 13 seats in the Union, state and regional parliaments currently vacant due to deaths and one resignation, according to UEC spokesperson U Myint Naing. These comprise four Lower House seats, one Upper House seat, seven seats in state and regional parliaments and the Shan ethnic affairs minister's seat in Mandalay Region.

In April last year a by-election was held to fill 19 vacant seats. The NLD won a majority of these, followed by the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) and the opposition Union Solidary and Development Party (USDP).

The vacant Lower House constituencies are in Kanpetlet of Chin State, Lechar of southern Shan State, Tamwe of Yangon Region and Myingyan of Mandalay Region.

The Upper House seat is for the No. 2 constituency in Myitkyina, Kachin State.

The vacant seats in state and regional parliaments are in Matupi 1 of Chin State, Rathedaung 2 of Rakhine State, Tamu 2 of Sagaing Region, Oktwin 1 of Bago Region, Thabeikkyin 1 of Mandalay Region, Minbu 2 of Magwe Region, and Seikkan of Yangon Region.

U Myint Naing told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday the UEC has been checking the voter lists in every vacant constituency since April 19 and had found "no difficulties" in constituencies in the conflict-ridden states of Shan and Rakhine.

Updated voter lists are expected to be published later this month, as the task began on April 19 and was scheduled to take five weeks, ending on May 23-24.

U Myint Naing said the UEC had informed the political parties of the date for the by-election and would announce the deadline for registering candidates in accordance with electoral procedures.

U Myo Nyunt, a spokesman for the ruling NLD, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that "the NLD would field candidates for all vacant seats as per its policy."

"We have decided to contest every election, and we will accept the public's choice. We are also prepared to make necessary changes based on the will of the public as expressed through the elections," he said.

The NLD's main rival is the opposition USDP, though in the minority ethnic states it is vying with the ethnic political parties based in those areas, the NLD spokesman added.

The SNLD will contest two seats: the Lower House seat in Lechar and the Shan ethnic affairs minister's seat in Mandalay Region.

SNLD leaders told The Irrawaddy they are preparing to contest both seats and party members have already chosen a candidate for the Lechar constituency in Shan State.

"We don't think we will face much of a challenge in Shan State, as we, the SNLD, won [the 2015 general election and April 2017 by-election] there, said Sai Leik, the SNLD spokesperson. "It is important that every party can contest freely and fairly in accordance with the current election laws and bylaws."

He urged the government, political parties and civil society groups to engage in more public awareness activities to build interest in the elections.

The Arakan National Party plans to contest the vacant seat in Rakhine State.

There are more than 100 political parties registered with the UEC, with the major ones being the NLD, USDP and SNLD.

Observers believe that if the newly formed Four Eights People's Party, which has yet to formally register with the UEC, has its registration approved soon, it could become a rival to the existing Burman-majority parties.

Zue Zue contributed to this report.

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Critics Say Proposed Viewing Tower in Bagan Will Damage Cultural Landscape

Posted: 09 May 2018 12:00 AM PDT

YANGON — A Korea-based company has inquired the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture about building a 100-meter sunset viewing tower in Bagan.

Sky Dream Co Ltd of Korea has proposed building a viewing tower south of the hotel zone in Bagan, according to sources at the Department of Archaeology and National Museum.

The company also proposed building a recreational park along with the tower. U Aung Aung Kyaw, the director of the Department of Archaeology and National Museum (Bagan branch), denied that the department had given the go-ahead.

"The company only asked our opinion about the project," he said. He would not comment on the background or ownership of the company.

The department suggested conducting a heritage impact assessment for the viewing tower.

"I am not at ease with this proposal. I also heard that a theme park would be built. Theme parks like Disneyland and Universal Studios do not fit with Bagan. Generally speaking, a viewing tower does not even belong here," said Daw Ohmar Myo, in-charge of the UNESCO World Heritage bid for Bagan.

Though the company said that the proposed viewing site is outside the Bagan Archaeological Zone, it is relatively close and will negatively impact the plan to build a greater heritage region," said Daw Ohmar Myo, discussing a regional heritage plan and the effect of a tall viewing tower on the cultural landscape.

The tower will be reportedly modeled after the Menara Taming Sari, a 110-meter viewing tower near old Malacca, a UNESCO World Heritage city in Malaysia, which attracts many visitors.

Previously, five temples were open to visitors to view the sunset in Bagan, but after hundreds of pagodas were damaged by a powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake in August last year, authorities have banned climbing on all pagodas in consideration of their durability.

Bagan has stupas, temples and other Buddhist religious buildings constructed from the 9th to 11th centuries—a period in which 55 Buddhist kings ruled the Pagan Dynasty. There are more than 3,000 stupas and temples in the area that covers 16 square miles.

Myanmar's initial application for UNESCO recognition of Bagan as a World Heritage Site came in 1996, but it was rejected due to poor management plans and legal frameworks under previous governments.

However, UNESCO has accepted Bagan as a mixed cultural heritage zone, which means that there is no need to relocate villages, hotels or guesthouses in the area.

Bagan's nomination will be brought up for deliberation at UNESCO's 2019 World Heritage Site convention, according to the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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NLD ‘Waiting for the Right Time’ to Amend Constitution

Posted: 08 May 2018 11:13 PM PDT

YANGON — Amending the military-drafted 2008 Constitution was one of the National League for Democracy (NLD)'s main campaign promises in the run-up to the 2015 election that brought it to power in March 2016.

Constitutional reform has proven to be easier said than done for the NLD; the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) sees safeguarding the 2008 charter — which was drafted by the former junta and guarantees the Tatmadaw an important leadership role — as one of its main duties.

Constitutionally, 25 percent of seats in the national and all regional parliaments are reserved for the military. Additionally, the charter awards three key ministerial portfolios — Defense, Home and Border Affairs — to the Tatmadaw, which also gets to appoint a vice president.

Beyond this, the undemocratic Constitution gives the military veto power over proposed constitutional amendments and bars Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the nation's de facto leader, from the presidency.

Ten years after the Constitution come into effect and two years into the term of the NLD-led government, The Irrawaddy talked to NLD spokesperson Dr. Myo Nyunt about the progress of constitutional reform.

It has been 10 years since the Constitution was ratified. How much progress has been made in terms of amending it since the NLD took power two years ago?

There are concerns that our government has done nothing to change the Constitution. In fact, all the things we are doing — from mobilizing [public] support, reconciling with the Tatmadaw, fostering the public's trust, improving their daily lives — are about constitutional amendment. It is utterly impossible to amend the 2008 Constitution without those foundations. We are waiting for the right time, while working toward national reconciliation and building substantial support among the people. In politics, you can't just make demands all the time; you have to wait for the right time.

NLD spokesperson Dr. Myo Nyunt. / The Irrawaddy

What are the major hurdles in this process?

People who have some knowledge [of the political landscape in Myanmar] understand what our chances of success would be if we attempted to change the Constitution now. Under current circumstances, we are not running off at the mouth about constitutional change. But we have never abandoned our mission to reform the Constitution. We will never step back. I mean, we have been consistently doing things that would facilitate constitutional amendment.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has prioritized the peace process since the NLD took office. Earlier, however, she talked a lot about amending the Constitution. Has she issued any instructions regarding constitutional reform?

When the time is right, we will publicly discuss constitutional amendment. But for now we are not, as we don't think it is the right time and doubt it would be successful. There has been no separate instruction regarding the Constitution recently. But we [the NLD] maintain it as a key policy.

You said the NLD has consistently worked toward laying the groundwork for constitutional amendment. Reconciliation with the military is part of this process. What else are you doing?

The peace process, on which we are working, is also important for constitutional change. To the extent that the peace process is successful, constitutional reform will be speedily achieved.

It is generally assumed that constitutional change would be unsuccessful if attempted now. How do you plan to move beyond this state of affairs?

The most important thing is [to secure] the overwhelming support of the people. In fact, the Tatmadaw [the Myanmar military] was also born of the people. Constitutional change will be successful on the day when all the respective civil services born of the people decide that the Constitution must be changed.

Before the 2015 general election, the NLD campaigned on a vow to amend the Constitution. Many hoped to see it materialize. What is your message to these people?

The public has very high expectations of us; we know that. We are doing things in a consistent way. I would like to say that we never abandon our election pledges.

Many believe the constitutional crisis remains a major barrier to the country's democratic transition. What do you think?

Yes, it does. Without changing the Constitution, we can't build a genuinely democratic country. Without real democracy, we can't adopt a federal system.

The post NLD 'Waiting for the Right Time' to Amend Constitution appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

After Rohingya Rape Accusations, UN Warns of Imminent Births

Posted: 08 May 2018 10:57 PM PDT

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh — With her 16-day-old son lying asleep in her lap, tears streamed down the face of a 20-year-old Rohingya refugee in Bangladesh as she accused Myanmar troops of covering her eyes and mouth and raping her, before making her watch as they killed her husband.

“I don’t know if this baby is from my husband or the rape,” said the woman, speaking through a translator, during a visit by UN Security Council envoys to camps in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh sheltering nearly a million refugees.

Ahead of the council visit to Bangladesh and Myanmar last week, senior UN officials warned the envoys about the prospect of a flood of babies being born in the coming weeks and months in the refugee camps that could be the result of rape.

In a joint statement, UN Envoy for Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten and UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour wrote “reports suggest Rohingya women and girls were raped on a systematic and possibly massive scale.”

“Many of the women and girls raped in 2017 are due to give birth in the next few weeks, during the monsoon season, and we are concerned that many will not be able to access medical care to give birth safely,” they wrote.

Nearly 700,000 mainly Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh in the past eight months following a Myanmar military crackdown that the UN, United States and Britain have denounced as ethnic cleansing. Myanmar denies ethnic cleansing.

In March the UN launched an appeal for $951 million to help the Rohingya refugees for the rest of the year, but the world body said at the end of April it was only 9 percent funded.

The UN and aid groups working in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar said it was difficult to know exactly how many women and girls were pregnant. It was even more difficult to know how many of the pregnancies were the result of rape.

“With the help of the UN bodies and other international and national [aid groups], we are trying to identify the pregnant women so that they get proper treatment,” said a senior Bangladesh Health Ministry official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

He said that so far 18,300 pregnant women had been identified and the rough total estimate was around 25,000.

Rohingya insurgent attacks on security posts in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in August sparked a military operation that Myanmar described as a legitimate response. Fleeing refugees have reported killings, rapes and arson on a large scale.

“Based on UN reports and testimonies from Rohingya women who told our staff of rape and sexual violence in Myanmar, we do sadly expect the number of babies born as a result of unwarranted pregnancies to increase in the coming months,” said Daphnee Cook, Save the Children’s spokeswoman in Cox’s Bazar.

Myanmar Military Blacklisted

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently blacklisted the Myanmar armed forces in his annual report on conflict-related sexual violence. The military must now decide whether to work with Patten on a plan that would lead to their removal from the blacklist.

During a two-hour meeting with Security Council envoys last week in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyitaw, military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing vowed “harsh action” over sexual violence. According to the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper, he said: “Sexual violence [is] considered as despicable acts.”

In November, Myanmar’s military released a report denying all accusations of rape by security forces.

Melissa How, medical coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Cox’s Bazar, said she had seen “a number of women and girls” who had become pregnant from sexual violence in Myanmar or Bangladesh.

“Some have miscarried; some have turned to traditional medicine and other methods to end their pregnancies, using unsafe methods. A number of women and girls have chosen to access MSF facilities for medical care, as well as menstrual regulation, in Bangladesh,” she said.

Abortion is illegal in Bangladesh but menstrual regulation to terminate a pregnancy is permissible. How also added that the majority of women in the camps who give birth do so outside health facilities.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in January to complete the voluntary repatriation of the refugees within two years but the deal poses a challenge for women who give birth to children born from cases of rape.

UN envoy Patten, who will visit Cox’s Bazar this month, said complying with a requirement in the deal for women to go to the Bangladesh Supreme Court to obtain a document noting that a child had been “born out of unwarranted incidence,” a reference to cases of rape resulting in pregnancy, may be too difficult for poor, illiterate women.

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Two Protesters Arrested Under Peaceful Assembly Law in Mandalay

Posted: 08 May 2018 10:09 PM PDT

MANDALAY — Two men who participated in protests in Mandalay calling for the government to immediately rescue villagers in Kachin State who have been trapped due to violence between the Myanmar Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) were arrested on Tuesday.

Ko Aung Hmine San and Ko Soe Moe were listed in a lawsuit filed by police against protesters under Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law.

The two protesters were at a teashop in Mandalay when police showed up to arrest them. They requested that they be allowed to return home to collect some personal belongings.

Ko Aung Hmine San's wife Ma Lei Lei New said her husband did return home. Police then arrested him under Article 19 and took him to the No. 8 police station.

Article 19 is a bailable offense, however, the two men refused to leave on bail and instead decided to face trial and remain in detention.

The two protesters appeared in court on Wednesday, where the police received the court's permission to detain them and send them to Obo Prison.

Demonstrations urging authorities to rescue trapped locals in Kachin State and calling for an end to the clashes have risen in the past week, primarily in Yangon and Mandalay, following an initial protest camp in Myitkyina, Kachin State. Thousands of locals have been displaced by recent fighting between the Myanmar Army and the KIA.

Since Monday, police in Mandalay and Yangon have filed lawsuits against nine protesters under Article 19.

On Tuesday, protesters held a candlelight vigil at the southern side of the old palace wall in Mandalay to show solidarity with the Kachin people.

"We are doing this for the people suffering due to armed conflicts. We do this for peace. We have to ask why the authorities oppress us in this way. Don't they want peace?" asked Ko Than Htike, who participated in the vigil.

"We were saddened by the actions of the authorities. We want the immediate release of the arrested protesters and we will continue protesting until the trapped villagers of Kachin State are safe," he added.

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China Does Not Want UN to Push Myanmar on Accountability

Posted: 08 May 2018 09:57 PM PDT

UNITED NATIONS — China does not want the UN Security Council to tell Myanmar that credible, transparent investigations into accusations of violence against mainly Rohingya Muslims are important, according to proposed amendments to a British-drafted statement.

The 15-member Security Council is trying to negotiate a press statement following a visit by UN envoys to Bangladesh and Myanmar last week to see firsthand the aftermath of a Myanmar military crackdown that Britain, the United States and others have denounced as ethnic cleansing of the minority Rohingya.

Britain wanted the council to state “the importance of undertaking credible and transparent investigations into allegations of human rights abuses and violations” and “continue to support efforts to ensure justice and accountability.”

Its draft statement would also “urge the government of Myanmar to fulfill urgently its stated commitment to holding accountable perpetrators of violence, including sexual violence and abuse and violence against children.”

However, Myanmar ally China deleted those references in amendments it has proposed to that statement, which must be agreed by consensus. China also proposed welcoming “the efforts taken by the government of Myanmar to improve the situation in Rakhine” State.

Diplomats said negotiations were continuing.

Rohingya insurgent attacks on security posts in Rakhine in August sparked a military operation that has sent nearly 700,000 Rohingya fleeing to refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. Security Council envoys visited those vast camps last week.

They also met with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Myanmar’s de facto leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and traveled to Rakhine State, where the violence erupted. Myanmar denies the accusations of ethnic cleansing.

Fleeing refugees have reported killings, rapes and arson on a large scale. Myanmar has said its operations in Rakhine were a legitimate response to attacks on security forces by Rohingya insurgents.

Myanmar military chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing told Security Council envoys, during a two-hour meeting in Naypyitaw, the country’s capital, last week, that less than 2,000 troops were involved in the military operation, according to diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has asked the court to rule on whether it has jurisdiction over the deportations of Rohingyas to Bangladesh, a possible crime against humanity.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s government has expressed “serious concern” over the move at the ICC. Bangladesh is a member of the ICC but Myanmar is not. Rights groups have called on the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution referring the situation in Myanmar to the court.

The post China Does Not Want UN to Push Myanmar on Accountability appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Malaysians Vote in Toughest Election Yet for Ruling Coalition

Posted: 08 May 2018 09:26 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysians began voting on Wednesday in what is likely to be the country’s closest-fought general election, with Prime Minister Najib Razak’s coalition pitted against a resurgent opposition steered by 92-year-old former leader Mahathir Mohamad.

Najib’s long-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) is expected to win despite an election-eve opinion poll suggesting that its support was slipping and that Mahathir’s alliance would land more votes in peninsular Malaysia, home to 80 percent of the population.

Under Malaysia’s first-past-the-post system, the party or alliance with the majority of seats in the 222-member parliament wins. Most experts believe that is within Najib’s reach despite popular anger over a multi-billion-dollar graft scandal that has dogged him since 2015 and increased costs of living.

“I think right now, it looks more favorable to BN, as they are able to pull in most of east Malaysia,” said Mohamed Nawab Mohamed Osman, a Malaysia scholar at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. “However, the margin that we’re talking about is very small.”

Polling stations for the 14.9 million registered voters opened at 8:00 a.m. and will close at 5:00 p.m. Most results are expected to come in before midnight but the count may spill into the early hours of Thursday.

“This is a big day for Malaysia as this is when we decide our future,” said Dr. Hasri Samion, a 57-year-old cardiologist.

“I think the people have been complacent for too long. We need someone who is capable of running this country. We need a visionary to lead Malaysia.”

The survey by independent pollster Merdeka Center showed BN’s estimated share of the popular vote had slipped to 37.3 percent in peninsular Malaysia from 40.3 percent one week earlier. The share of Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) was at 43.4 percent, but it had also slipped slightly.

Merdeka said BN looked set to win 100 constituencies nationwide and the opposition 83. With these numbers, neither camp would have the 112 seats required to rule and the result will hinge on 37 seats that the pollster said were too close to call.

At the last election in 2013, BN lost the majority vote in its worst performance ever, but pulled in 133 seats.

Unless he improves on that tally, Najib could come under pressure within his United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party to stand aside ahead of the next election, analysts say.

“I am loyal to BN and to UMNO,” said Sri Nuraini, a housewife casting her vote in central Kuala Lumpur. “They helped build this country to what it is now. I respect Mahathir … and I admire what he’s doing. But he’s old. Why do we want to change government when they have done so much for us?”

Najib made a last-ditch appeal for votes on Tuesday night aimed at the young and the country’s Malay Muslim majority.

The prime minister said people aged 26 and below would no longer pay income tax if BN won. He also pledged to add two public holidays when the Islamic holy month of Ramadan starts next week and said toll roads would be free for five days around the start of the Eid festival, which marks the end of the month.

Speaking at the same time, Mahathir urged voters not to fall for "bribes."

“Don’t let a bit of money make you pawn the country forever,” he said.

Hung Parliament?

Nawab, the scholar, said there was a small chance that neither BN nor the opposition secures a majority, which would bring a “hung Parliament” and potentially put the Islamic Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) in the position of kingmaker.

However, political analysts believe PAS will fall short of the 21 seats it won in 2013. The Merdeka poll had it winning just two seats.

Mahathir’s opposition, which counts on urban votes and support from the minority ethnic Chinese and Indian communities, is hoping that with the long-ruling former leader as its standard bearer, it will draw in Malay voters traditionally loyal to BN.

However, Mahathir is a polarizing figure and many voters are suspicious of him because of his attacks on independent institutions when he was prime minister between 1981 and 2003.

Najib’s other formidable opponent is former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is currently serving a five-year prison sentence on a sodomy conviction that has been attacked by human rights groups as politically motivated.

Anwar led the opposition in the 2008 and 2013 polls. In an unlikely reconciliation, he has joined hands with Mahathir, who sacked him as his deputy in 1998.

In Najib’s favor, ethnic Malays support BN for affirmative-action policies that give them government contracts, cheap housing and guaranteed university admissions.

Also, the economy is growing at around 5 percent, buoyed by robust exports and infrastructure spending.

But Najib, 64, has been buffeted by a scandal over 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state fund from which billions of dollars were allegedly siphoned off. The prime minister, who was chairman of 1MDB’s advisory board, has denied any wrongdoing and he has been cleared of any offense by the attorney general.

The post Malaysians Vote in Toughest Election Yet for Ruling Coalition appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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