Friday, November 1, 2013

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine


Court Brings Charges Against 61 People for Thandwe Violence

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 08:21 AM PDT

A university graduation photo lies amongst the ruins of a destroyed Muslim home in Lin Dee village, Thandwe Township, after inter-communal violence in October. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)

A total of 61 people, among them both Kaman Muslims and Arakanese Buddhists, have been charged with various offenses, including murder, in relation to an outbreak of inter-communal violence in southern Arakan State's Thandwe Township a month ago, according to a lawyer and a local resident.

Between Sept. 29 and Oct. 1, seven people were reported killed and more than 100 homes were burned to the ground as Buddhist mobs attacked Muslim villages around the town of Thandwe. About 500 ethnic Kaman Muslims were forced to flee from their homes.

Lawyer Aye Nu Sein said the Thandwe Township Court has now brought charges against 34 Arakanese Buddhists.

She said she is defending 11 Arakanese Buddhists, including the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party's township chairman, who were charged Thursday with obstruction of official duty and incitement under Burma's penal code.

Another 23 Arakanese have been charged with setting fires in the past two weeks, she added.

Nyan Yee Phyo, a Kaman Muslim in Thandwe Township, said 27 Kaman Muslims had also been charged.

Among them, 14 people were charged Tuesday with murder, causing severe harm and assisting murder under the penal code, he said, adding that another 13 Kaman have been charged with various offenses relating to the violence in recent weeks.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has previously said a total of 78 people were initially arrested for the events of Sept. 29 to Oct. 1, which were just the latest bout of deadly inter-communal violence to break out in Arakan State and elsewhere in recent years.

The ministry said that six of those detained in Thandwe had confessed to involvement in murder, although it did not specify whether those six people were Buddhists or Muslims.

Nyan Yee Phyo said the 14 Kaman charged with murder were accused of killing two people and injuring four with knives in Linthi village.

Nyan Yee Phyo, who said he was helping the Kaman suspects, said the various charges for the 27 Kaman Muslims also included the charge of offenses related to attacking religion and instigating riots against four of them, and three are charged with possessing weapons.

He insisted that among the Kaman suspects, "some of them are [actually] the victims of the violence and wrongly accused."

Nyan Yee Phyo said that the violence a month ago was not a result of tension between communities in Thandwe, but that outsiders were responsible.

“It is not violence between one religion and another, there are some groups of people who try to create instability within our country,” he said.

"I hope the judge will make the decision in accordance with the law."

The suspects are all being detained in Thandwe Prison. The Thandwe court has set trial dates of Nov. 7 for the Arakanese suspects charged on Thursday and Nov. 12 for the Kaman Muslims charged on Tuesday.

The post Court Brings Charges Against 61 People for Thandwe Violence appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Rangoon Factory Workers Toil for ‘Extremely Low’ Wages: Report

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 08:13 AM PDT

A group of around 100 laid-off employees stage a protest near Rangoon's Sule Pagoda roundabout in September. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — A survey of factory workers in Rangoon has revealed they suffer from a range of labor rights violations, such as long working hours, unsafe conditions and intimidation for joining labor unions, while most are paid "extremely low" basic wages of between US$25 and $37 per month.

Researchers of the Burma-based Labor Rights Clinic, the Cooperation Program of Independent Laborers and the Construction-based Labor Union interviewed 114 workers employed in three clusters of factories near Rangoon in November, and the groups presented their findings in a report Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of workers are employed in labor-intensive industries at 14 industrial zones around Burma's commercial capital. Garment and footwear factories are the biggest industrial employers, with about 100,000 workers total.

The report found that laborers worked "in unsafe, hot, overcrowded factories, typically for around 11 hours per day, 6 days per week." Researchers said these "extremely low basic wages" forced laborers to work grueling schedules in order to support their families.

Burma is emerging from decades of repressive military rule and does not yet have a legal minimum wage. Among workers interviewed for the report, 55 percent earned a basic wage of between $25 and $37 per month.

These wage levels are the lowest in the region. Cambodian garment workers make a basic wage of about $80 per month. Minimum monthly wages for Bangladeshi workers are expected to rise to about $65, Reuters reported recently.

"[C]osts of living are too high for workers to rely on their basic salary and most workers need to work many hours of overtime to earn enough to make ends meet," the Burma report said. Employers use "a complex system of bonus pay" to entice laborers to work overtime, after which most earn about $77 to $98 per month, the researchers found. They noted that even on this income, "the economic situation of most workers is dire."

At many factories, labor activists and workers who join unions or organized collective actions, such as strikes, often face threats, intimidation or dismissal, the report said.

Labor rights activity and unionization is rapidly increasing in Burma after President Thein Sein's reformist government passed the Labor Organization Law and the Trades Dispute Act last year. The laws create space for labor rights movements, after decades of brutal suppression of such activity under the previous military regime.

Numerous "weaknesses, holes and lack of concrete protection" in this legislation means, however, that there is still little legal protection for labor rights activity, according to the report. It said the laws contravened the International Labor Organization's (ILO) conventions that guarantee freedom of association, the right to organize and collective bargaining.

"Employers, often in collusion with authorities, continue to trample over the rights of workers," the researchers said, adding that "there is still a lack of political will to genuinely protect and promote labor rights."

Labor dispute resolution bodies function poorly and often side with employers, according to the report, which said the Peace Assembly Law, which sets a one-year prison sentence for organizing an unauthorized protest, continues to be used against labor activists.

Burma is expected to see a major increase in foreign investment in low-cost manufacturing in coming years as a result of ongoing legislative and economic reforms. The report warned that the poor labor rights situation needs to be addressed if the country wants to gain genuine socio-economic benefits from this development.

Myint Soe, chairman of the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA), said he questioned some of the report's findings. "Safety, health and ventilation, I think, is not so bad. But [problems] can happen in small factories because they don't have enough investment and they don't have enough awareness," he said.

Currently, the 1951 Factory Law sets out workplace conditions that factories need to follow. The law is reportedly being reviewed by the Labor Ministry.

Myint Soe confirmed that basic wage levels in Rangoon's factories are usually at between $30 and $35 per month, adding, "That is our [wage] suggestion to our [garment] association members."

Asked if he considered these wage levels low, he said, "Based on the situation and conditions in our country that … is sufficient." He also dismissed claims that current wage levels forced laborers to work long hours of overtime, saying, "They can deny overtime if they don't want to work. It's based on an agreement and their desire."

Steve Marshall, liaison officer for the ILO in Burma, said Parliament recently passed the Minimum Wage Law and the government is now carrying out research to determine the exact wage level and conditions.

"There is considerable work taking place in terms of establishing the actual minimum wage," he said. "It needs to be done well, to ensure that it's both good for the economy and good for the workers."

Marshall said Burma's labor rights situation was improving rapidly as a result of government reforms, adding that the number of registered labor unions has now grown to about 800.

"We are seeing the evolution of a more organized workforce," he said, adding that new workers organizations should cooperate with the government and employers to develop good labor and economic policies.

He added, however, that "it's still early days" for labor rights development in Burma. "There continue to be some concerns about people who establish unions, who find themselves in some way being harassed."

The post Rangoon Factory Workers Toil for 'Extremely Low' Wages: Report appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Planned Electricity Price Increase Sparks Concern Among Businesses

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 07:59 AM PDT

electricity, Rangoon, business, Myanmar

Back-up power generators in downtown Rangoon. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Business owners and households say they are concerned about the government's plan to raise electricity prices next month, when rates are set to significantly increase, in some cases with up to 100 percent.

On Tuesday, the Yangon City Electricity Supply Board (YESB) announced that households that consume more than 101 units of electricity per month will have to pay 50 kyat (US $0.05) per unit, a price increase of about 40 percent.

Businesses that consume between 1 to 5,000 units of electricity per month will experience a 35-percent increase and pay 100 kyat per unit starting November, YESB announced. Companies using more than 5,000 units will see their electricity bills double as rates jump from 75 kyat to 150 kyat per unit.

YESB said in its announcement that it was implementing the price hikes "In order to cover costs of producing and purchasing electricity." The board could not be reached for further comment on the reasons for the plans.

Several factory owners said the price increases would impact the cost of their business operations and some warned this could result in higher product prices for consumers.

"Businessmen who operate freezers, such as ice production, fish and meat production, are saying that they won't have any profits left if their electricity bill doubles, as most of their input costs come from power," said Kyaw Soe Tun, secretary of Hlaing Tharyar 5 Industrial Zone Management Committee.

Factories producing plastic, he said, "are waiting to set their market prices to see how they can cover the electricity bills that will come next month."

Kyaw Soe Tun said the rise in electricity prices further complicates Rangoon's inadequate power supply situation, which is already marred by frequent power cuts.

"The most important thing is to get full-time power supply," he said. "In recent days, the government power supply is really poor so we couldn't even run some operations."

Daw Toe Nandar Tin, treasurer of the Myanmar Fisheries Federation Products Processors and Exporters Association, said the association's factories—which use 24-hour cooling equipment to keep products fresh—would experience a sharp rise in cost due to the planned prices hikes, something many factories could not afford.

"I think many industries will stop running their business," she said. "In Burma, where industries are not growing fast enough, this [cost increase] can be a shock to the country. I'm sure that all will face trouble because of this."

Daw Toe Nandar Tin warned that the electricity price increase would translate into higher consumer prices for fresh products that need to be cooled, such as meat and fish.

Tun Kyaw, managing director of Step Clothes, said the garment factories would be less affected by the rise in power costs. "The electricity bill is only 5 percent to 10 percent of production cost in the clothing industry, since the salaries of staff are the main cost in my business," he said. "So, because of that, clothes prices won't increase."

Ordinary households are also growing concerned over the planned electricity price increase.

"It is really shocking news for us. In my home, we use at least 200 units per month and I paid over 7,000 kyat [about $7] per month for the electricity bill. But starting from this month, I need to pay over 10,000 kyat," said Khin Khin Myint, a resident of Rangoon's Sanchaung Township. She added that her family now planned to reduce their electricity consumption.

The post Planned Electricity Price Increase Sparks Concern Among Businesses appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Mizzima Trio Plans Expanded Burma Coverage

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 05:36 AM PDT

Soe Myint, founder of Mizzima Media Group, speaks at the news organization's relaunch on Thursday. (Photo: Htet Zaing Zaw / The Irrawaddy)

An ex-hijacker, a business mogul and a Burma media veteran will team up to lead a revamped Mizzima, a formerly exile news outlet once based in India that has moved operations into Burma and plans to expand its news coverage, the company's founder and editor-in-chief said on Thursday.

Soe Myint, who in 1990 hijacked a Thai Airways plane flying from Bangkok to Rangoon in an act of protest against Burma's former military regime, told The Irrawaddy that Mizzima Media Group (MMG) would be led by himself and two other shareholders.

"With two more partners, we will continue to focus on the quality of our media work while expanding it," said Soe Myint, who was acquitted for the hijacking by an Indian court and went on to found Mizzima in New Delhi in 1998. "We have decided to do whatever media works available during the country's reform process."

Among the three MMG shareholders, Burmese business tycoon Thein Wai, better known as Serge Pun, will serve as a member of its Board of Directors. Sonny Swe, cofounder of English-language weekly newspaper The Myanmar Times, and Soe Myint will take the chief executive officer and editor-in-chief positions, respectively.

"We three will hold equal shares," Sonny Swe said.

Serge Pun is founder of the multinational Serge Pun & Associates (SPA) Myanmar Limited, which he established in 1991. He set up Yoma Bank the following year. SPA Myanmar has since become a sprawling conglomerate of some 40 business enterprises with interests in financial services, manufacturing, technology, construction, real estate, the automotive industry and health care.

Sonny Swe is the son of former Military Intelligence (MI) officer Brig-Gen Thein Swe and held a majority share in The Myanmar Times until he was arrested during a purge of the MI by former junta supremo Snr-Gen Than Shwe in 2004. Tin Tun Oo, a media magnate with close connections to the junta, took over Sonny Swe's Myanmar Times shares.

"I was imprisoned but still dreaming about media works," said Sonny Swe. "I have tried to reintegrate with The Myanmar Times since my release but have not been successful for various reasons. Then, I was given an opportunity to join Mizzima, so I thought I couldn't pass it up for any reason."

Many challenges remain in Burma's reform process, according to Soe Myint, but the former exile said he decided in 2011 that he would be part of the country's increasingly open media scene.

"The new government relaxed restrictions on foreign media," said the Mizzima editor-in-chief. "People inside Burma were able to directly access the websites of exile media groups such as The Irrawaddy, Mizzima and Democratic Voice of Burma [DVB]. They had to use proxy servers to visit them before. So, in late 2011, when private journals were allowed to publish, we decided that we would return and be based inside the country."

Burma's government has significantly eased once-severe restrictions on media as part of reforms in the country undertaken beginning in 2011. The country's censorship board, to which all private journals were required to submit content prior to publication, was effectively shuttered in 2012 and on April 1 of this year, private dailies were allowed to print in Burma for the first time in decades.

Currently, two websites, a daily Burmese-language newspaper, an English-language business magazine, and weekly economic and sports programs are produced under the Mizzima umbrella. In the future, the MMG will reportedly focus on additional media ventures such as a weekly women's TV program, a daily English-language newspaper and other TV programs.

When asked how much the shareholding trio has invested in the new MMG, Soe Myint declined to provide details, saying that was an internal matter and revealing only that the three men had "enough money to run the media group."

"My dream to establish my own newspaper began in 1997 when I was responsible for the production of The Mandalay Daily Newspaper," Sonny Swe said. "I want to push for digital media because it is now more popular than print at the international level. I will put special effort into this. Since we have established a multimedia news group, I will also prioritize FM radio channels and TV broadcasting."

The post Mizzima Trio Plans Expanded Burma Coverage appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Photo of the week (Nov 01, 2013)

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 04:39 AM PDT

A school teacher carries her child as she teaches a class at the Je Yang temporary refugee camp outside Laiza in Kachin State on Oct. 31. ( Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

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A school teacher carries her child as she teaches a class at the Je Yang temporary refugee camp outside Laiza in Kachin State on Oct. 31. ( Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

The post Photo of the week (Nov 01, 2013) appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma’s Ethnic Groups Split Over Constitutional Reform

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 03:50 AM PDT

Myanmar, Burma, Constitution, reform, Parliament, United Nationalities Federal Council, UNFC, Aung San Suu Kyi

Staff sell copies of Burma's Constitution at the Lower House of Parliament in Naypyidaw in 2012. (Photo: Reuters)

The question of what to do about the nation's military-drafted Constitution is dividing Burma's ethnic minority groups, with some in favor of completely scrapping the charter and drafting a new one from scratch, while others would like to see the existing Constitution amended.

Saw Than Myint, an ethnic Shan and cofounder of the recently formed Federal Union Party (FUP), which aims to represent the interests of all of Burma's ethnic minority groups, told The Irrawaddy that his party's position favored amendments to the current Constitution.

"We need to have a real federal system. To have this, we need to amend the Constitution," said Saw Than Myint, whose FUP was officially registered as a party this week.

He said any effort to completely scrap the 2008 Constitution risked provoking the ire of Burma's powerful military, which is constitutionally guaranteed 25 percent of seats in Parliament. Citing the fact that even Burma Army chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and senior leaders of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) have publicly consented to amending the Constitution, Saw Than Myint said making changes to the current charter was the best option.

An alliance of ethnic armed groups known as the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) is partnering with a coalition of ethnic political groups known as the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) to draft an alternative federalist Constitution, and the team hopes to be able to submit that draft for consideration by December.

Nai Tin Aung, who is joint chairman of the Mon State-based Mon Democracy Party, said that owing to the sheer number of flaws with the current Constitution, it would be better to write an entirely new charter. Thanks to its constitutionally enshrined political role, Burma's military remained in power despite the installation of a nominally civilian government in 2011, Nai Tin Aung said.

"We should speak out about having a new one [Constitution]. We should not be afraid of the army," said Nai Tin Aung.

Despite the fissure within the country's ethnic minority groups, Saw Than Myint insisted that the two camps had the same goal—the creation of a federal Burma—but were approaching that aim via different strategies.

Burma's President Thein Sein, meanwhile, said in a radio address to the nation that "extreme measures" should be avoided as the country evaluates its Constitution.

"Instead of simply focusing on what we want, we should act objectively with the right intentions to fulfill the wishes of people and try to achieve the possibilities available to us in our current political climate," he said on Friday.

Thein Sein urged a middle-of-the-road approach to Burma's ongoing reform process, cautioning against "slow actions that could significantly slow down the democratization process and fast actions that could lead to gaps in the process."

He continued: "Our society must try to achieve pragmatic results that are more reflective of our current political situation."

Burma's main opposition party, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), and a leading member of the influential 88 Generation Peace and Open Society have both indicated their support for amending the existing document. Suu Kyi said on her recent trip to Europe that "the present Constitution must be changed to be a truly democratic one."

Ko Ko Gyi, a leader from the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, said, "If you asked me, do I like the Constitution? I just say I do not like it. But if we look at the current political situation, it is better to amend it. This is best situation."

A 109-member parliamentary committee was formed in July to review the Constitution. It is expected to present its findings by year's end.

The post Burma's Ethnic Groups Split Over Constitutional Reform appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Take Care With Constitutional Reform

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 03:35 AM PDT

The more I hear about amending our country's Constitution, the more skeptical I become.

"To have a free and fair election in 2015, I have to say we should amend Section 59F of the Constitution," the powerful speaker of Parliament, Shwe Mann, said at a press conference in Naypyidaw late last week, reiterating several previous calls for constitutional change.

The comment likely stirred excitement among many of my fellow Burmese citizens, because Section 59F of the 2008 Constitution currently bars democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president after the 2015 election.

One of many controversial sections in the charter, it puts the presidency and vice presidency off limits to anyone whose spouse or children are foreign nationals. Suu Kyi and her late husband, the British academic Michael Aris, had two children who are British.

Since a quasi-civilian government came to power in 2011, Shwe Mann, an ex-general in the former military regime, has talked more than enough about Constitutional reform. But despite his confidence, I continue to doubt that we will see an opportunity to change the charter before 2015, and I wonder if he is simply giving people false hope.

The country's former military leaders remain in government and Parliament, and it is difficult to imagine that they genuinely wish to amend the Constitution, which many of them helped draft undemocratically. The charter guarantees that they will continue to play a key role in politics, retaining their hold on important businesses and amassing even greater wealth as a result.

It is true that Parliament has formed a committee to review the 2008 document, but not everyone in Naypyidaw seems so supportive. At the press conference last week, Shwe Mann specifically called on the government to allow constitutional change, indicating that President Thein Sein's administration has not fully given a green light. In the past, Thein Sein has said that lawmakers are responsible for amendments, but as president he has the power to make a move himself—if he wants to. Thus far, he seems less than enthusiastic.

Kyaw Zwa Moe is editor (English Edition) of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at kyawzwa@irrawaddy.org.

If the president is blocking constitutional change, he is not the only one. Most leaders of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) are also obstructing this type of reform, along with high-ranking members of the military, and Suu Kyi is not oblivious. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate knows that any amendments will require the blessing of former generals who once held her under house arrest and who continue to remain in power today.

"Without the support of the ruling party, the USDP, and the military, it will not be possible for us to amend the Constitution as it is, because the provisions for amendment are so rigid," she said recently during a press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron in London. "I'm told that it's the most rigid in the world. I have been told by constitutional experts that there is no other Constitution so difficult to amend as the Burmese one."

She certainly faces a challenge convincing the USDP. Shwe Mann is chairman of the party and an important advocate, but he is an exception to the rule; most USDP leaders are not likely to agree with him. And it seems even less likely that military leaders will approve changes to the charter, unless lawmakers agree not to revise sections directly related to the military's role in politics. As the Constitution stands now, 25 percent of seats in Parliament are reserved for military appointees.

Adding to Suu Kyi's difficulties, opposition parties and ethnic groups lack unity on the issue of constitutional change. There are two camps. One side, including Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), wants to amend the Constitution. The other side, including a majority of ethnic groups, wants to completely discard the current charter and rewrite a new one.

The latter option seems unrealistic, and perhaps counterproductive, as military leaders believe their highest responsibility is to safeguard the 2008 document. If the opposition threatens to scrap it, the military could, in a worst-case scenario, seize all power again.

Last month, the military-backed USDP offered an off-putting warning. In a statement on Oct. 5, it said that if Parliament revoked the current Constitution and rewrote a new one, the public could be "in serious danger and face consequences beyond expectation."

"The people will suffer bad consequences," the party wrote.

There is no question that Burma needs a democratic Constitution, and for that, the current charter will need to be amended or rewritten. But however hopeful Shwe Mann seems, the Burmese people should not forget the mentality of those who lead the country. Constitutional change is crucial, and we should be careful that any attempt to achieve it is not counterproductive.

The post Take Care With Constitutional Reform appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Military MP Says Army Chief Could Become Candidate for President

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 03:19 AM PDT

Myanmar, Burma, military, democracy, elections

General Min Aung Hlaing speaking during a meeting with officials at Kalaw, southern Shan State, in April 2011. (PHOTO: Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — The leader of Burma's military lawmakers has said the group wants to nominate current Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing for president following the 2015 elections. The plan is possible because the country's president is elected by Parliament, where military officers hold a quarter of the seats.

Brig-Gen Wai Lin, an officer with the Southern Command and a Lower House MP who leads the military lawmakers, told The Irrawaddy that he expects Sen-Gen Ming Aung Hlaing to be a leading candidate for the presidency.

According to Burma's 2008 Constitution, the military, the Upper House and the Lower House will each appoint a vice-president. The Union Parliament, which comprises both houses, will then vote to determine which of these three will become president.

Wai Lin said the military MPs would like to nominate the commander-in-chief as a vice-president in this process, which will take place after the elections, scheduled in late 2015.

"Min Aung Hlaing is going to retire in 2016 as he will then be 60 years old. So, he may become a vice-president," he said. "I don't know about his desire to serve as vice-president and president. But, if he wants to do so, we can anticipate that he will be selected as vice-president [i.e. presidential candidate]."

Wai Lin said the current commander-in-chief of Burma's powerful military would make a good civilian president, adding, "Most military leaders work hard for the country. They have done so since a young age."

The 60-year-old Ming Aung Hlaing took over as commander of Burma's Armed Forces after long-time military junta leader Than Shwe retired in June 2010. As part of Burma's democratic transition, planned by Than Shwe, many senior junta members retired to become civilian lawmakers with the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in Parliament, which reopened in 2010. The USDP controls 51 percent of the parliamentary seats.

Phone Myint Aung, an Upper House MP with the New National Democracy Party, an opposition group, said the proposal had a chance of succeeding as the military officers in both house of Parliament would support Min Aung Hlaing's bid for the presidency.

"Military chief Min Aung Hlaing could become president—not only just vice-president—because he already has 25 percent of the presidential votes," he said. "Not only Min Aung Hlaing, but anyone who has the support of the military lawmakers will have a good chance of becoming president"

Upper House USDP lawmaker Hla Swe said he disapproved of the plan, saying that Burma should breaks with the political custom of putting retired generals in key government positions.

"Military Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing seems to be a candidate for vice-president. My idea is that I would rather give this position to an academically-trained, civilian person," said Hla Swe, who was himself a military officer before becoming a civilian MP.

"I do not like this idea that the army could propose a list of vice-presidents and a [candidate] president, and that the army can appoint ministers who are from the military," he said.

In 2011, Thein Sein was appointed president of the quasi-civilian government, which is dominated by the USDP. The government will be replaced after the free and fair elections in 2015, but according to the military-drafted Constitution officers will continue to control a quarter of all parliamentary seats.

USDP chairman Shwe Mann has said he wants to lead the USDP in 2015 in a bid to become president, while President Thein Sein has not ruled out running for a second term.

The USDP will have to take on the hugely popular opposition party of Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy (NLD). However, the Constitution currently prohibits anyone with a foreign spouse to become president, effectively banning Suu Kyi, who was married to a UK man, from becoming president.

A parliamentary committee comprising different parties is currently looking into possibly amending the Constitution.

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Pulling Back the Curtain on Ethnic Groups’ Laiza Talks

Posted: 01 Nov 2013 01:48 AM PDT

Laiza, Kachin State, Myanmar, Burma, Myanmar Peace Center, MPC, United Nationalities Federal Council, UNFC, Karen National Union, KNU, Working Group for Ethnic Coordination, WGEC, peace talks, ceasefire, ethnic conflict

Ethnic armed groups sit down for talks on Wednesday in Laiza, Kachin State. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

LAIZA, Kachin State — As a conference of ethnic minority groups in Laiza enters day three, a debate is heating up among key participants.

It centers on two different priorities, with one camp favoring an emphasis on achieving a "nationwide ceasefire agreement" and the other more concerned with "political dialogue."

The debate is as much about sequencing as anything: Some insist that that the signing of a nationwide ceasefire accord should come only after a political dialogue has been convened; others say a ceasefire signing should come before political dialogue, but only if the government guarantees that political talks will follow. A third line of thinking proposes that a ceasefire agreement should come first, with no preconditions attached, but with the aim of ultimately moving toward political dialogue.

At day two of the conference on Thursday, some ethnic leaders said they wanted to form a technical committee to respond to a draft document that was sent by the government-associated Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) to ethnic armed groups. That document laid out 15 points on matters including the rules and principles of a prospective nationwide ceasefire accord, trust-building between stakeholders, and how to go about implementing the peace process.

According to inside sources, the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), an ethnic alliance of 11 ethnic armed groups, has said the formation of a new technical committee is unnecessary, and that the UNFC can serve as the committee tasked with responding to the government's draft document.

Those sources, however, said that the Working Group for Ethnic Coordination (WGEC), another ethnic alliance controlled by a controversial ethnic Shan leader, does not agree with the UNFC proposal. The Shan leader, Harn Yawnghwe, who heads the Brussels-based Euro-Burma Office, is said to have won the backing of delegations from the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) in his opposition to the UNFC proposition.

Facing division within the ethnic ranks, the two camps finally agreed to form a new committee involving representatives of all ethnic armed groups to respond the government-written draft accord. The committee will lay out their common agreements, but critics of the plan say ethnic leaders are wasting time debating trivial matters, with the aim of taking credit and scoring political points on a final peace deal, if in fact one should ever be achieved.

Following day two of the ethnic groups' meeting, Khun Okkar, general secretary 2 of the UNFC, said the ethnic groups "had not yet reached a common point. But we are almost there. We are trying to negotiate the differences."

He said three different ceasefire accord draft documents have been put forward. One was written by the WGEC, another was drafted by the UNFC and the third comes from the MPC.

The differing visions of the parties were only laid bare once it was learned that the trio of ceasefire proposals was being circulated, and the Laiza conference participants agreed to form a committee to merge and finalize the three draft documents into one.

"Each of us has our own policy, but we will try to reach a common agreement. We cannot split apart and go separately. We have to move forward together," Khun Okkar said.

Inside sources, however, said the KNU has expressed a willingness to move forward separately over the peace process if need be.

The KNU's chairman, Saw Mutu Say Poe, said in a speech opening the conference that ethnic nationalities had differences based on both geography and political ideology, and that those differences would make it difficult to speak with the same voice in some cases.

Sources say the MPC's draft document states that the peace process will be proceed in accordance with a "federal spirit," but that details regarding that federal spirit are lacking.

Some ethnic leaders say the government's definition of federalism may differ from the ethnic minorities' conception, the latter of which envisions a federal Burma that grants autonomous governance to states in which the ethnic nationalities reside.

Another sticking point with the MPC document concerns parliamentary involvement in the peace process, which would see that all results and agreements between the government and the ethnic armed groups must ultimately be approved by the Union Parliament. That would give Parliament—composed of 25 percent military representatives and another 51 percent under the military-backed United Nationalities Development Party (USDP) members—influence over whatever peace deal is reached between ethnic groups and the government peace delegation.

Ultimately though, the biggest different to come out of the Laiza conference appears to be about which of two elements, both crucial to the peace process, should be prioritized. While elements siding with the WGEC want to first focus on a nationwide ceasefire accord, the UNFC, chaired by the KIO's vice chairman, N'Ban La, want to prioritize a comprehensive political dialogue. It is believed that the KIO's position concerning a nationwide ceasefire is in line with the UNFC.

Some observers say this is the very reason that the KIO is hosting the Laiza meeting ahead of a conference focused on a nationwide ceasefire agreement, which the government hopes to convene later this month.

The post Pulling Back the Curtain on Ethnic Groups' Laiza Talks appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Asian Nations Angry Over US Embassy Spy Reports

Posted: 31 Oct 2013 10:27 PM PDT

China, Southeast Asia, National Security Agency, NSA, Edward Snowden, Australia. United States, spying, Der Spiegel, Five Eyes

Demonstrators from the pro-China 'Caring Hong Kong Power' group protest over claims from former US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden that the National Security Agency (NSA) hacked computers in the Chinese territory, outside the US Consulate in Hong Kong on July 9, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Bobby Yip)

SYDNEY — China and Southeast Asian governments demanded an explanation from the United States and its allies following media reports that American and Australian embassies in the region were being used as hubs for Washington's secret electronic data collection program.

The reports come amid an international outcry over allegations the United States has spied on the telephone communications of as many as 35 foreign leaders.

A document from National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, published this week by German magazine Der Spiegel, describes a signals intelligence program called "Stateroom" in which US, British, Australian and Canadian embassies secretly house surveillance equipment to collect electronic communications. Those countries, along with New Zealand, have an intelligence-sharing agreement known as "Five Eyes."

"China is severely concerned about the reports, and demands a clarification and explanation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Thursday.

Australia's Fairfax media reported Thursday that the Australian embassies involved are in Jakarta, Bangkok, Hanoi, Beijing and Dili in East Timor; and High Commissions in Kuala Lumpur and Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The Fairfax report, based on the Der Spiegel document and an interview with an anonymous former intelligence officer, said those embassies are being used to intercept phone calls and Internet data across Asia.

In a statement, Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said his government "cannot accept and strongly protests the news of the existence of wiretapping facilities at the US Embassy in Jakarta."

"It should be emphasized that if confirmed, such action is not only a breach of security, but also a serious breach of diplomatic norms and ethics, and certainly not in tune with the spirit of friendly relations between nations," he said.

The Snowden document said the surveillance equipment is concealed, including antennas that are "sometimes hidden in false architectural features or roof maintenance sheds."

Des Ball, a top Australian intelligence expert, told The Associated Press he had personally seen covert antennas in five of the embassies named in the Fairfax report.

He declined to go into further detail or specify which embassies those were. But Ball said what Der Spiegel has revealed is hardly surprising or uncommon. Many countries have routinely used embassies as bases to covertly listen in on phone calls, and reports of such surveillance have been public for decades, he said.

"We use embassies to pick up stuff that we can't pick up from ground stations here in Australia—and lots of countries do that," said Ball, a professor with the Australian National University's Strategic and Defense Studies Center.

According to the Snowden document, the spying sites are small in size and staff. "They are covert, and their true mission is not known by the majority of the diplomatic staff at the facility where they are assigned," it said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade declined to comment on the reports. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said only that the government had not broken any laws.

"Every Australian governmental agency, every Australian official, at home and abroad, operates in accordance with the law," Abbott told reporters. "And that's the assurance that I can give people."

Still, there was predictable outrage in the countries named in the document.

Malaysian Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said his government viewed the allegations as a serious matter and would investigate whether the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur was being used for spying. The country's opposition party issued a statement Thursday urging the Malaysian government to lodge a protest with both the US and Australian embassies.

Thailand's National Security Council Secretary-General, Lt-Gen Paradorn Pattanathabutr, said the government told the United States that spying was a crime under Thai laws, and that Thailand would not cooperate if asked to help eavesdrop.

Asked about the Australian Embassy allegations, he said Australians are not capable of doing such sophisticated surveillance work.

"When it comes to technology and mechanics, the US is more resourceful and more advanced than Australia," he said. "So I can say that it is not true that the Australian Embassy will be used as a communications hub for spying."

The post Asian Nations Angry Over US Embassy Spy Reports appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

China Security Chief Blames Separatists for Tiananmen Attack

Posted: 31 Oct 2013 10:21 PM PDT

China, terrorism, Uighurs, Muslim, conflict

Vehicles travel along Chang'an Avenue as smoke raises in front of a portrait of late Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong at Tiananmen Square in Beijing October 28, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

BEIJING — China’s domestic security chief believes a fatal vehicle crash in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in which five died was planned by a Uighur separatist group, designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and United Nations.

An SUV ploughed through bystanders in the capital’s iconic Tiananmen Square on Monday and burst into flames, killing the three people in the car and two bystanders, in what the government called a terrorist attack.

Beijing police have arrested five people it says were radical Islamists who were planning a holy war. Security has been strengthened in both Beijing and in Xinjiang, the restive far western region the Muslim Uighurs call home.

Meng Jianzhu, a member of the elite 25-member Politburo with responsibility for domestic security, blamed the incident on the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.

Many Uighurs call Xinjiang East Turkestan, and the government often blames the frequent outbreaks of violence there on extremists agitating for an independent state.

"This violent terrorist incident that’s happened in Beijing was organized and premeditated," Meng told Hong Kong’s Phoenix TV, in comments carried by the official Xinhua news agency on Friday.

"The group that stood behind the scenes inciting it was the East Turkestan Islamic Movement," he added, speaking on the sidelines of a Tashkent meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a Chinese and Russian-lead security group.

"We must seek to further strengthen international anti-terror cooperation…in order to create a strong deterrent and further safeguard peace and stability in our region."

Police identified the driver as a man called Usmen Hasan, whose name suggests he is a Uighur, and said his mother and wife were in the car with him, along with devices filled with gasoline and a flag with "extreme religious content" on it.

At least 42 people were injured.

However, exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer told Reuters this week that caution should be exercised over the government’s account, adding she did not believe any kind of organized extremist Islamic movement was operating in Xinjiang, a view shared by rights groups and some experts.

The United Nations and U.S. placed the East Turkestan Islamic Movement on lists of terrorist organizations after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Xinjiang, a sprawling, desert-like region that borders Central Asian nations that were part of the former Soviet Union as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan, has been beset by violence, blamed by China on Uighur separatists and extremists.

In 2009, nearly 200 people were killed in the Xinjiang capital Urumqi in rioting between Uighurs and the majority Han Chinese.

The post China Security Chief Blames Separatists for Tiananmen Attack appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Aquino’s Mr Clean Image Skewered by Philippine Pork Barrel Politics

Posted: 31 Oct 2013 10:07 PM PDT

Philippines, corruption, Aquino, Pork barrel

Thousands of protesters display signs to call for the abolition of "pork barrel" funds in the Philippines, including the controversial disbursement acceleration program (DAP) of the Department of Budget and Management, during a protest at the heart of Manila's financial district Oct. 4, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

MANILA — A scandal over lawmakers' misuse of public funds has become the biggest crisis of Philippine President Benigno Aquino's three-year rule, tainting his carefully crafted image as a corruption fighter and undermining his ability to push economic reforms.

Aquino has struggled to keep the scandal at arm's length since late July, when a whistleblower revealed that some lawmakers, including the president's allies, were stealing up to half the money being allocated to local projects from discretionary government funds.

While corruption allegations are far from new in the Philippines, the revelations have struck a chord with Filipinos because of the scale of the wrongdoing and the shock that little had changed despite Aquino's reform drive.

Aquino, the only son of democracy icon and former president Corazon Aquino, has tried to tap into the public mood by saying he too is outraged by the corruption, which was corroborated in a detailed report by the state auditing body.

But the allegations have drawn closer to the presidency, suggesting Aquino has failed to convincingly tackle a culture of political patronage that centers on the US$586 million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), widely known as the "pork barrel." His popularity rating plunged by 15 points in a recent opinion survey to 49 percent.

The focus has now shifted to a separate development fund set up quietly in 2011 by Aquino's administration, the Disbursement Acceleration Program. Among its disbursements were transfers totaling 1.1 billion pesos ($25.5 million) to 18 senators last year after they voted to impeach the Supreme Court chief justice, who was seen as an Aquino rival.

Aquino has vehemently denied allegations this amounted to political bribery, accusing his opponents of trying to distract attention from the real scandal.

"I have never stolen. I am not a thief. I am the one who goes after thieves," Aquino said in a national television address on Wednesday night to explain his position.

Greasing the Wheels

Aquino, 53, won office on a platform of curbing the corruption that has drained government coffers and entrenched poverty in the Philippines, a country of 97 million people.

Since then the Philippines has recorded strong growth, improved its public finances and been awarded investment grade ratings, partly dispelling its "sick man of Asia" reputation.

Investors cite the anti-corruption drive as an important reason for the growing belief the rebound is sustainable.

Indeed, the Philippines' position on Transparency International's corruption perceptions index has improved, rising to 105th out of 176 countries and territories last year from 129th in 2011, overtaking Indonesia and Vietnam. A higher ranking means a cleaner public sector.

Aquino said in July that the country loses 200 billion pesos a year to corruption, or about 1.8 percent of economic output.

"The mistrust will affect confidence, and confidence affects investors' perception," said Astro del Castillo, managing director of Manila-based investment house First Grade Finance Inc.

The president has taken a tough line on tax evaders and launched criminal cases against former officials, including his predecessor Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, her family and allies.

Aquino led efforts to remove the head of the anti-graft agency on allegations of corruption while the anti-corruption agency ombudsman filed graft charges against police generals over the inflated price paid for helicopters and the fake repair of armored vehicles.

But the current scandal shows how discretionary funds are a crucial mechanism for controlling the two-chamber Congress in a country where party loyalties are weak.

After initially resisting calls for "pork barrel" reform, Aquino announced in August that he would abolish for next year the PDAF of 70 million pesos for each lower-house member and 200 million pesos for each senator, a total of 25.2 billion pesos ($586 million).

The funds are meant for local development projects such as schools, health centers and road construction, as well as for the distribution of medicine and fertilizer.

The abolition of the fund could severely inhibit Aquino's ability to push through reforms such as a planned increase in mining taxes seen as crucial to attract investment into the moribund sector. It could also delay implementation of a complex peace deal to end a long-running Muslim rebellion in the resource-rich south.

"The executive needs the pork as badly as the legislature because the executive needs laws to be passed; he needs elbow room to convince these legislators," Leonor Briones, a former national treasurer, told Reuters.

Cash-Filled Bathtubs

Filipinos were shocked by media accounts of the opulent lifestyle of the woman who is suspected of running a massive kickback scheme for lawmakers.

Janet Lim Napoles, the wife of a former Marine major, has been accused by the Department of Justice of setting up fake non-government organizations that since 2007 received lawmakers' pork barrel funds and then routed the money back to them.

The whistleblower, a former associate of Napoles, testified to the Senate in a public hearing that the businesswoman received so much cash she would stash it in the bathtub of her luxury Manila home. Napoles was arrested and charged with plunder in September, along with 30 others including three senators and five former congress members.

Before her arrest, Napoles denied involvement in the scheme and said her wealth came from her family's investments in coal mining in Indonesia.

The accusations that Aquino himself used public funds to buy off senators has forced him on the defensive and distracted him from his economic agenda. Last week, he reorganized his communications staff and reduced the exposure of two spokespersons who had struggled to deal with the media.

The scandal has also sharpened questions over how much Aquino has achieved since he took power in 2010. Despite investigating hundreds of tax evasion and smuggling cases, his government has yet to win a single conviction.

Critics say Aquino has failed to support reform measures to reduce the influence of money politics, such as the pending anti-graft Freedom of Information Act. They also say his efforts have targeted political foes far more than allies.

"This perception endangers what gains he has made in the past three years and curbs the potential for any sustained gains in the long-term fight against corruption," said Mars Buan, senior analyst at Pacific Strategies and Assessments in Manila.

The post Aquino's Mr Clean Image Skewered by Philippine Pork Barrel Politics appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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