Monday, June 23, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Ethnic political parties promise mass protest if PR system passes

Posted: 23 Jun 2014 04:44 AM PDT

An alliance of 15 ethnic political parties will stage public protests across eastern Shan State if a bill to change the country's electoral system to a Proportional Representation (PR) voting system is passed by the Burmese parliament's lower house, the bloc's spokesman said this weekend.

The parliament's upper house passed a proposal on 11 June to recommend the Union Election Commission to adopt a PR system in future elections. Burma currently employs a First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system – but proponents of the PR system say that smaller parties are more likely to get seats based on the number of votes they get, while FPTP system dictates that the winning party in a constituency takes all the seats.

The Nationalities Brotherhood Federation (NBF) – an alliance that includes Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, Shan Nationalities Democratic Party, and Chin National Party – has previously spoken out against the instalment of a PR system in the country, and have warned that public protests will be staged to prevent it.

Saw Than Myint, NBF spokesman and a founder of the Federal Union Party, said plans were all in place to launch public protests simultaneously in Shan State if the proposal wins support in the lower house.

"We have laid up plans to stage protests – in Lenhko in the south, and Taunggyi to Tachilek in the east, and Kyaukme and Lashio in the north," said Saw Than Myint. "We are all set but currently are waiting to see how it will turn out in the lower house."

Currently, there is no set date for debating the proposal in the lower house, and representatives from ethnic political parties believe that the parliament, which has a ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) majority, is trying to push the proposal through at the last minute so as to avoid drawing ire or attention from smaller parties whose votes could be lost to the USDP under a PR system, Saw Than Myint said.

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He added that a pilot programme for the PR system in certain states would be more appropriate than trying to push it through immediately for the whole country.

"We had suggested piloting the PR system in seven divisions in the country, mainly those populated by non-ethnic groups, for the upcoming election, and if the populations and the parties in those areas found it to be convenient and acceptable, then we would consider supporting it in 2015," Saw Than Myint said. "But for now, we oppose it from all sides."

Representatives of nationalist ethnic parties, who hold a large constituency in their respective states — Karen, Kachin, Shan and Mon as a few examples – are against the PR system as they believe it will give an unfair advantage to larger parties, like the ruling USDP, which has more resources to campaign across Burma.

Ancient Burmese kingdom awarded World Heritage status

Posted: 23 Jun 2014 04:19 AM PDT

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has approved three ancient Pyu Kingdom cities – Hanlin, Beiktano and Sri Kestra – as World Heritage Sites, the first time any historical monument in Burma has been recognised by the prestigious UN award.

The city-states of Pyu existed from before the 2nd century BC to the mid-11th century, and stretched from Sri Kestra near modern-day Pyay up through central Burma as far north as Tagaung, which is about 200km north of Mandalay.

The partly excavated archaeological sites of Hanlin, Beiktano and Sri Kestra include ruins of palace citadels, burial grounds and early industrial production sites, as well as monumental brick Buddhist stupas, partly standing walls and water management features – some still in use – that underpin the intensive agriculture organisation of these early settlers.

The UNESCO announcement was made at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee in the Qatari capital of Doha on Sunday.

A 15-member delegation from Burma, led by Sandar Khin of the Ministry of Culture's Department of Archaeology, flew to Qatar on 14 June to attend the session.

Speaking to DVB on Sunday following the announcement, Aung Kyaw Kyaw, deputy-director of the Department of Archaeology, said, "We are delighted to win this world recognition for the first time. The achievement is a combined effort by many people in Burma. It will promote cultural and national dignity, and help preserve our country's cultural heritage."

Burma's Ministry of Culture originally submitted an application to UNESCO in 1996 – during the era of the military junta – requesting the Pyu Kingdom be awarded World Heritage status.

In September 2013, it ramped up its campaign when Minister of Culture Aye Myint Kyu visited villagers in Hanlin and requested they support the bid by cooperating with local authorities.

"The local people were urged to join hands with the department for preservation of our cultural heritage," state media said.

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Last week, DVB reported that archaeologists are planning to excavate ancient ruins in Irrawaddy Division's Ingapu Township which they believe may be 2,000-year-old remnants of the Pyu Kingdom.

"We heard the Department of Archaeology is planning to excavate the site when they have the budget. And we are preparing more field trips to investigate the area," said archaeologist Bhone Tint Kyaw.

The ancient Pyu cities were built of bricks around walled moats. Irrigated and rich in agriculture, the cities were strung along the Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers, and were part of an overland trade route between China and India.

The kingdom was founded as part of the southward migration by the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu, arguably the earliest inhabitants of Burma. The thousand-year period, often referred to as the "Pyu Millennium", linked the Bronze Age to the beginning of the classical period when the Bagan Kingdom emerged in the late 9th century.

Hanlin, founded in the 1st century AD near present-day Shwebo in Sagaing Division, was the largest and most important city until around the 7th or 8th century when it was superseded by Sri Kestra.

Angelina Jolie visits refugee camp at Thai-Burmese border

Posted: 23 Jun 2014 02:58 AM PDT

Video courtesy of UNHCR

Film star and UNHCR special envoy Angelina Jolie visited a Karenni woman and her family at a refugee camp near the Thai-Burmese border on Friday, to mark World Refugee Day.

Thailand is home to roughly 130,000 refugees in nine camps around the border, some sheltering on Thai soil for almost three decades due to constant civil war in various Burmese states.

According to a UNHCR video narrated by the film actress, she visited the home of Baw Meh, a Karenni woman who's been living in Ban Mai Nai Soi camp since 1996.

"When I met Baw Meh, she was in the twilight of her life," Jolie said. "Returning home had become a distant memory."

Baw Meh said in the video that she and her family fled Karenni [Kayah] State without intending to stay away for so long. Now, she lives in Ban Mai Nai Soi camp with three generations of her family.

"I thought we would come here and then go straight home. But we could never go back," Baw Meh said in the video. "My children grew up into adults in the camp. Now they too have had children."

A ceasefire agreement signed in 1995 between the military government and the ethnic armed group Karenni National Progressive Party broke down after the Burmese Army continued to clash with Karenni troops. The region has also been the site of alleged human rights abuses over the years.

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This was Jolie's fourth visit to refugee camps around the Thai-Burmese border. The star of Hollywood blockbusters like Tomb Raider and Salt, Jolie initially became interested in humanitarian work in 2000 after filming Tomb Raider in Cambodia. She was appointed in 2012 to be a special envoy by UNHCR high commissioner Antonio Guterres.

According to the UN, Asia-Pacific is the region with the largest number of refugees and asylum seekers in the world, with 3.5 million people displaced from their homes.

Last week, Thai officials met for a three-day workshop to discuss the repatriation of Burmese refugees, and an official from the Department of Interior said that the government will be implementing a three-year timeframe for repatriation.

Rights groups for refugee and migrants are staunchly against any immediate plans for repatriation, as fighting still persists in various states while ceasefire talks between the ethnic armed groups and the government are ongoing.

Burma’s upper house passes bill to control inflation

Posted: 23 Jun 2014 12:30 AM PDT

The Burmese parliament's upper house passed a bill on Friday calling on the government to adopt policies that will control monetary inflation.

Upper house representative Myint Kyi, a Rangoon MP, submitted the proposal on Friday, and parliamentary members, including the government's Central Bank deputy-governor Khin Saw Oo, debated it.

Khin Saw Oo said that fiscal measures had already been put in place by the government to tackle inflation, but other parliamentary members disagreed, saying that while the value of the Burmese kyat has remained stable in recent months, a steady hike to domestic commodity prices is causing a massive decline in consumer demand.

Myint Kyi refused to accept Khin Saw Oo's argument that the government measures are sufficient, and called for a vote by the house. His proposal received the majority vote — with over 90 parliamentary members voting to study more policies to combat inflation, while less than 10 were against it.

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Chin party slams Religious Law proposals

Posted: 22 Jun 2014 08:13 PM PDT

A leading Chin political party has said that Burma's proposed Religious Conversion Bill, if enacted into law, would violate the 2008 Constitution, as well as fundamental human rights guaranteed under the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

An official statement released by the Chin National Democratic Party (CNDP) on Sunday said the current bill directly violates Article 34* of the 2008 Constitution, which guarantees an individual right to religious freedom.

It also slammed the Inter-Marriage Law, one of the four proposed laws packaged under the Race and Religion Protection Bill, introduced by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, as unacceptable in a country characterised by its multi-faith and multi-ethnic society.

“It is simply unacceptable to limit the individual rights to choose a religion or to somehow restrict marriage between people from different religious backgrounds. What this law would do is to further restrict what little freedom there exists in this country," says Salai Ceu Bik Thawng, CNDP leader.

Salai Ceu Bik Thawng was recently recognised by Washington DC-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a US Congressionally funded organization, as one of 30 individuals under 30 years of age around the world who have made meaningful contribution to the progress of democracy.

The Religious Conversion Bill, alongside the three other bills proposed under the Race and Religion Protection Bill package, has received fierce criticism from civil society organizations, human rights groups and religious groups from around the world since the draft bills were first publicised on state-run Burmese-language dailies. Led by the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO), the coalition said the measure will put religious minorities at further risks.

“This new piece of draft legislation appears to legitimize the views of those promoting hate speech and inciting violence against Muslims and other minorities, and if adopted, will further institutionalise discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities. We urge the Government to scrap the proposed Religious Conversion Law,” said a coalition of 81 groups from different corners of the world in their joint statement last week.

“In a country characterised by its ethnic and religious diversity, it is most appropriate for this country to adopt policies based on a secular state and to abolish the Ministry of Religious Affairs, as well as do away with constitutional provisions relating to religion, specifically Article 361, 362 and 363 respectively,’ reads the statement issued by the CNDP.

Meanwhile, Chin Christian churches in Hakha and Thantlang Townships have held prayer meetings in protest of the religious conversion bill.

*Article 34: Every citizen is equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess and practise religion subject to public order, morality or health and to the other provisions of this Constitution.

This article was originally published in Chinland Guardian on 22 June 2014.
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