Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

US delegation discusses electoral reform with democracy groups

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 05:12 AM PDT

A delegation of US officials led by the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour Tom Malinowski met with representatives from the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party and the Karen State Progressive Party in Karen State's capital Hpa-an on Monday to discuss issues related to the upcoming 2015 national elections.

According to Nang Khin Htwe Myint, a central executive committee member of the NLD who attended the meetings, the US delegation heard both parties' thoughts on the Union Election Commission (UEC), a government body delegated with monitoring and handling the 2015 national elections, and on the proposed proportional representative voting system that is currently being discussed in parliament.

Nang Khin Htwe Myint added that the US officials will also be meeting with UEC's chairman Tin Aye, and they will speak about how to ensure a free and fair election process in 2015.

Beside Karen State, the US delegation has visited Moulmein, Mon State, and they will also visit Naypyidaw and Rangoon before ending on 28 June. Representatives from the US Defence, State and Treasury departments will meet with Burmese military leaders to talk about human rights, according to a statement released by the State Department. They will also be meeting with civil societies, ethnic organisations and political leaders to talk about democratic reforms and the challenges faced by voters in their constituencies.

In Rangoon, representatives from the Treasury Department will be meeting with regional and international business delegates to discuss issues of transparency, credibility, human rights, environmental protections, and responsible investments.

NDF about-face on PR in ethnic states

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 04:26 AM PDT

The National Democratic Force (NDF) party has said that its proposal to adopt a proportional representation (PR) system was only meant for majority Burman-populated divisions and not ethnic states.

The proposal, submitted to Burma's upper house of parliament two weeks ago by NDF MP Khin Waing Kyi, was passed by standing vote, with 177 MPs in support, 85 against and three abstaining.

Following approval of the bill by the upper house, the proposal has been tabled for the lower house.

However, now the NDF – a splinter faction of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy – has announced that it did not intend for the PR debate to be applied to ethnic regions where it has been met with widespread opposition by smaller parties and ethnic nationalist groups.

Related Stories

The NDF on 23 June released a statement clarifying its recommendation: that a PR system only be adopted in the seven administrative divisions.

"We do not wish to have a political system dominated by a single majority party," said NDF leader Khin Maung Swe. "At the moment, the USDP is dominating parliament and we never see them working steadfastly to adopt laws and policies beneficial to the public.

"We believe that a PR system will stop a major party from single-handedly dominating the parliament and will give every party an equal opportunity to take up legislative seats and help facilitate reforms."

The NDF statement said that Khin Waing Kyi, the MP who submitted the PR proposal, has received threats by telephone and was mocked by fellow MPs in parliament.

The party has now submitted the same bill, recommending the adoption of a PR system, to the lower house, but a decision on when the house will debate the bill has not yet been released.

Rohingyas screened to assess citizenship claims

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 04:20 AM PDT

A programme to register stateless Muslim IDPs is continuing at Myebon camp in Arakan State.

The project invites those born before 1982, around 700 out of the camp population of 3,000, to prove that they or their parents lived in the country before Independence in 1948.

If they have documents to prove this, they are in with a chance of becoming a naturalised citizen. However, many do not retain such records.

More than 400 people have been tallied since the project began on 15 June. Those papers are to be sent to Naypyidaw, where a central board will decide who is eligible for citizenship.

According to Zaw Zaw, a Rohingya resident in the camp, the programme offers three choices of ethnic identification to those seeking citizenship – Kaman, Bengali, or nothing at all – making the process "awkward" for inhabitants that self-identify as Rohingyas.

The 1982 Citizenship Law reinforces the much maligned government list of 135 "official" ethnic races of which members are eligible for citizenship. Ethnic Kaman - another Muslim group resident in Arakan State - appears on that list, but the terms Rohingya and Bengali do not.

Reliance on that list has lead to wide-ranging criticism of the 1982 law as an abrogation of human rights, as it designates citizenship based on ethnicity. That has effectively denied the Rohingya citizenship – rendering them stateless.

Related Stories

Local resident Kyaw Thein assured DVB that residents were not forced to take part in the programme.

However fellow camp resident Than Aye said that many people —who may have otherwise considered themselves Rohingya— are labelling themselves Bengali.

"Most of us just say Bengali," he says.

Critics of the law say the process is biased and set up to ensure Rohingya won't get citizenship status, yet the camp residents queue up anyway, holding on to hope.

 

Special Intelligence Department probes finances of newspapers, journals

Posted: 23 Jun 2014 11:16 PM PDT

Rangoon Division's Special Intelligence Department is investigating the finances of privately owned daily newspapers and weekly journals, media workers said.

Aung Soe, the Voice Daily newspaper's editorial team secretary, said that the police department's Special Branch summoned editors from various publications, including Voice Daily, to question them on their financial performance. The other publications include the Unity Weekly, Myanmar Post and the People Era Weekly news journals.

"They mainly asked about the amount of profits and losses because they know some of them are in circulation despite incurring steady losses," Aung Soe told DVB on Sunday. "I guess they want to find out what is behind this."

"They also wanted to know details, such as what production costs to a publication, its market price, channels of income, operation expenses, staff salaries and payment for writers," he added.

Related Stories

While it is not unusual for the Special Branch to summon individuals for questioning, media workers say this was the first time they have shown interest in the financial details of publications.

Zaw Thet Htwe, news editor and member of the Interim Myanmar Press Council, said that the police must be questioned on whether they have the authority to investigate media outlets.

"We need to find out whether the police have the power to investigate newspapers and journals amid all the media freedom reforms, and their grounds for such an investigation — such as whether they are looking for money laundering or tax issues," said Zaw Thet Htwe. "Right now, we don't have a clear answer, but surely what we see is not a good sign for Burma's news media."

Thai firm makes hospital appointment in Burma

Posted: 23 Jun 2014 08:46 PM PDT

Thonburi Hospital Group (THG), owned and chaired by property tycoon Boon Vanasin, plans to expand its presence aggressively in Burma by investing 5 billion baht (US$165 million) over five years to build three hospitals and clinics nationwide. 

The group yesterday signed an agreement with Burma's Aung Shwe Three International (AST) Group for joint development of a 150-bed hospital in Rangoon at a cost of 1 billion baht. THG owns 51 percent of the project, with the rest belonging to the Burmese partner.

The alliance plans to develop two more hospitals, one in Mandalay and the other in Hlaing Thar Yar Industrial Zone near Rangoon. More clinics will be built across Burma to cash in on the booming economy and investments bound for Burma, Mr Boon said.

"With average GDP growth of 6-7 percent, exceeding that of Thailand, I think opportunity in Myanmar [Burma] is greater than in other ASEAN members," he said.

Related Stories

Mr Boon said the first hospital, to be located in central Rangoon, was projected to begin construction in December and take 18 months to complete. The German government-owned development bank KfW has agreed to provide 60 percent of project financing for the project cost, with the other 40 percent equity.

The two partners have also agreed to study a much bigger second hospital in Mandalay covering a total area of 50 rai. The third one will be in an industrial estate in Htantabin, which is 10 km from Rangoon, said AST managing director Aung Kyi Soe.

He said the Burmese group currently operated a 50-bed hospital in Rangoon, with other businesses including real estate, construction and trading.

Mr Boon said THG targets opening 10 clinics this year — five in Rangoon, three in Mandalay and two in other areas — to accommodate up to 500 outpatients. Within five years, 30-40 clinics will be open nationwide.

At present, THG operates 20 hospitals in Thailand including 17 in Bangkok. It has three more in China.

 

This article was originally published in the Bangkok Post on 24 June 2014.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)