Democratic Voice of Burma

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• Bullet Points: 16 September 2014
• Thegon MP low-balled amount of confiscated land, say farmers
• Upper House approves plan to ‘make life more pleasant’ for Arakanese
• NLD ‘not invited’ to political conference
• Fresh population data will affect voting: NLD
• Bullet Points: 15 September 2014

Bullet Points: 16 September 2014 Posted: 16 Sep 2014 05:05 AM PDT On today's edition of Bullet Points: Myawaddy border crossing closed after bomb scare Muslim IDPs in Arakan cut off from education Burmese migrants detained after murder on Thai island You can watch Bullet Points every weeknight on DVB TV after the 7 o'clock news.

Thegon MP low-balled amount of confiscated land, say farmers Posted: 16 Sep 2014 03:26 AM PDT Farmers from Thegon, Pegu Division, announced on Monday that a local authority grossly under reported the amount of land confiscated in Aungon village, the site of an on-going and occasionally violent property dispute. The farmers claimed that Thegon's elected lower house parliamentarian,Soe Aung,a member of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), only reported 200 acres of confiscated land to parliament's Farmland Investigation Commission. Villagers claim that the actual area stands around 1,100 acres. "MP Soe Aung of Thegon, when reporting to the Farmland Investigation Commission last week, cited the acres of land confiscated around Thegon as 200, but the real number is more than 1,100 acres," said Min Thwe Thit, secretary of the All-Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), which co-hosted a press event with the villagers in Rangoon. He added that, "the villagers gave him [Soe Aung] paperwork with details about the confiscated land and he pledged to give it to the commission. As it turned out, he didn’t take the papers to Naypyidaw, he left them in the local USDP office". Related Stories Farmers face eviction in Mandalay Protesting Karenni farmers threatened by army commander Sintgu farmers clash with police in plough protest Min Thwe Thit said that when villagers asked for an explanation, SoeAung said that it was not feasible to ask the commission to handle so much land at once, so he decided to begin with just 200 acres. According to locals, more than 1,100 acres of land were confiscated by the Burmese military in 1997. Villagers have staged several sit-ins and protests to demand that the land be returned. In February of this year, their initial protest site was raided by about 60 police and 100 plain-clothed accomplices thought to have been hired thugs. Four farmers were subsequently charged under Burma's controversial assembly law. In response to the charges, a group of villagers invoked a curse upon the government, prompting authorities to then charge five people with defamation of the state under article 505(b) the country's penal code. The defamation charges sparked further demonstrations on 6 May, when at least one villager was injured in a scuffle with police outside the local prison. Less than two weeks later, about 20 protestors were allegedly beaten by police as they marched to commemorate the three-month anniversary of the February crackdown and renew their demands to have the lands returned.

Upper House approves plan to ‘make life more pleasant’ for Arakanese Posted: 16 Sep 2014 03:14 AM PDT A parliamentary proposal urging a set of policies "to make life more pleasant" for people in Arakan State was approved by Burma’s upper house on Monday. The proposal, submitted by MP Hla Swe, who represents the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party in Sagaing Division, was passed with 152 votes in favour, 10 against and 12 abstaining. Following the proposal's passage, Deputy Minister of Border Affairs Maj-Gen Tin Aung Chit briefed the upper house on the government's plan to improve health and education, as well as road and bridge construction and electricity supply in the impoverished western region of Burma. MP Hla Swe told DVB that while the minister's outline was "satisfactory", the government should make sure its plans are implemented objectively. Related Stories BURMA BUSINESS WEEKLY: 12 September 2014 Better infrastructure, institutions and human capital ‘key’ to growth: ADB VP Nyan Htun contemplates Burma's energy needs "The minister explained from A to Z the policies to be undertaken in Arakan State, including long-term and short-term plans for multi-sectoral development," he said. "That is precisely the information we wanted, so I am satisfied with his response. However, I need to stress that the government must follow up and implement these plans objectively." Dr Aye Maung, deputy leader of the Rakhine [Arakan] National Party and an upper house member, seconded Hla Swe's comments. "I believe that the proposal to make life more pleasant for Arakanese should be welcomed because it makes it clear that for years the government has not done anything for ethnic people," he said. "Most international loans and project grants are centralised, and the Union government has not sought significant international aid or loans for developing ethnic regions," Aye Maung continued. "Under such circumstances, and in view of the ugly scenes taking place in Arakan since 2012 and the international attention given to them, we welcome U Hla Swe's proposal to the Union Parliament to make life more pleasant for the people of this state, and for making this a national objective."

NLD ‘not invited’ to political conference Posted: 16 Sep 2014 01:13 AM PDT A recent meeting of political party leaders to discuss a framework for post-ceasefire dialogue was carried out without Burma's two biggest parties, giving rise to theories that past rivalries are resurfacing. The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were not among the 52 political parties represented at a conference held in Rangoon from 13-14 September. An ethnic political coalition closely allied with the NLD, the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), was also absent. A senior NLD official told DVB on Monday that the party was not formally invited, contrary to the organisers' claims that they were. "Firstly, we did not receive an invitation to the event," said NLD Central Executive Committee member Tun Tun Shein. "We learnt from news journals that it was being hosted at Green Hill [Hotel], but it wasn't clear who was organising the event, whether it was the NDF [National Democratic Force] or the NBF [Nationalities Brotherhood Federation]." He said that because they had received only secondary and partial information about the event, the NLD opted not to attend. Pu Zo Zam, chairman of the Chin National Party and spokesperson for the NBF — an ethnic alliance that co-hosted the event with the NDF — said that he was under the impression that the NLD was among the invitees. "The NDF said that they sent out invitations, but it is not within our right to investigate whether this is true or not. We instructed the organisers to invite everyone to the event," he said, adding that the NDF was the main organiser of the event while the NBF provided most of the expenses. "My assumption is that the ruling party [USDP] may have their own plan for the political framework since they are the government, so there was no need for them to work with us," he said. "As for the NLD and the UNA, we are working on a framework but we welcome them to draft one of their own." Related Stories Fresh population data will affect voting: NLD Political parties gear up for post-ceasefire dialogue No deal on Pa-O, SSA-S land dispute The conference concluded with an agreement to form a 15-member committee to draft a framework proposal. As a nationwide ceasefire agreement nears, politicians have complained of being excluded from the peace process, which has primarily been carried out by the government's peace negotiators, the Union Peace-making Work Committee (UPWC), and their counterpart, the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT). The UPWC invited politicians for a briefing on the peace process in mid-August 2014. Tripartite political dialogue is expected to begin within 90 days of reaching a nationwide ceasefire agreement. As politicians scramble to prepare their version of a framework for carrying out political dialogue, some said that the exclusion of the NLD reveals a growing divide among the nation's opposition policymakers. Aye Maung, chairman of the Arakan National Party, said that the apparent sidelining can be traced back to old bitterness between the NLD and and the NDF, which was originally a splinter group established by former NLD members who left the party to contest the 2010 elections. "In my opinion, this is similar to the situation between the east and the west blocs of the cold war era," he said. "Here we have a bloc of parties that participated in the 2010 elections, and a bloc that was established during the 1990 general elections. The 2010 bloc are generally regarded as closer to the USDP."

Fresh population data will affect voting: NLD Posted: 15 Sep 2014 05:25 AM PDT This year's census showed nine million fewer people in Burma than expected. In 2010, Burma's Union Electoral Commission (UEC) stated that there were around 29 million enfranchised citizens in Burma, based on an estimated population figure of around 60 million. That has now been revised to 51.4 million. The National League for Democracy (NLD) says that the surprise result requires that electoral constituencies now be reexamined and potentially redrawn across Burma. The opposition party is calling on the UEC to do so well in advance of next year's general election. "The number of enfranchised people in Burma is now very different," said NLD spokesperson Nyan Win."Therefore constituencies based on township populations are inaccurate. The changes expected will probably be very large. That is why it is so important to advise voters in advance." On 7 September, the UEC cancelled by-elections slated for late November. That leaves 35 parliamentary seats across Burma unfilled until the general election scheduled for late 2015. The NLD welcomed the decision, despite accepting that they expected to win a majority of the 35 seats on offer across the Union upper and lower houses and regional parliaments. "We're preparing for the regular [general] election in 2015," Nyan Win told DVB by telephone on Monday. "That is what is important for the future of Burma." Related Stories NLD 'not invited' to political conference Political parties gear up for post-ceasefire dialogue USDP denies role in cancelling by-elections The party also confirmed that leader Aung San Suu Kyi was consulted by the UEC before the decision to cancel the by-election was made, and that she agreed it was the right move. Last week the NLD stated, "political parties believe the gap between elections is too close and the campaign rules are inconvenient. By canceling, we feel there is less of a burden on us." Minister for Population Khin Yi has advised that full population figures will be publicly available by April next year.

Bullet Points: 15 September 2014 Posted: 15 Sep 2014 04:49 AM PDT On today's edition of Bullet Points: Burmese maids blocked from jobs in Singapore, Hong Kong Political parties draw framework for govt talks NLD say census data calls for redrawing of Burma’s electorates Hkakabo Razi rescue effort stalls You can watch Bullet Points every weeknight on DVB TV after the 7 o'clock news.

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