The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• First Phase of National Voter List Preparation Near Completion: UEC
• Mandalay Woman Sent to Prison After Public Prayer Service
• Death Toll Climbs to 4, Search Ongoing After Hpakant Rockslide
• Arakanese Nationalists Hold Protest Against UN Rights Rep Visit
• Court Sentences Hotel Bomber to Death in Burma
• Govt, Karen Rebels Collecting Illegal Tolls on Asia Highway: Reports
• ‘Don’t Worry, We’ve Got You Covered’
• China’s Xi Woos Latin America With $250B Investments
• Sri Lanka Presidential Election Brings Country to Crossroads
• 2 Dead, 30 Missing After Rockslide at Kachin Jade Mine
• Ex-PM’s Impeachment to Test Thai Junta’s Fragile Calm

First Phase of National Voter List Preparation Near Completion: UEC Posted: 08 Jan 2015 06:55 AM PST Election staff set up a ballot station in Rangoon in March 30, 2012, ahead of the country's by-elections. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Burma's Union Election Commission (UEC) said on Thursday that, early next month, it planned to release a preliminary list of eligible voters in a handful of townships for this year's general election. The UEC began compiling a national voter list in November. Ten townships in Rangoon were part of the first phase of documentation, while 14 townships in Rangoon are included in the second phase. "We expect to announce the results in the second week of February in places where we have finished," UEC member Win Kyi told The Irrawaddy on Thursday. He said that in the first phase, compilation of the voter lists had finished in five townships in Rangoon and was continuing in another five townships. Voter lists have been completed in Seikkan, Dagon, Latha, Kyauktada and Lanmadaw townships, an official from the Rangoon Division Election Commission Office, who requested anonymity, told The Irrawaddy. The other five townships in the first phase would be completed this month, he said, while compilation of the voter lists for another 14 townships in Rangoon, which began on Dec. 29, is also continuing. "Three months before the election, the complete voters list will be announced," the official said. "Temporary residents who have been renting a house in a township not less than six months [but don't have household registration in that area] will only be placed on the list upon the recommendation of ward administrators," after the preliminary list has been compiled. In November, UEC director Thaung Hlaing told The Irrawaddy that any citizen at least 18 years of age whose name appears on ward-level population lists and household registration lists would be included in the voter lists. The Rangoon Division Election Commission official said that the lists were being prepared in advance of this year's election to enable members of the public to file an appeal if they believe someone has been wrongfully included or excluded. "We can't know whether dead persons have been included or not since we are compiling the lists from each household registration. Dead persons' names may be included if family members haven't [removed] them from registration [lists]," he said. "So that's why we are doing this in advance and will announce this preliminary list. It can only be done with public cooperation." The UEC chairman Tin Aye announced in October that the national election was scheduled to be held in either the last week of October or the first week of November this year. Sai Ye Kyaw Swar Myint, executive director of the People's Alliance for Credible Elections (PACE), said that after criticism of the voter lists for 2010 and 2012 polls, the UEC had now arranged to computerize the data, listing all eligible voters across the country on a central server in Naypyidaw. "The intentions of the program are good. But we need to watch how ward and township administrators carry it out practically and how much they can coordinate," Sai Ye Kyaw Swar Myint said. "Since the election in 2010 was led by the military government, we couldn't officially monitor it. But what is different now is that the UEC has changed their way of thinking," he said. "They have talked to us and held meetings with us. But the important thing is how much… they will share information, and how far we can be involved." The post First Phase of National Voter List Preparation Near Completion: UEC appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Mandalay Woman Sent to Prison After Public Prayer Service Posted: 08 Jan 2015 04:27 AM PST Phyu Hnin Htwe, center, with her supporters after leaving court in October. (Photo: ABFSU Central Working Committee / Facebook) RANGOON — Tin Mar Ye, a Mandalay woman involved in a prayer service held in support of a detained activist, has been sent to prison under Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Law. The 51-year-old participated in a public prayer with 50 other people at the Maha Myat Muni Pagoda in Mandalay last September, calling for the release of Phyu Hnin Htwe, a member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions who was at that time detained under accusations of involvement in the kidnapping of two Chinese contractors working at the controversial Letpadaung copper mine site. Phyu Hnin Htwe, 20, was released in October following a month's detention in Monywa, Sagiang Division, after Wanbao, the joint venture company operating the Letpadaung project, declined to press charges. Tin Mar Ye, meanwhile, has been sentenced to a month's imprisonment by the Chanmyathazi Township court for her involvement in the public show of support for the student activist, according to her lawyer Thein Than Oo. Of the 50 people who prayed at the Maha Myat Muni Pagoda in September, only Tin Mar Ye was charged under Article 18, which carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a 30,000 kyats (US$29) fine for public demonstrators who fail to adhere to onerous permission and behavior requirements. Phyu Hnin Htwe, lending her support to Tin Mar Ye on Thursday, was scathing of the court's verdict. "She only prayed for my release in the pagoda, yet she was charged with Article 18 and sent to prison for one month while I was released," she said. "I think the justice system in Myanmar is ridiculous." Wai Wai Tun, one of the people involved in the prayer demonstration, said that the participants simply involved walking to and from the pagoda, stopping to pray and carrying a single placard demanding the release Phyu Hnin Htwe, which was carried by a young woman unrelated to Tin Mar Ye. In light of the restraint and the location of the public prayer, Wai Wai Tun and Thein Than Oo both told The Irrawaddy that it would be misleading even to characterize the event as a demonstration. "If we really wanted to protest, we would not go to the pagoda," she said. Wai Wai Tun added that 50 people are planning to sit outside Oh Bo Prison on Saturday, where Tin Mar Ye is being held. The post Mandalay Woman Sent to Prison After Public Prayer Service appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Death Toll Climbs to 4, Search Ongoing After Hpakant Rockslide Posted: 08 Jan 2015 04:21 AM PST Local jade miners take significant risks to search for jade on unstable mountain faces, despite periodic crackdowns by authorities. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Local authorities have confirmed at least four deaths after a rockslide on Tuesday buried small-scale miners at a jade mine in Hpakant, Kachin State, home to Burma's richest deposits of the precious stone. The search for bodies began on Wednesday, with a local rescue team uncovering the fourth body on Thursday afternoon. Myo Thant Aung, the deputy director of the Hpakant Township administrative office, told The Irrawaddy that search efforts would continue. "Four bodies—two men and two women who were small-scale miners—have been found so far, but we cannot tell how many are still missing as we have not yet received any reports about missing persons," he said. The local official said township authorities had requested that nearby communities contact them if any of their family members are unaccounted for. Earlier on Thursday, Reuters quoted an anonymous employee of a mining company in Hpakant as saying the death toll could climb as high as 50 people. Thousands of illegal small-scale miners, also known as hand-pickers, have combed through Hpakant's famed jade mines for years, seeking fortune—or merely eking out a livelihood—from the prized green stones. Large-scale mining in the area was suspended for security reasons in 2011, but were allowed to resume in September of last year. Myo Thant Aung said authorities had also met with survivors of the rockslide, who live in nine temporary shops that have sprung up to cater to the basic needs of hand-pickers. The shops are located near piles of mining waste, some of which tower 200 to 300 feet in height. Three companies involved in mining in the area and a handful of social organizations on Thursday donated rice sacks and 350,000 kyats (US$350) to each of the families of the victims. The four victims identified so far are all ethnic Arakanese, including two women, Ma Sein Htay, 35, and Thida Soe, 21. Both women and the two male victims—Nay Lin, 20, and Myo Naing, 23—migrated to the jade mines of Hpakant from western Arakan State. "The pile of rocks overwhelmed them while they were doing small-scale work in the late afternoon [on Tuesday]," said Myo Thant Aung. The rockslide occurred at a site where earthen waste is piled by the three private companies that donated to the victims' families—the mining firms Unity, Wai and Yadana Sein Thiri. The jade mining camp is located about three miles from the town of Hpakant. Rockslides, a frequent occurrence in Hpakant, are estimated by some to have caused more than 100 deaths over the past half-decade. Small-scale mining is technically illegal in Hpakant, but Myo Thant Aung said the practice is tolerated to an extent by local authorities and companies mining in the area, realizing that a strict ban would leave many without a means of earning a living. The post Death Toll Climbs to 4, Search Ongoing After Hpakant Rockslide appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Arakanese Nationalists Hold Protest Against UN Rights Rep Visit Posted: 08 Jan 2015 03:21 AM PST Yanghee Lee speaks to reporters in Rangoon at the end of her 10-day visit to Burma in July 2014. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Arakanese activists said hundreds of Arakanese Buddhist nationalists were gathering at Sittwe airport on Thursday afternoon in order to protest against the planned visit by the United Nations human rights rapporteur for Burma Yanghee Lee, who they view as supporting the Rohingya Muslim population. "We heard that her flight is [to arrive] at 3 pm. We have about 500 people. They came to the airport since the morning and even more people will come to join," said Nyo Aye, an Arakanese women's activist who has been organizing protests against UN involvement in the crisis in the state. "We protest against her trip because we could not accept her reports submitted to the UN Human Rights Council," Nyo Aye said, adding that the Arakanese believed they had "more rights than others" because the Muslims in northern Arakan State were supposedly illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. The Rakhine Women's Union and the Arakan Civil Society Network were among the organizations involved in Thursday's protests. A UN spokesman in Rangoon confirmed the rapporteur was due to arrive in Sittwe on Thursday afternoon but said he could not yet comment on how the protests would affect her mission. Yanghee Lee is on her second visit to Burma since taking over from her predecessor Tomás Ojea Quintana in June 2014. From Jan. 7-16 she is scheduled to visit northern Arakan State to meet with people living in camps for internally displaced, the UN said. She also is due to visit northern Shan State to investigate the human rights situation of ethnic minorities affected by conflict. More than 140,000 people, mostly Muslims, remain displaced by the inter-communal violence that has broken out in the western region since 2012. Authorities have confined the Rohingya to crowded, squalid camps and limit their access to international humanitarian aid. Many members of the Buddhist community in conflict-wracked Arakan State view the UN rights rapporteur as biased in favor of the stateless Rohingya minority and oppose attempts to document the gross rights abuses suffered by the group at the hands of authorities and the Buddhist community. Quintana was mobbed by Buddhist nationalist protesters in 2013 during visits to Arakan State's Buthidaung Township and Meikthila, a city in central Burma that saw an outbreak of inter-communal violence. Both the government and the Arakanese community reject the UN's position that the Muslims have a right to self-identify as Rohingya. Khin Maung Gyi, a senior leader from the Arakan National Party based in Sittwe, said, "They [the UN] are talking about Rohingya. They wanted us to accept this term. We could not accept this because there is no Rohingya [minority]. "Our country now has democracy. Then, they used [respect for] human rights and asked for the use of the name Rohingya. From our point of view it is because of the UN that we have this problem here over the name of Rohingya. This is why our people are protesting," he added. Late last month, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution urging Burma to grant citizenship to the Rohingya and grant them equal access to government services. Burma's predominantly government insists on calling the group "Bengalis" to suggest they are Bangladeshi immigrants and rejects their claims to citizenship. Last year Naypyidaw ended a brief pilot project that granted limited citizenship rights to a small number of Rohingya following popular backlash from the Arakanese community. The post Arakanese Nationalists Hold Protest Against UN Rights Rep Visit appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Court Sentences Hotel Bomber to Death in Burma Posted: 08 Jan 2015 03:14 AM PST A Burma Army soldier holds a grenade found in a Mandalay restaurant in October 2013, one of a series of explosive devices planted around Burma that month. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A Burmese court sentenced a man to death on Thursday after finding him guilty of a 2013 bomb attack on a hotel that killed two people and wounded one, a police officer said. Saw Tun Tun was convicted of bombing a guesthouse in the town of Taungoo, 55 km (35 miles) from the capital, Naypyidaw, in the first in a string of mysterious blasts in different parts of the country that has never been fully explained. Saw Saw Tun had confessed to planting the bomb after being paid 20,000 kyats (about US$20) by a man called Saw Htowah, said a police officer in Taungoo. "As far as I know, Saw Htowah, the mastermind behind this blast, is still at large and I have no idea what their motive was," said the officer, who declined to be identified as he was not authorized to speak to media. The Democratic Voice of Burma, a television station and website, also reported the sentencing. The series of explosions and attempted bombings that in late 2013 included one at a hotel in Rangoon, Burma's largest city, which injured an American tourist. Authorities blamed some of the blasts on hardliners within the Karen National Union (KNU), an ethnic minority rebel group that signed a ceasefire agreement with the government after almost six decades of fighting. Representatives of the KNU pledged at the time to cooperate with investigators. The police officer told Reuters that the KNU had helped with the investigation that led to the arrest of Saw Tun Tun, an ethnic Karen, two months after the blast. Saw Tun Tun can appeal against his sentence. Court officials were not available for comment. Burma has been hit by bombings in the past. Three explosions at a festival in 2010 killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 170. In May 2005, three bombs at a convention center and markets killed 23 people and wounded more than 160. The post Court Sentences Hotel Bomber to Death in Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Govt, Karen Rebels Collecting Illegal Tolls on Asia Highway: Reports Posted: 08 Jan 2015 02:15 AM PST A newly built section of the Asia Highway in eastern Karen State. (Photo: Karen Share / Facebook) CHIANG MAI, Thailand — Illegal toll collection has been reported on a small stretch of the newly built Asia Highway 1, a road linking Thailand's booming border town of Mae Sot with Burma's commercial capital Rangoon via Myawaddy. The incidents occurred between the towns of Myawaddy and Kawkareik in eastern Karen State, a section of the Asian Development Bank-subsidized highway which is still under construction. Sources in Myawaddy told The Irrawaddy that local ethnic armed groups the Karen National Union (KNU) and Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), along with the government controlled Border Guard Force (BGF), were extorting travellers. Maj. Saw Zorro, the head of KNU liaison office in Myawaddy, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that not all vehicles are allowed to use the new road before its official opening, but vehicles belonging to government or ethnic rebel organizations had been permitted to use the route for important and emergency travel. However, he said that vehicle owners had not been charged to use the highway, instead offering financial gratitude of their own accord. "Our soldiers don’t ask for tax," said Zorro. "Some vehicle owners want to use the road and they ask for permission to use the road while construction workers take a break from work. If they are allowed, they give some money for tips to thank the soldiers." The KNU, DKBA and BGF variously man at least six checkpoints run in the 62-kilometer (38-mile) stretch of road between Myawaddy and Kawkareik, according to locals. Some residents in Myawaddy who use the road said they were asked to pay at least 1000 kyats (US$0.90) per checkpoint while others claim that they paid more than 10,000 kyats in total across the whole route. Drivers who travel between Myawaddy and Rangoon through Kawkareik and the Karen capital of Hpa-an are currently permitted to travel on an old, dilapidated road, with more than a dozen checkpoints on the route each charging 500-5000 kyats each, depending on vehicle size and type. Most vehicles traveling on the new highway are family cars and small vehicles, rather than commercial trucks carrying imported goods from Thailand, according to Myawaddy residents. According to the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), there are over 20 checkpoints along the new highway between Myawaddy and Rangoon. At each checkpoint, transport trucks and passenger vehicles must pay tolls, while travelers may be searched and forced to give 'donations' or 'tea money' to inspecting soldiers. Generally, the total average cost of transit tolls between Myawaddy and Rangoon are 100,000-300,000 kyats ($97-$290) for a heavy truck, 10,000-30,000 ($9.70-$29) and 3000 kyats ($2.90) for a car, according to the KHRG. Fighting broke out at the Asia Highway in late September after the DKBA clashed with the BGF on the outskirts of Myawaddy, leading dozens of residents to flee their homes to escape the violence. The post Govt, Karen Rebels Collecting Illegal Tolls on Asia Highway: Reports appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘Don’t Worry, We’ve Got You Covered’ Posted: 07 Jan 2015 09:46 PM PST 'Don't Worry, We've Got You Covered' The post 'Don't Worry, We've Got You Covered' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China’s Xi Woos Latin America With $250B Investments Posted: 07 Jan 2015 09:28 PM PST Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro (R) claps while China’s President Xi Jinping speaks during the opening ceremony of the 1st Ministerial Meeting of China-CELAC Forum at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing January 8, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged on Thursday US$250 billion in investment in Latin America over the next 10 years, as part of a drive to boost Beijing’s influence in a region long dominated by the United States. Leaders of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, or CELAC—a bloc of 33 countries in the region that excludes the United States and Canada—gathered in Beijing for the first time for a two-day forum on Thursday. The forum, which also marked the first time China hosted the body, came at a time when Beijing is trying to step up its presence in the region as it clamors for more resources. Xi said in a speech that two-way trade between China and Latin America was estimated to rise to $500 billion within the next 10 years. "I believe that this meeting will achieve fruitful results, give the world a positive signal about deepening cooperation between China and Latin America and have an important and far-reaching impact on promoting South-South cooperation and prosperity for the world," Xi said. China and Latin America are cooperating in the areas of energy, infrastructure construction, agriculture, manufacturing and technological innovation, Xi said. China is interested in the region for resources and markets, said Deng Yuwen, a Beijing-based political analyst and former deputy editor of the Central Party School’s journal, Study Times. "Obviously, China has the intention to compete with the U.S. for a greater sphere of influence in the region," said Deng. "But whether this strategy will weaken U.S. influence now is hard to judge." China, the world’s second-largest economy, is buying oil from Venezuela, copper from Peru and Chile, and soybean from Argentina and Brazil. In return, China has pumped billions of dollars in investments in the region. On Wednesday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he had secured more than $20 billion in investment from China, while Ecuador said it obtained a total of $7.53 billion in credit lines and loans from China. "To repeat what [former] President Hugo Chavez said, China is demonstrating to the world that a country does not necessarily seek hegemony as it grows stronger," Maduro said in a speech that was translated into English. The cooperation with the region comes even as many of them retain diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province. Out of the 22 states that still recognize Taiwan, 12 of them are in Latin America and the Caribbean. The post China’s Xi Woos Latin America With $250B Investments appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Sri Lanka Presidential Election Brings Country to Crossroads Posted: 07 Jan 2015 09:18 PM PST Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa casts his vote for the presidential election in Medamulana on Jan. 8, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) COLOMBO — Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has urged voters to back "the devil they know," and hand him a third term when they go to the polls on Thursday, rather than an "unknown angel" who promises to root out corruption and political decay. There have been no reliable opinion polls ahead of the vote, but many believe opposition candidate Mithripala Sirisena will quash Rajapaksa's bid for re-election and change the country's direction. Despite waning popularity, Rajapaksa called the election two years early, confident that the perennially fractured opposition would fail to come up with a credible challenger. But he did not anticipate the emergence of Sirisena, who quit as one of Rajapaksa's ministers and crossed to the other side to become the opposition's candidate in November, triggering a flood of defections from the government. "It has been a big shock for the president," said a Western diplomat in Colombo. "The government looks a bit desperate." Some 15 million people will be eligible to vote between 7 am and 4 pm local time at more than 12,000 polling stations nationwide. Ballot counting will get under way soon after voting booths close, and a result is expected to emerge in the early hours of Friday. With more than 25,000 local and about 70 foreign monitors set to observe the vote, Chief Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya was adamant on Wednesday that there would be no fraud. "Don't worry about this election, this election will be free and fair," he told reporters with a grin. The government bristled on Wednesday over repeated calls by the United Nations secretary-general to ensure the election is peaceful and inclusive, branding them "gratuitous and inappropriate." Nevertheless, rumors have been rife in Colombo that force may be used to keep Sirisena voters away, that the result will somehow be distorted or even that the military might be deployed if Rajapaksa looks set to lose. In Washington, the US Department of State said the United States wanted to see a "credible, peaceful and inclusive" process. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said US Secretary of State John Kerry had called Rajapaksa on Tuesday to underscore the government's responsibility to ensure this. "We urge the government, its election officials and police, all political parties and actors to ensure access to all vote centers for the voters to vote and counting centers for all international and domestic observers," she told a regular news briefing. "We're concerned about reports of violence and urge the government to ensure transparent and credible investigation into any allegation of fraud or violence," she added. A local observer group, the Center for Monitoring Election Violence, said this week there had been "unparalleled misuse of state resources and media" by Rajapaksa's party and that police inaction had given free rein to election-related violence. Rajapaksa won around 58 percent of the vote in the 2010 election, surfing a wave of popularity that sprang from the defeat of Tamil Tiger separatists who had waged a crippling war against the government for 26 years. The economy has flourished since then and big infrastructure projects such as the country's first expressway have sprung up. Many voters, especially Sinhalese Buddhists who represent 70 percent of the population, are diehard Rajapaksa supporters. Sandamalee de Fonseka, a 39-year-old mother of two in Colombo, said he won the country's war on terrorism and was winning the war against poverty. "People's quality of life has gone up," she said. But many complain of high living costs—even though official data show inflation below 5 percent—rampant corruption and an authoritarian style that has concentrated power in the hands of the president's family. Ethnic Tamils in the country's north and east feel the president has abandoned them since the war while Muslims, the country's third-largest minority, feel under threat from a growing strain of militant Buddhism that was behind a spasm of violence last year. On foreign policy, Rajapaksa has cold-shouldered neighboring India. He has also fallen out with Western countries that want an international probe into possible war crimes and criticize his record on human rights, turning instead to China as a strategic and investment partner. Rajiva Wijesinha, one of the first lawmakers to cross to the opposition in November, said Rajapaksa appeared to have lost touch and had allowed the country's budget and economic planning to go "completely haywire." "I think he needs to be defeated," Wijesinha told Reuters. Sirisena, who would lead a potentially fractious coalition of ethnic, religious, Marxist and center-right parties if he wins, has pledged to abolish the executive presidency that gave Rajapaksa unprecedented power and hold a fresh parliamentary election within 100 days. He has also promised a crackdown on corruption, which Wijesinha said would include investigations into big infrastructure projects such as a US$1.5 billion deal with China Communications Construction Co Ltd for a port city. "I don't think there will be a witch hunt," he said. "We are not in this for punishing people, but we do want the Sri Lankan people to get their money back." The post Sri Lanka Presidential Election Brings Country to Crossroads appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

2 Dead, 30 Missing After Rockslide at Kachin Jade Mine Posted: 07 Jan 2015 08:40 PM PST A mountain slope in Hpakant that has been devastated by large-scale jade mining, March 2013. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — At least two people were killed and around 30 were missing on Wednesday after a mountain of rubble collapsed at a jade mine in northern Burma, a parliamentarian from the area said. A worker from a mining company, speaking on condition of anonymity due the sensitivity of the issue, said the death toll could reach 50 once all bodies have been retrieved from the remains of a massive pile of rock dumped by mining companies. The local lawmaker, Kyaw Soe Lay, said rescue workers were clearing piles of rubble in the open pit mine in Hpakant, a town in Kachin State about 110 kilometers (68 miles) from the state capital Myitkyina. "The mine dump measuring about 700 feet (213 meters) in height and about 1,500 feet in length collapsed today burying eleven shops," said the mining company worker. Accidents are frequent in Hpakant and victims are often "handpickers" —independent miners who find jade fragments by combing through unstable mountains of rubble. Hpakant is the largest source of Burmese jade, which netted US$3.4 billion in sales at the annual gems emporium. Estimated revenues from the illegal trade dwarf that figure. The Harvard Ash Center published a report in July 2013 that put unofficial sales at about $8 billion in 2011 with almost all of that jade smuggled over the border into China through territory controlled by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), an ethnic insurgent group. The KIA ceded control of Hpakant to the government in 1994 when it signed a ceasefire agreement. But the ceasefire fell apart in 2011 and the government halted official mining for security reasons. The Ministry of Mines said last July it would allow companies to resume operations. The post 2 Dead, 30 Missing After Rockslide at Kachin Jade Mine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ex-PM’s Impeachment to Test Thai Junta’s Fragile Calm Posted: 07 Jan 2015 08:33 PM PST Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra delivers a speech during birthday celebrations for Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 2013. (Photo: Damir Sagolj / Reuters) BANGKOK — Thailand’s legislature will start impeachment hearings this week against former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who faces a lengthy political ban that could test a delicate calm established after a military coup last year. The case hands the ruling junta its first big test of 2015 given Yingluck’s popularity among millions of rural poor who elected her in a 2011 landslide. Yingluck was removed from office in May after a court found her guilty of abuse of power, days before the military staged a coup after sometimes violent protests against her government that began in Nov. 2013. A day after she was removed, the country’s anti-corruption body indicted her for dereliction of duty in relation to a controversial rice subsidy scheme. The National Anti-Corruption Commission found her guilty of mishandling the rice scheme, estimated to have cost $15 billion in losses. The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) due to rule on Yingluck’s impeachment was handpicked by those behind last year’s coup. The hearings start on Friday and a decision could come by the end of this month, the NLA said. If impeached, Yingluck faces a five-year ban from office. The junta has overseen a period of political stability but has struggled to revive the economy, Southeast Asia’s second-biggest, which grew just 0.2 percent in the first nine months of 2014 due to weak exports and subdued domestic demand. Critics say the case is part of the junta’s ambition to end the influence of Yingluck’s powerful family and any move to impeach her could raise the spectre of a backlash by her supporters. "If Yingluck is removed it could ignite resistance to the military government," said Thanawut Wichaidit, a spokesman for the pro-Yingluck United Front For Democracy against Dictatorship group. Martial law is still in place nationwide and protests are banned, but that has not stopped some farmers and activists from staging small rallies against the junta. Years of crisis have centred largely around Yingluck’s billionaire brother Thaksin, whose populist policies won him huge support but upset the military-backed establishment. Thailand plunged into political crisis after Thaksin, whose parties have won every election since 2001, was deposed in a 2006 coup. The post Ex-PM’s Impeachment to Test Thai Junta’s Fragile Calm appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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