Wednesday, August 5, 2015

National News

National News

Flooding

Posted: 05 Aug 2015 09:42 AM PDT

Follow for updates on flooded regions and analysis of disaster response efforts of Myanmar's 2015 flooding

Flooding not putting a dent in tourist agendas

Posted: 04 Aug 2015 08:18 PM PDT

Despite flooding occurring in 11 of Myanmar's 14 states and regions, tourism to the country has not been affected and travellers are still visiting the most popular destinations, tour operators say.

More heavy rainfall forecast for southern Myanmar

Posted: 04 Aug 2015 08:17 PM PDT

Heavy rain has been forecast for southern Myanmar in the coming week, including some areas that have already seen flooding, an official from the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology said on August 4.

Food shortages and swelling rivers stymie villagers’ efforts to recover

Posted: 04 Aug 2015 08:08 PM PDT

Food shortages have struck some towns in Magwe Region where heavy monsoon flooding has left residents without access to drinking water, has caused massive power cuts and has submerged crops.

Official flood relief yet to reach hard-hit Kalay township in Sagaing Region

Posted: 04 Aug 2015 08:04 PM PDT

Amid criticism that the government has not done enough to relieve devastation caused by heavy monsoon downpours, including by those supposedly receiving the assistance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appealed yesterday for international aid to help bolster its efforts.

Long list of needs remains unmet in Kachin IDP camps

Posted: 04 Aug 2015 08:00 PM PDT

The Kachin Independence Army is again claiming to have been subjected to chemical weapons, while hundreds of families relegated to makeshift internally displaced persons camps are struggling through rainy season with a severe dearth in supplies caused by government-imposed travel restrictions, groups in the area said.

Outspoken politician didn’t make NLD cut

Posted: 04 Aug 2015 07:58 PM PDT

One of Yangon's most prominent female politicians is asking why the National League for Democracy rejected her request to represent the party in the November 8 election.

Flooding forces changes to election planning

Posted: 04 Aug 2015 07:57 PM PDT

In a further concession to the devastating flooding that has ravaged large swathes of the country, the Union Electoral Commission has agreed to allow four political parties whose registration is not yet complete to submit provisional candidate lists.

Movie villain takes a stab at real-life political swindling

Posted: 04 Aug 2015 07:53 PM PDT

Onscreen antics proved just the beginning of actor Ko Zaw Gyi's nefarious deeds, according to his Yangon neighbours who claim their pockets were emptied by his farfetched elections promises.

Township hospitals face chronic shortages of medicine stocks

Posted: 04 Aug 2015 07:43 PM PDT

Township hospitals are not getting the medicines their patients need due to an antiquated, centralised system that disperses drugs ineffectively, doctors say.
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Shan Herald Agency for News

Shan Herald Agency for News

TNI: Kokang- why and how to resolve it

Posted: 04 Aug 2015 10:58 PM PDT

The briefing paper, which is 22 pages plus 6 more pages of endnotes, released by Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute (TNI) last month, has given us a convincing explanation of how the fight in Kokang which began on 9 February and is still ongoing started.

Kokang leader Peng Jiasheng with the Burmese strongman Gen Khin Nyunt
(Photo: Show Time book)


According to a former Military Intelligence (MI) officer, whom the TNI interviewed, it was because Peng Jiasheng (also written Pheung Kya-Shin) "feels cheated."

In 1989, following the 18 September 1988 coup, in the aftermath of the countrywide 8 August 1988 (later to be known as the Four 8's) uprisings, the coup leaders were hard pressed: by the democratic activists in the urban areas and the armed rebels in the rural areas. The strongest among the latter was the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), that was still a formidable force despite termination of military support by China, following Mao's death and Deng's ascendency.

Peng, disillusioned both politically and militarily with the Burman- dominated CPB, had meanwhile "succeeded in convincing local commanders in the Kokang, Wa, Mongla and Kambaiti (Kachin) regions to join him in separating from the CPB."

The Tatmadaw responded quickly to their mutinies which began on 11 April 1989, offering ceasefires to the breakaway groups. "It took a huge burden off the Burmese military's back," the late Khun Sa of Mong Tai Army (MTA), who had refused to jump on the bandwagon, said at that time.

However, 15 years later, relations between the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) which he commanded, and the military government began to turn sour, with the unfolding of 4 events:

• The first was the arrest of Gen Khin Nyunt, protégé to Peng and several other ceasefire groups, and the dismantling of the entire MI apparatus in 2004. "After the MI was abolished, Peng also lost his influence and main contacts in the government," said the former MI officer.

• The second was the government's unannounced change of policy toward the ceasefire groups. In 2005, Hso Ten, head of the Shan State Army (SSA), was detained and given an unreasonable 106 year jail sentence, for attempting  to form a "Shan State Academics Consultative Council." Later on units from Shan State National Army (SSNA) and the Palaung State Liberation Army (PSLA) were forced to surrender.


• Thirdly, their presentations to the National Convention (NC), ostensibly convened to lay down the principles for the new constitution, for the establishment of a federal union, were totally ignored when the 2008 charter was drafted and ratified by the military government led by Senior Gen Than Shwe.


• Fourthly, in April 2009, the government announced that all ceasefire groups were to transform into army-controlled "Border Guard Forces" (BGFs). As to be expected, most of them, including the MNDAA, immediately refused.

The military, then taking advantage of a split in the MNDAA, made a surprise attack and seized control of the Kokang region. The rest is the recent history which began with the return of Peng in February.

TNI brushes aside the government's statement about "protecting sovereignty and ensuring territorial integrity" against foreigners for its massive response to the Kokang situation. "During the same period they have also apparently allowed the India Army to conduct a cross-border raid into Myanmar's Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang faction (NSCN-K)," it reminds the readers.

All these, according to TNI, suggests that the Tatmadaw has been practicing "conflict management" rather than "conflict resolution approach."

The solution, TNI says is not setting ceasefires as a precondition to start the political dialogue. "Peace in Myanmar needs to move from arguments about process to agreements about delivery,"
it concludes. "In short, it is time to end military confrontations and to start political dialogue."

Meanwhile, a Chinese scholar has charged the United States of having a role in the unrest in northeastern Burma. Part of the abstract of his presentation to the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies, 24-26 July, reads:


"the current conflicts directly result from the US's Asia pivot strategy to contain China, not only making China the victim of Myanmar's domestic conflicts, but also seriously deteriorating China – Myanmar relations."

If he's right, then a political dialogue between Naypyitaw and its discontented internal opposition will not be enough.

For the full briefing paper, please read Military Confrontation or Political Dialogue: Consequence, of the Kokong Crisis for Peace and Democracy in Myanmar, by Transnational Institute (TNI) on its website.
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