The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• NLD’s Ethnic Nominees Lauded as Step Toward National Reconciliation
• Driving Miss Suu Kyi? Try Again, CNN
• Parliamentary Body to Vet NLD’s Presidential Picks
• Mon Groups Demand Toyo-Thai Coal Plant Suspension
• Activist Chooses Jail Over Fine For Peaceful Protest
• With NLD Nod, Burma Likely Headed for Htin Kyaw Presidency
• Suu Kyi Calls for Public Support of Presidential Nominees
• A Year After the Brutal Student Protest Crackdown at Letpadan

NLD’s Ethnic Nominees Lauded as Step Toward National Reconciliation Posted: 10 Mar 2016 05:06 AM PST Upper House presidential prospect Henry Van Thio, an ethnic Chin NLD lawmaker, is pictured in Naypyidaw on Thursday. (Photo: Ye Ni / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The National League for Democracy's (NLD) nominations for the presidency have been commended for promoting national reconciliation. On Thursday morning, ethnic Burman-Mon Htin Kyaw and ethnic Chin Henry Van Thio were revealed as the NLD's nominees for the presidency. The two men will be put to a vote in the Union Parliament, along with a nominee from the military, who has not yet been named. The winner will become Burma's president and the other two will be the vice presidents. "I am happy and grateful that they nominated an ethnic Chin for the presidency," said Paw Lian Lwin, former Upper House lawmaker from the Chin National Democratic Party (CNDP). "We have been forgotten for more than five decades and have become the most underdeveloped area," he added, referring to Chin State, Burma's most impoverished. Paw Lian Lwin said the NLD's selections would bring greater ethnic unity under the new government, which assumes power in April. "It is good that we have more ethnic representatives now," said Sai Leik, spokesperson for the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD). "In the past, both Parliament and the cabinet were one-sided. It should be [diverse] in order to build national reconciliation." Ethnic Shan leader Sai Nyunt Lwin, general secretary of the SNLD, had been tipped as a potential choice for vice president, but the NLD put forward an ethnic Chin instead. "We were never told that they would nominate a candidate from the SNLD for vice president, but what we do know is that Shan people will be included in the cabinet and regional government," Sai Leik said. The NLD has appointed ethnic Karen, Arakan, Burman and Kachin as speakers and deputy speakers of Parliament. As for presidential candidates, NLD lawmakers from the Upper House nominated the retired army major Henry Van Thio, who was elected last year to the upper chamber in Chin State's Thantlang  Township. NLD lawmakers from the Lower House nominated Htin Kyaw, whose potential candidacy had been widely speculated. Following the NLD's landslide victory in the 2015 general election, NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Burma's new cabinet would include members of other parties and ethnic representatives. Aung Moe Zaw, chairman of the Democratic Party for a New Society, said it would be better if the NLD chose leaders from its alliance ethnic parties; however, he still believes the party will lead the country toward national reconciliation and a federal union. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) lawmakers also put forward two men for the presidency on Thursday. The outgoing Vice President Sai Mauk Kham was nominated in the Lower House and former Upper House Speaker Khin Aung Myint was nominated in the Upper House. Presidency and vice posts are unlikely for both men because the USDP won only 42 of 491 seats that were up for grabs in the Union Parliament last year. "The USDP nominated experienced and qualified people for the presidential election process even though it is a minority in the Parliament," said Hla Htay Win, former military chief of staff and a sitting USDP Lower House lawmaker. "I assume the NLD nominated qualified people as well." The post NLD's Ethnic Nominees Lauded as Step Toward National Reconciliation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Driving Miss Suu Kyi? Try Again, CNN Posted: 10 Mar 2016 04:14 AM PST A screenshot shows the original report from CNN on Burma's big presidential news on Thursday. RANGOON — The presidential nominees of the National League for Democracy (NLD) were put forward on Thursday, prompting a flurry of media attention for two men who are, perhaps most notably, not party leader Aung San Suu Kyi. As reporters scrambled to provide details on their past lives and present standing, the absence of an immediate official party release on the men was no doubt a factor in the publication of false information by several media organizations, including "international standard" outlets like CNN, which began its flawed coverage of the candidates by running a picture of the wrong man with its story on Htin Kyaw, the NLD's presumptive presidential pick. In the photo of the original CNN story published after the nominations were announced on Thursday, the gray-haired and bespectacled Htin Kyaw, who had been publicly tipped as "the future president of Burma," was nowhere to be seen. Instead, another younger Htin Kyaw, who is now in prison for his human rights activism, was pictured amid a throng of his supporters. The picture went viral on social media, earning comments like: "I'm disappointed with some international news agencies for their sloppiness and eagerness to 'post-it—fast,' which leads them to mistake two people with the same name." Apart from the picture, there was the headline: "Former driver Htin Kyaw likely to become Myanmar's next leader," which also attracted criticism, but in this CNN was not alone. The Agence France-Presse newswire was among outlets going with a similar "driver" angle in their headlines. But Myint Soe, Suu Kyi's chef from 2004 to 2010 and an NLD member who for years spent most of his time with Suu Kyi inside her lakeside villa, said Htin Kyaw had never been Suu Kyi's official driver. "U Htin Kyaw at times volunteered to 'drive' her car when a driver was not available in the past. But it does not make him a 'driver' of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," he said. Both headlines were later changed, with the second incarnation of the CNN banner reading: "Aung San Suu Kyi confidante Htin Kyaw likely to become Myanmar's next leader." But still the report fell short of the truth. CNN also incorrectly identified Htin Kyaw as a "cofounder" of the NLD, when it was in fact his father-in-law, U Lwin, who was one of the founders of the NLD when it was formed in 1988. Another updated version transformed Htin Kyaw from "cofounder" to "long-time NLD member." In fact, whether Htin Kyaw is currently or has ever been a party member remains an open question even among some on the NLD central executive committee. His education background was incorrectly identified by CNN as including study at Oxford, an error that, in the interests of fairness and full disclosure, might be attributed to The Irrawaddy's own failure to get it right in a short profile on Htin Kyaw published earlier this week. In fact, he studied computer science at the University of London. But if it was media outlets that struggled to keep the facts straight, it was the party that thrust Htin Kyaw into the spotlight on Thursday that did itself no favors in ensuring the truth was communicated to a public that has long awaited word on its presidential pick: It was a full six hours before the party released his biography. Even then, with that information released only in the Burmese language as of time of publication for this article at 6:40 pm, international readers might still be forgiven for wondering: Who is Htin Kyaw? The post Driving Miss Suu Kyi? Try Again, CNN appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Parliamentary Body to Vet NLD’s Presidential Picks Posted: 10 Mar 2016 02:46 AM PST Members of Parliament stand in respect as the speaker of the Lower House arrives at a session in Naypyidaw on March 10, 2016. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) RANGOON — With the National League for Democracy (NLD) announcing its presidential nominees on Thursday, a body comprised of seven lawmakers is set to scrutinize whether or not the two men possess the qualifications required for Burma's highest civilian post. The body will be led by the speakers of Parliament's two houses and their deputies, one additional elected parliamentarian from each chamber and an unelected military lawmaker. Elected members of the NLD-dominated Upper and Lower chambers have named Htin Kyaw and Henry Van Thio as the ruling party's presidential nominees, while members of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in the two houses have put forward the current Vice President Sai Mauk Kham and former Upper House Speaker Khin Aung Myint as the proposed candidates for Burma's largest opposition party in their respective chambers. The military is expected to announce its presidential nominee on Friday, when the NLD-dominated two houses will vote on the four names put forward Thursday, presumably setting the stage for Htin Kyaw and Henry Van Thio to go up against the as-yet-unknown military candidate. The winner of a Union Parliament vote expected next week will become Burma's next president, while the two runners-up will become his vice presidents. Even as Thursday marked a historic day, the coming scrutiny process and five-year term of whoever becomes president are best viewed as political milestones marked with an asterisk, given that NLD chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi has said she will be "above" whichever individual is selected. Htin Kyaw is widely expected to get the nod, owing to his long-standing and close relationship with Suu Kyi—and the NLD leader's admission that the individual she sends to the Presidential Palace will be expected to follow her instructions without fail. The proxy problem has arisen because Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from the presidency by a clause that does not allow those with a foreign spouse or children to hold the office. Suu Kyi's two sons hold British citizenship, as did her late husband. As decided at Thursday's session, two NLD lawmakers—Dr. Myo Aung from the Lower House, himself considered a presidential possibility, and Ba Myo Thein from the Upper House—were chosen as the additional elected members of the presidential scrutinizing body, while the name of the military lawmaker has yet to be announced. The seven-member body will conduct its vetting on the basis of constitutional requirements that can at times be vague: Article 59(d) of the charter, for example, states that the president "shall be well-acquainted with the affairs of the Union such as political, administrative, economic and military." A clause asserting that he or she be "loyal to the Union and its citizens" similarly leaves much open to interpretation. The post Parliamentary Body to Vet NLD's Presidential Picks appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Mon Groups Demand Toyo-Thai Coal Plant Suspension Posted: 10 Mar 2016 12:25 AM PST Mon State locals protest the planned construction of a 1,280-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Ye Township. (Photo: Tin Htet Paing / The Irraaddy) RANGOON — Mon State civil society organizations are demanding that the incoming National League for Democracy (NLD) government suspend a Thai-backed coal power plant project in Ye Township. Toyo-Thai Corp. signed a memorandum of agreement with the Ministry of Electric Power's Department of Hydropower Planning to construct the 1,280-megawatt plant last April. Locals have been outspoken in their opposition to the coal plant ever since. On Wednesday, Par-Lain Youth Organization and the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) held a press conference in Rangoon to voice their disapproval. Nai Ka Sauh Mon, a HURFOM co-founder, said the current Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) government ignored the objections of the local community, which had protested the power plant numerous times. Opponents have taken issue with what they say is the project's lack of transparency. Andin village resident Ni Mar Oo said the Andin Youth Network wouldn't support any project that would harm their natural resources. "We will support the project if it doesn't disrupt our livelihoods or our environment," he said. Critics also worry about associated health risks. Jossue Jate, a coordinator at Mekong Watch, said she found health problems related to coal projects in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. Villagers from Indonesia developed coughs and suffered illnesses because of the air pollution, she said, warning against the project in Mon State. ''[Japan] has faced many challenges with coal [power] plants," she said. "Myanmar should be very cautious about the coal plant.'' The Toyo-Thai group plans to invest $2.7 billion and to complete the construction in 2020, according to its website. Mon State groups say the coal plant could displace residents across 370 acres of land and could adversely affect seven neighbouring villages and 3,858 acres of farmland. "If the new government continues the project, we will be against it,'' said Ye Township resident Nandar Aung. The post Mon Groups Demand Toyo-Thai Coal Plant Suspension appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Activist Chooses Jail Over Fine For Peaceful Protest Posted: 10 Mar 2016 12:23 AM PST Activist Me Me appears outside a Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township court on Wednesday. (Photo: Moe Myint Soe / The Irrawaddy) Me Me, a prominent rights activist, has decided to remain in prison rather than pay a fine regarding charges of violating Article 18 of Burma's Peaceful Assembly Law. The veteran of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society appeared in court in Rangoon's Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township on Wednesday, announcing that she had decided to stay in jail, calling the charges against her "unacceptable." She refused to pay a fine and has not hired a lawyer or requested a release from detention. She is accused of organizing a protest last year on Nov. 4 in Rangoon, where she demanded that Burma's controversial National Education Law be amended. Police arrested her on the basis that she did not have permission to protest. "Their charges are unacceptable. There should be no such this charge as our country [undergoes] political reform. [Article 18] blocks our people's desire to express themselves," Me Me said. Frequently used to imprison activists, Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Law dictates jail sentences of up to six months for individuals found guilty of participating in an unlawful protest. More than a dozen activists in Rangoon have been detained and charged under Article 18 this year for their participation in protests as far back as 2014, said lawyer Robert San Aung. There are currently 88 political prisoners behind bars in Burma and 412 political activists awaiting trial, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an organization which advocates for their release.   The post Activist Chooses Jail Over Fine For Peaceful Protest appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

With NLD Nod, Burma Likely Headed for Htin Kyaw Presidency Posted: 09 Mar 2016 09:18 PM PST Central executive committee member of the National League for Democracy Htin Kyaw arrives for the opening of the new parliament in Naypyidaw on Feb. 1, 2016. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) NAYPYIDAW / RANGOON — The National League for Democracy (NLD) has selected Htin Kyaw and Henry Van Thio as its nominees for the presidency, significantly narrowing the scope for speculation over whom the party will choose as its proxy for popular leader Aung San Suu Kyi. While their nominations do not yet officially reveal who will ultimately assume the post, Thursday's announcement would appear to make a Htin Kyaw presidency all but assured. Believed to be one of Suu Kyi's right-hand men, the ethnic Bamar-Mon Htin Kyaw had been tipped ahead of Thursday's nomination as a likely contender for Burma's highest civilian office. He holds high standing among NLD members and his father-in-law, U Lwin, is one of the party's founding members. His wife, Su Su Lwin, is a newly minted Lower House NLD lawmaker recently appointed as the chairperson for the chamber's International Relations Committee. More of a mystery—at least for now—is Henry Van Thio. An ethnic Chin elected to the Upper House in Chin State's Thantlang Township last year, the 58-year-old is a retired army major who has studied geography and law. "I believe my nomination for the vice presidency reflects [the party's] highlighting of ethnic issues and I will try my best for it," he told the media at the Upper House after his nomination on Thursday morning. If the two men are deemed to have met presidential eligibility criteria, they will be put to a vote, along with a vice presidential nominee from the military, with the winner assuming the presidency and the runners-up becoming vice presidents. Of less significance on Thursday, Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) lawmakers in the Lower and Upper houses put forward the names of current Vice President Sai Mauk Kham and former Upper House Speaker Khin Aung Myint as its proposed candidates for the respective chambers. Sai Mauk Kham presently holds dual public offices, after also winning a seat in Parliament in Burma's November general election. But both he and Khin Aung Myint would need NLD or military support to have a shot at a vice presidential post, an unlikely prospect. Sources in Naypyidaw said the military was likely to put forward its vice presidential nominee on Friday. Suu Kyi, who is barred from the presidency by Burma's military-drafted Constitution, has said she would lead the nation from a position "above" the president, who would be expected to carry out the NLD chairwoman's wishes if given her blessing. The post With NLD Nod, Burma Likely Headed for Htin Kyaw Presidency appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Suu Kyi Calls for Public Support of Presidential Nominees Posted: 09 Mar 2016 08:24 PM PST National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrives at the last session of the congress at the parliament building in Naypyitaw January 28, 2016. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun RANGOON — Aung San Suu Kyi called for the ongoing support of the Burmese people on the morning of vice presidential nominations within the Parliament. In a statement signed by the National League for Democracy (NLD) chairwoman and released on Thursday, the Burmese democracy leader said the selection of the country's president and vice president will begin on Thursday and is an important step for those who supported the NLD in the general election of 2015. "I urge all of you to give your support based on rational thoughts, to reach our goal peacefully before we fully implement your hopes," she said. Her request came at a time when unconfirmed reports indicate that her negotiations with the military to pave way for her presidency have failed. Since November's election, Suu Kyi met three times with Burma Army chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, but details of the meetings were unknown. Thursday's statement was viewed by some as consolation offered to the majority of Burmese voters who desperately want to see her as President; Suu Kyi has been constitutionally barred from the position because her two sons are foreign citizens. Lower House, Upper House and military representatives will submit their nominations for vice presidential posts and the candidates will be voted on in the Union Parliament. The nominee with the most votes will become the president, and the other two individuals will serve as vice presidents. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Burma would have three vice presidents following selection of the country's president. The post Suu Kyi Calls for Public Support of Presidential Nominees appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

A Year After the Brutal Student Protest Crackdown at Letpadan Posted: 09 Mar 2016 04:48 PM PST Police beat a student protestor who had attempted to turn himself in during a crackdown on the activists at Letpadan on March 10, 2015. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) It was one year ago today that the world got another sad reminder of how far authorities in Myanmar will still go to stifle dissent. Months of peaceful demonstrations against a new education law culminated in the southern town of Letpadan on March 10, 2015, where hundreds of students had gathered to prepare for a final march to Myanmar's largest city, Yangon. The Myanmar authorities—fearing the threat of an outspoken movement just months before a crucial national election—had shipped in scores of riot police to Letpadan to block the students before the march could even begin. When some of the protesters tried to break down a police barricade, an already tense situation turned violent. Police proceeded to viciously beat dozens of protesters—eyewitnesses described how even students who had fallen to the ground were hit with batons. It was an outrageous example of excessive use of force by the police. But instead of holding the officers to account for violating human rights, Myanmar's authorities have over the past year led a relentless crackdown against the very people who were on the receiving end of the violence. Scores of students were arrested in the aftermath of the protest on March 10 last year—today, 45 of them remain in detention with their trials ongoing. They face years in prison if found guilty, yet to date there is no evidence that they did anything other than peacefully express their opinions. Amnesty International will continue to call for their unconditional and immediate release. However, the authorities' crackdown did not end in Letpadan. Since then more than 100 student protesters, leaders and their supporters have been charged with a range of criminal offenses. One of them is Phyoe Phyoe Aung, the charismatic 27-year-old secretary general of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU). She was in Letpadan on the day of the protests and is one of the 45 who have languished in prison since. Phyoe Phyoe Aung has a remarkable life story and is no stranger to prisons in Myanmar—in fact, neither is her family. She is the daughter of Ne Win, an activist who spent the first 16 years of his daughter's life in a cell for his pro-democracy activities. In 2007, Phyoe Phyoe Aung and her then-boyfriend Lin Htet Naing were forced into hiding after taking part in the "Saffron Revolution," which ended with a brutal police crackdown against peaceful pro-democracy protests across Myanmar. Finally arrested in 2008, she showed her determination by refusing to wear the prison uniform behind bars, which led to her being sent into solitary confinement as punishment. She and Lin Htet Naing were reunited on their release in 2012, and got married in January 2015. Even if both are now deprived of their freedom once again (Lin Htet Naing has since also been imprisoned), Phyoe Phyoe Aung has vowed to not give up the fight for human rights in Myanmar. As the one-year anniversary of the Letpadan crackdown approached, the Myanmar authorities tightened the screws on student activists again. Just in the past two months, at least eight student union leaders, protesters and supporters have been arrested or face new charges. Among them is Nilar Thein, a former prisoner of conscience, who in late February was arrested for a peaceful demonstration in support of the students. The persistent efforts to suppress the student movement cannot be seen in isolation. Despite what you might have heard, Myanmar is still a country where human rights are under a sustained assault. Authorities rely on a range of draconian laws to target, harass and imprison anyone they perceive as a threat—a situation that has only gotten worse over the past two years. The net of repression has been cast widely—those targeted include journalists, land activists, farmers, trade unionists and opposition politicians. Amnesty International is aware of almost 100 prisoner of conscience still behind bars in Myanmar. But the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party that is set to form a new government and take power at the start of April, has made encouraging promises to make human rights a priority once in office. They could send a real signal of intent by immediately freeing all those who have been imprisoned for nothing but peacefully expressing an opinion and quashing the trumped up charges pending against all the students and their supporters. In the longer term, the new government should repeal or amend the range of laws used to silence activists. Doing so would also send a message to the still powerful military that a new day is dawning for human rights. The international community—including Myanmar's regional neighbors—also have a key role to play in keeping up the pressure on Naypyidaw to respect and protect human rights. Phyoe Phyoe Aung once told Amnesty International that her hopes were for "a society with peace and prosperity, happiness for the people, with human dignity and human rights." We could not agree more—it's time for those in charge in Myanmar to make sure that this vision becomes reality, starting by setting free the student protesters. Champa Patel is Amnesty International's director of Southeast Asia. The post A Year After the Brutal Student Protest Crackdown at Letpadan appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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