Tuesday, December 4, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Activists Call for Clear Minimum Marriage Age in Draft Child Rights Law

Posted: 04 Dec 2018 05:37 AM PST

YANGON—Women's rights advocates have raised concerns over the absence of a clearly defined minimum age of marriage in the proposed Child Rights Law currently before Parliament.

The draft bill submitted by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement states that the minimum age at which boys and girls can marry shall be defined by both existing laws and customary laws. (Customary law refers to the traditional laws observed by the country's various religions and ethnicities.) A provision of the draft adds that in order for the marriage to be legally registered, those being married must be at least 18 years of age.

The Lower House's Bill Committee last week suggested removing the second part regarding the minimum age being 18.

Lower House lawmaker U Kyaw Soe Linn, who is also a secretary of the Bill Committee, said in Parliament that stating a marriageable age in the Child Rights Law would create inconsistencies with the country's various customary laws. He cited the Myanmar Buddhist Women's Special Marriage Law, the Christian Marriage Act and other ethnic groups' traditions relating to marriage, which prescribe different age minimums for marriage.

The Lower House voted in favor of the committee's suggestion on Nov. 28.

Lawyer and Legal Clinic Myanmar director Ma Hla Hla Yee voiced concern that the omission of a clearly stated minimum legal age for marriage from the proposed Child Rights Law would encourage child marriage.

"It is the same as allowing boys and girls to marry before they are ready under the Child Rights Law," the lawyer said.

She said that as the proposed Child Rights Law is a special law on children, it will have an influence on the interpretation of other laws. For that reason, the omission of a stated marriageable age could allow some people who commit offenses against children to escape prosecution under the Penal Code's Article 375, she said.

Article 375 defines the minimum age at which an individual can legally consent to sex with an adult as 16. Whether consensual or not, any adult who engages in sex with a minor below this age is guilt of rape under the law.

Prominent women's rights advocate Ma May Sabe Phyu, who is also a director of the Gender Equality Network, said removing the legal age for marriage and legally permitting children to marry under different customs and traditions would be in violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), an international treaty that Myanmar signed in 1997.

As a signatory to the CEDAW, the government is obliged to enact laws that protect women and girls from being subject to harmful traditions and practices, Ma May Sabe Phyu said. The proposed Child Rights Law would do the exact opposite, she added.

Drafted by the ministry, the proposed Child Rights Law is a revision of the outdated 1993 Child Law. It would extend childhood status to the age of 18 in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which the country signed in 1991, and provide improved protections for child rights and care.

"[Opponents of a defined age of marriage] would argue that we are seizing on one single issue in an otherwise perfect law. But that single issue is too important to ignore," Ma May Sabe Phyu said.

Legislation passed under a democratic government should comply with international conventions ratified by the country, she said.

During the Parliament session on Nov. 28, Lower House lawmaker Ma Aye Mya Mya Myo proposed a motion objecting to any omission of a minimum legal age for marriage in the legislation.

She pointed to the joint general recommendation made by the CEDAW and UN CRC committees in 2014. The committees called on the government to prevent and eliminate harmful practices frequently justified by invoking social or religious customs and values often embedded in patriarchal cultures and traditions.

"I would remind [lawmakers] that this is a special law for child rights," Ma Aye Mya Mya Myo said.

"Child marriage has many effects on girls' health, including underage pregnancy and maternal morality," she added.

Her motion was defeated, however. A total of 320 lawmakers in the male-dominated Parliament rejected it, versus 33 lawmakers who supported it.

The bill will be submitted to the Upper House for further discussion.

Lawyer Ma Hla Hla Yee called for the establishment of a minimum legal age for marriage in the Child Rights Law to prevent early and forced marriage being justified as protected traditional customs.

"It is really important that a minimum legal age for marriage be restored when the legislation is debated in the Upper House," she said.

The post Activists Call for Clear Minimum Marriage Age in Draft Child Rights Law appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Religion Minister Says ‘Extreme Religion’ Remarks Aimed at Rohingya

Posted: 04 Dec 2018 05:03 AM PST

YANGON — Myanmar's religious affairs and culture minister said on Tuesday that his recent remarks branding an unspecified faith an “extreme religion” did not refer to all Muslims but only to “Bengalis.”

Myanmar government officials use “Bengali” to refer to Rohingya, whom they do not consider an ethnic group but illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

At a funeral ceremony for a prominent Buddhist monk last month, Minister U Aung Ko said “the followers of an extreme religion take three or four wives and have families with 15 or 20 children," posing a risk to Myanmar’s monogamous Buddhists.

Although the minister did not name the religion he was referring to, an Islamic organization based in Yangon, the Society of Enlightening Quranic Knowledge, took offense and issued a statement rebuking U Aung Ko for calling any religion “extreme.”

On Friday, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture released a public announcement claiming that U Aung Ko was not targeting any one religion but “‘religious extremists' from every faith in the country" and asked the public for a tolerant interpretation of the minister’s remarks.

When asked about his remarks by reporters on Tuesday, U Aung Ko said he did not mean to offend the Muslim community in Myanmar.

"In fact I mean to say Bengali as another religion," he said, claiming that “Bengali” youth in refugee camps in Bangladesh were being pressured to go to Myanmar.

"With an exploding population, their ambition is to march to Rakhine [State] and Myanmar. That's what I want to say," the minister said.

More then 700,000 Rohingya have fled Rakhine for Bangladesh since August 2017, when coordinated attacks on security posts by the militant Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army triggered a military crackdown. The UN and others have accused Myanmar’s military of ethnic cleansing by unleashing a campaign of arson, rape and murder against the Rohingya. The military says it was carrying out legitimate operations against a terrorist organization.

Most of the refugees now live in sprawling camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar District.

More than 1 million Rohingya were estimated to be living in northern Rakhine before the military crackdown and constituted nearly 90 percent of the local population.

The post Religion Minister Says ‘Extreme Religion’ Remarks Aimed at Rohingya appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar to Consider Low-Interest Loans from China for Economic Corridor

Posted: 04 Dec 2018 04:24 AM PST

YANGON—Amid concerns that the multi-billion-dollar economic corridor agreement will leave Myanmar in a debt trap, a senior government official has offered reassurances that the government will seek the lowest interest rates possible on loans from China for projects along the corridor, which is part of Beijing's international infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative.

A senior government official from the Ministry of Planning and Finance told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) projects, which include major infrastructure projects, border economic zones and city expansion projects, will be implemented under both public-private partnership (PPP) systems and loans. However, the official said, as a way to minimize the debt burden, the government intends to choose only loans with the lowest interest rates.

According to recent parliament records, Myanmar owes more than $10.2 billion in foreign debt, 40 percent of which is owed to China. The overall cost of the project is still unknown, while according to the CMEC proposal, cost estimations for the initial stages of the project are $2 billion.

"The details of implementation projects are still on the table," the senior official said.

The senior official, who requested anonymity, held a meeting on Monday with Chen Hao, secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee, during his trip which aimed to push trade, investment and cooperation in the border areas. Yunnan is the principle province connecting Myanmar and China through the CMEC.

During his visit, Chen Hao also held a meeting with the State Counselor in Naypyitaw on Monday. Union Minister for the Office of the State Counselor U Kyaw Tint Swe, Commerce Minister U Than Myint, Planning and Finance Minister U Soe Win and Union Minister for International Cooperation U Kyaw Tint as well as Deputy Minister of Planning and Finance U Set Aung and other officials attended a dinner held for Chen Hao at the Chinese Embassy in Naypyitaw on Monday evening.

The chosen projects must align with national priorities as outlined in the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP), a superior plan with a vision of sustainability and balanced development arrangements, he added.

According to the CMEC proposal, $2 billion will be spent in the initial stages of the project, which involve an estimated 24 projects, not including a series of other major infrastructure projects which will begin at a later stage. Myanmar's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation will receive $400 million from the initial budget to develop the irrigation system along the corridor route in Myanmar.

The New Yangon City project, estimated to cost $1.5 billion, is a component of the CMEC project for which a framework agreement has been signed between the New Yangon Development Company (NYDC) and the Hong Kong-listed China Communications Construction Company (CCCC). According to the NYDC, the project details—including technical specification, a financial proposal and business model—will be announced soon.

The 1,700-kilometer-long CMEC will start in China's Yunnan Province and go through Myanmar's major economic cities—Mandalay in central Myanmar, the commercial capital of Yangon and reach the coast at Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rakhine State. The proposal includes upgrades to three major roads through Mandalay, Muse on the Myanmar side of the border with China, and some other roads in Shan State.

The proposal claims that the CMEC would allow a direct flow of Chinese goods into the southern and western regions of Myanmar and that Chinese industries could transfer here in order to abate the rising labor costs and overcapacity of China's industries. It said Myanmar would become a major trade hub between China, Southeast Asia and South Asia.

Recently, China was granted permission to conduct a feasibility study for a Muse-Mandalay high-speed railway that is expected to link the two economic centers in Myanmar.

A memorandum of understanding for the CMEC project was signed in September by Naypyitaw and Beijing and included details on the implementation of the Myanmar-China border economic cooperation zones in Kachin and Shan states. In Muse, work has already started on the economic cooperation zone, but key questions remain over ownership, operations, project terms and financing, and whether Myanmar can afford the infrastructure projects.

"The biggest risks of the Chinese project in Myanmar are taking on an unsustainable amount of debt and that Beijing expects a degree of political influence in exchange for these large investments," Gregory Poling, director of Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative and fellow of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Irrawaddy

He said, "We have seen both problems crop up in places like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Malaysia. There are obvious benefits for Myanmar in projects like Kyaukphyu and the CMEC, given the country's infrastructure investment needs, but such projects should be negotiated and implemented in a manner that is fair, transparent, and to the benefit of the host country, not just the investor."

Last week, Ning Jizhe, deputy head of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) visited Myanmar in a bid to promote the implementation of the CMEC. During his visit, he met State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Minister of Planning and Finance U Soe Win and 11 other officials from different ministries and departments.

Leaders from both sides expressed views on the economic development plans and construction of the CMEC, according to the press statement.

Ning Jizhe promised Daw Aung San Suu Kyi that the CMEC will be a crucial part of the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan which will benefit the people of both countries.

However, the State Counselor said CMEC projects should support the long-term interests of both peoples. She stressed that China needed to negotiate the projects systematically and in accordance with domestic rules and regulations.

The post Myanmar to Consider Low-Interest Loans from China for Economic Corridor appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

KBZ Wins Financial Times Honor for Sixth Year Running

Posted: 04 Dec 2018 02:36 AM PST

YANGON — Myanmar's largest private bank, Kanbawza (KBZ), was named Myanmar Bank of the Year for 2018 by The Banker, a service of the Financial Times, for its leading role in the country's financial sector by using new digital technologies.

It is the sixth consecutive year the bank has landed the honor, making it the only financial institution in Myanmar to win the prize. The award was accepted by the bank's chairman, U Aung Ko Win, in London on Thursday.

The Banker selected one bank in each country based on the financial institutions’ performance, delivery of innovation, added customer value and service to society.

The other 151 winners included the US’s BBVA for Bank of the Year in the Americas, and Singapore’s DBS Bank for Global Bank of the Year.

The Banker said one of the greatest challenges KBZ has faced was financial inclusion, with just 10 percent of Myanmar's population holding a bank account.

"Recognizing the mobile-first potential of the customer base, KBZ launched a digital wallet to enable users to send cashless payments and withdraw funds through authorized agents," it said.

KBZ launched KBZPay, a digital wallet stored in a smartphone app, this year to makes purchasing everyday items as well as sending and managing money more convenient and secure.

In the three months since KBZPay launched, more than 450,000 accounts have been registered, according to the bank.

The award adds to a growing list of wins for KBZ Bank in 2018 including Best Domestic Trade Finance Bank in Myanmar and Mobile Banking Initiative of the Year in Myanmar at the Asian Banking and Finance awards in Singapore. The bank currently has more than 500 branches across the country.

The post KBZ Wins Financial Times Honor for Sixth Year Running appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

KNU Demands Tatmadaw Halt Road Construction in 4 Districts

Posted: 04 Dec 2018 01:22 AM PST

YANGON—The Karen National Union (KNU), a major ethnic armed organization based in Karen State, has called on the Myanmar Army to stop building roads connecting four districts in the north of the state.

Following its conference from Nov. 26-Dec. 1, the KNU's Toungoo District chapter issued a statement expressing concerns over the Tatmadaw's building of a road linking Papun, Nyaunglaybin, Toungoo and Thaton districts.

"What we understand is that they [the Myanmar Army, or Tatmadaw] are building this road to improve their access to the area," said Saw Thu Kabi, a spokesperson for the KNU's Toungoo District chapter.

The KNU believes the road is intended for military purposes, he said, adding that local people also have concerns about it.

"If such a road is to be built, it should be built by the government's Construction Ministry, and not by the military," he said, explaining the position reached by the KNU at the conference.

"We, the KNU, can build the road, and we don't need the Tatmadaw or government to build it," he added.

"We want the government and concerned leaders to know that [roadbuilding] seriously undermines the peace process. We want to urge them not to continue [with projects] that we oppose," he said.

Military tensions have been running high since clashes broke out between the Tatmadaw and the KNU's Brigade No. 5 after the former built a road in Papun District earlier this year. The clashes displaced over 2,000 local people.

The KNU has called on the Tatmadaw to stop building the road in order not to disrupt the peace process.

Asked about by the KNU's statement by The Irrawaddy, Colonel Wunna Aung, secretary-2 of the Union Level Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee, said the group's claim had not been discussed, as the KNU had not filed a complaint with the committee.

The Irrawaddy was not able to reach the Tatmadaw True News Information Team for comment.

The KNU bases its Brigade No. 2 in Toungoo, Brigade No. 5 in Papun, Brigade No. 3 in Nyaunglaybin and Brigade No. 1 in Thaton.

The KNU signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the government of then-President U Thein Sein in 2015. It recently suspended its participation in official peace talks, however, due to disagreements with the Tatmadaw over the issues of integrating all armed forces into a single military, and non-secession.

The KNU says it remains open to informal peace talks.

The post KNU Demands Tatmadaw Halt Road Construction in 4 Districts appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Body Found in Hsipaw Not That of Missing Korean Tourist

Posted: 03 Dec 2018 10:28 PM PST

YANGON–Local police and the Korean embassy have confirmed that a body found in northern Shan State’s Namtu River over the weekend is not the body of the missing female Korean tourist, but that of a man who reportedly died over five months ago in the same river.

Last Friday, a Korean woman and other four tourists visited Hsipaw Township’s Namtu Township, which is situated in a part of northern Shan State which is actively contested among armed groups in the area. In recent months, in neighboring Kyaukme Township, armed fighting has occasionally broken out between ethnic Shan armed groups and government troops.

The Korean lady and her fellow travelers tried riding down the river on a tube—an activity known internationally as "tubing"—and weren't wearing lifejackets. Younghee Heo, 45, fell from the tube and disappeared into the rapid waters of Namtu River. A rescue team and local authorities have been searching for her for more than one week and only discovered the unidentified male corpse on Sunday morning.

Police Officer U Htay Lwin from northern Shan State’s Hsipaw Police Station explained to The Irrawaddy over the phone that what the rescue team retrieved from the river on Sunday, thirteen miles from where Heo disappeared, was little more than a skull and a pair of thigh bones. In order to scientifically verify whether the remains belong to Heo, authorities quickly transferred them to a hospital in Mandalay for forensic identification.

Based on the bone structure, doctors from Mandalay General Hospital initially concluded that bone was likely to be that of a male who died more than five months ago, according to Officer Htay Lwin.

"To make sure, doctors will conduct further DNA checks," he said.

An official from the Korean embassy in Yangon, who requested not to be named in this article, corroborated police reports that the remains belonged to a man.

Some local newspapers have reported that the Korean embassy in Yangon has officially announced a $5,000 reward for the corpse if discovered. When questioned on the offer of a reward, the official said that his embassy did not offer any financial reward for the body, but that it was in fact announced by a family member of the Korean lady via Facebook.

On Tuesday morning, Beum Rae Chung, owner of Myabiz, a Korean-language travel and lifestyle website about Myanmar, put out a fresh plea on social media saying that he and his counterparts believe Heo may be still alive.

"Miss Heo [is] missing for over 12 days, but being a strong woman, we believe that she is alive somewhere," read the post published on his own Facebook account as well as Hsipaw News, a public Facebook group.

The post, accompanied by photos of Heo, went on to request that anyone who believes they may have seen her or have any information that may help the ongoing investigation, report to the nearest police station.

Although the tourism ministry officially only allows tourists to visit downtown Hsipaw, many tourists travel further afield, sometimes to unsafe zones, for trekking, kayaking and overnight stays in tree-houses in the dense forest. As of Tuesday, fighting between the TNLA and the RCSS in neighboring Kyaukme Township is ongoing and the rescue team is unable to continue their search further along Namtu River.

The post Body Found in Hsipaw Not That of Missing Korean Tourist appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Cambodia Reviews Ban on Opposition After EU Sanctions Threat

Posted: 03 Dec 2018 09:29 PM PST

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia’s Parliament is reviewing a five-year ban on more than 100 members of the main opposition party, which could allow them to return to politics, following threats by the European Union to deny duty-free trading access to the Southeast Asian nation.

The EU last month began a formal procedure to strip Cambodia of its Everything but Arms (EBA) benefits, after Prime Minister Hun Sen returned to power in a July general election in which his party won all the seats in Parliament.

“To further promote democracy and the rule of law, the National Assembly is reviewing legal provisions to enable individuals who were banned from politics to resume political activities,” Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

It was referring to a Supreme Court ban on political activity by 118 members of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which the court dissolved last year at the request of the government after accusations that the party was plotting to take power with the help of the United States.

CNRP leader Kem Sokha was released from prison in September after spending more than a year in jail on treason charges but remains under house arrest in the capital, Phnom Penh.

The party’s deputy president, Mu Sochua, demanded that Sokha be freed, with all charges dropped and the party reinstated.

“Piecemeal solutions do not and cannot restore democracy. The judiciary must be independent and not a political tool,” Sochua told Reuters.

Cambodia’s independent media also faced increasing pressure from Hun Sen and his allies ahead of the July vote.

The English-language Cambodia Daily shut down last year after the government ordered it to pay millions of dollars in back taxes or face closure. About 30 radio stations were also shut last year.

Washington-based Radio Free Asia (RFA) shut its Phnom Penh office in September, complaining of a “relentless crackdown on independent voices.”

The government “always cherishes promotion of freedom of press and freedom of expression,” the Foreign Ministry added in Monday’s statement, saying RFA and Voice of America were free to reopen their offices in Cambodia.

The world’s largest trading bloc has launched a six-month review of Cambodia’s duty-free access, meaning its garments, sugar and other exports could face EU tariffs within 12 months.

“These announcements are likely conditions under withdrawal of Everything But Arms,” Naly Pilorge of the Cambodia-based Licadho rights group told Reuters.

“As with any announcements made in Cambodia, it’s only possible to assess if they are genuine after the implementation of such announcements,” Pilorge said.

RFA spokesman Rohit Mahajan said that before RFA can consider resuming operations in Cambodia a number of issues would have to be resolved, including the dropping of charges against two former RFA journalists.

The post Cambodia Reviews Ban on Opposition After EU Sanctions Threat appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ten Things to do in Yangon This Week

Posted: 03 Dec 2018 09:17 PM PST

German Education Fair

For those wishing to pursue higher education in Germany, 19 German universities attend to explain their degree courses and scholarship programs.

Dec. 5, 10 am to 4 pm. Goethe-Institut Myanmar, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, next to Golden Butterfly Hotel. Tel:01-937 6160

Comedy Night

The lineup includes the callous recollections of Claire Vanessa Lim, the daring deeds of Dani Schoffman, the twisted tales of Tom Sanders, disgusting details from David Israeli, and ANOTHER joke from Jared Downing.

Dec. 5, 8 pm to 11 pm.  50th Street Restaurant and Bar, 9/13 50th Street, Botataung Township. Free Admission. Tel: 01 397 060

Jazz under the Stars

Bamboo Trio play jazz music.

Dec. 5, 8 pm to 11 pm. Atlas Rooftop Bar & Lounge, No. 84 Pan Hlaing Street, Sanchaung Township. Reservations at 09-9784151250. 

Book Sale

Yangon University Library organizes a book sale to celebrate the 98th anniversary of the Yangon University.

Dec. 8-11, 9 am to 4 pm. Yangon University.

Diwila Mela

Bollywood singers Aditya Narayan and Rupali Jagga will be entertaining the crowd along with a troupe of dancers and delicious Indian foods plus the chance to participate in a lucky draw to celebrate the festival of lights.

Dec. 6, 6 pm onwards. Novotel Yangon, Pyay Road. Tickets at 09-977 117140.

German Christmas Market

The German community celebrates Christmas with Christmas Beer or Glühwein and a variety of food and gifts on offer

Dec. 7 to 8, 5 pm to 10 pm. Goethe-Institut Myanmar, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, next to Golden Butterfly Hotel. Tel:01-937 6160

Yankin 18

Artists from Yangon's Yankin Township showcase their paintings.

Dec. 5-9, 9 am to 4 pm. MAOC Gallery, Bogyoke Market.

31st Anniversary Art Show

Golden Valley Art Centre celebrates its 31st anniversary.

Dec. 6-10, 9 am to 5 pm. No. 54/D, Golden Valley, Bahan Township.

Watercolor Art Exhibition

This is a group art exhibition of 15 artists.

Dec. 7-10, 9 am to 5 pm. Moon Art Gallery, 35th Street (Middle), Kyauktada Tsp.

Drink and Burn Party Vol. 2–Rock and Roll Edition

Rock out, workout, Lesmills Body Combat, Zumba, Pop Dance and Rock 'n' Roll.

Dec. 9, 4 pm to 9 pm. Hard Rock Café, Myanma Plaza, 4th Floor. Early bird ticket 20,000 kyats (25,000 kyats at door) at 09-262973675; 09-262973677.

The post Ten Things to do in Yangon This Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Lion Air Ponders Cancelling Boeing Jets in Row Over Crash: Sources

Posted: 03 Dec 2018 08:45 PM PST

PARIS/JAKARTA — Indonesia’s Lion Air is reviewing airplane purchases from Boeing Co and has not ruled out cancelling orders as relations worsen in a spat over responsibility for a 737 jetliner crash that killed 189 people in late October.

Co-founder Rusdi Kirana is furious over what he regards as attempts by Boeing to deflect attention from recent design changes and blame Lion Air for the crash, while the airline faces scrutiny over its maintenance record and pilots’ actions.

Kirana is examining the possibility of cancelling remaining orders of Boeing jets “from the next delivery,” according to a person familiar with his thinking. Another source close to the airline said it was looking at cancelling orders.

No final decision has been made, but discussion over the fate of $22 billion of remaining orders highlights the stakes surrounding an investigation involving Boeing's fastest-ever selling jet, the 737 MAX, which entered service last year.

Lion Air has 190 Boeing jets worth $22 billion at list prices waiting to be delivered, on top of 197 already taken, making it one of the largest US export customers.

Any request to cancel could be designed to put pressure on Boeing and would likely trigger extensive negotiations. Many airlines defer orders, but industry sources say aerospace suppliers rarely allow much scope for unilateral cancellations.

Lion Air declined to comment. A Boeing spokesman said: “We are taking every measure to fully understand all aspects of this accident, and are working closely with the investigating team and all regulatory authorities involved. We are also supporting our valued customer through this very tough time.”

Maintenance, software

Kirana, who is now Indonesia’s envoy to Malaysia but still carries weight at the airline he co-founded with his brother in 2000, ordered the review in response to a Boeing statement focusing attention on piloting and maintenance, the person said.

Boeing released the statement after investigators last week issued an interim report focusing on maintenance actions spread over four flights in the run-up to the doomed flight on Oct. 29.

Boeing is also examining software changes in the wake of the crash, while insisting longstanding procedures exist for pilots to cancel automated nose-down movements experienced by the 737 MAX in response to erroneous sensor readings.

It has come under fire from US pilots for not mentioning the MCAS system — a modification of existing anti-stall systems — in the manual for the 737 MAX, which began service last year.

“Why are they changing [software] if there was nothing wrong?” the person familiar with Kirana’s thinking said.

Boeing has said all information needed to fly the 737 safely is available to pilots and that its workhorse model is safe.

Some financial sources say Lion Air and Southeast Asian rivals over-expanded and would be comfortable with fewer orders.

But the row highlights an unusually polarized dispute over the causes of the crash. Experts say most accidents are caused by a cocktail of factors and parties rarely comment in detail before the final report, which often follows a year of analysis.

In its statement, Boeing recapped the interim report and listed questions on maintenance and pilot behavior that it said remained unanswered in the 78-page document, but did not mention the MCAS modification covered in an earlier safety bulletin.

It is not the first time an airline has crossed swords with its supplier after a crash. Lion Air rival AirAsia clashed with Airbus after its Indonesian subsidiary lost an A320 in 2014. It continued to take deliveries, but relations never fully recovered and it later toyed with buying 787s from Boeing.

The post Lion Air Ponders Cancelling Boeing Jets in Row Over Crash: Sources appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Duterte, Whose War on Drugs Has Killed Thousands of Filipinos, ‘Jokes’ About Marijuana Use

Posted: 03 Dec 2018 08:33 PM PST

MANILA—Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, whose controversial war on drugs has killed nearly 5,000 suspected drug dealers and users since taking office in 2016, said on Monday he used marijuana to stay awake–and then said he was just joking.

The comment is bound to upset families of the victims of his crackdown on narcotics. Marijuana is illegal in the Southeast Asian nation and is not a stimulant.

"I use marijuana to keep me awake," Duterte said in a speech, complaining about the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Singapore last month.

In Singapore, he skipped some meetings and took "power naps" to catch up on sleep, according to his spokesman.

"The more that the crescendo becomes faster, the more you cannot sleep because you are catching up on readings," Duterte said.

Duterte, after his speech, told reporters he had been joking but a human rights activist criticized the attempt at humor.

"This will definitely anger the families even more. There is a disconnect between what the president admitted to do and what the president said he will do to those who use drugs," Carlos Conde, Philippines researcher with the New York-based Human Rights Watch, told Reuters.

"Now, if the president admitted probably in jest… then that demolishes the credibility of this whole thing."

The post Duterte, Whose War on Drugs Has Killed Thousands of Filipinos, 'Jokes' About Marijuana Use appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Bangladesh Opposition Coalition Cry Foul Over Rejected Nominations

Posted: 03 Dec 2018 08:24 PM PST

DHAKA, Bangladesh—An alliance of opposition parties accused Bangladesh’s Election Commission (EC) on Monday of being biased in favor of the ruling Awami League Party after it rejected nearly a quarter of the candidates the alliance nominated for elections on Dec. 30.

The EC has rejected 205 of a total 900 nominations made by the Jatiya Oikya Front, or United National Front, a multi-party opposition alliance, said S. Farazi, press secretary of one of the parties.

"The EC has played a biased role in cancelling nominations, as almost no nominations from the ruling party were rejected," said Mahmudur Rahman Manna, convener of Nagarik Oikya, a partner in the alliance that seeks to oust Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League from power.

Manna said the alliance planned to challenge the rejections in court. "Though we know we will not gain anything, we will not bow down to this injustice without a challenge," he said.

The EC denied the charge of bias, saying that of a total 3,065 nominations received, 786 had been rejected for various reasons, including non-payment of loans or utility bills and criminal convictions.

Helal Uddin Ahmed, secretary of the EC, said it "had not yet classified numbers based on their political affiliations."

Four sources familiar with the matter said dozens of rejected nominations were of breakaway elements from the Awami League who had failed to secure party nominations.

Mahbubul Alam Hanif, senior joint general secretary of the Awami League, said only five or six of its nominations had been rejected.

Authoritarian rule

While Hasina’s government has won widespread global plaudits for letting in hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled persecution in Myanmar, its critics have decried Hasina’s increasingly authoritarian rule, the government’s handling of student protests this year and its crackdown on free speech.

The alliance of opposition parties had asked for a caretaker government to take over in the weeks heading into the elections. The Awami League rejected the demand, however, deeming it unconstitutional.

The main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), had similarly pressed for a caretaker government during the 2014 election and boycotted it after its demand was not met.

The BNP remains in disarray after the jailing of its head, former prime minister Khaleda Zia, on corruption charges.

Hasina and Khaleda, who between them have ruled Bangladesh for decades, are bitter rivals and the BNP says its leader has been jailed on trumped-up charges to keep her out of politics.

Nomination papers filed on behalf of Khaleda have also been rejected by the EC.

The BNP filed the nomination papers on Khaleda’s behalf despite a ruling last month that she would not be allowed to contest this month’s election.

The post Bangladesh Opposition Coalition Cry Foul Over Rejected Nominations appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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