Monday, February 25, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

NLD Urges Public ‘Not to Worry’ Amid Military Warnings over Charter Reform

Posted: 25 Feb 2019 06:35 AM PST

YANGON—Amid rising tension between the military and the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) over constitutional reform, the party's spokesperson urged the public not to worry, promising that the Constitution would be amended in accordance with ethnic people's wishes.

"What we are doing is within a legal framework. We [the NLD] always maintain a policy of non-violence, so nothing will happen that will harm the public. I urge people not to worry," Dr. Myo Nyunt told The Irrawaddy on Monday, calling on the public to overwhelmingly support the party's efforts.

Senior leaders of the military, or Tatmadaw, warned at a press conference in Yangon on Saturday that the NLD's move to form a joint committee tasked with amending the military-drafted Constitution, "breached constitutional rules and parliamentary by-laws," and reiterated the views expressed by military appointees in Parliament.

"We will need to wait and see what the results and consequences are [of breaching the constitutional rules]," Major-General Tun Tun Nyi said at the press conference.

The NLD has questioned the military's objection to its formation of the joint committee, pointing out that under the previous government led by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), Parliament also initiated a process of constitutional amendment. A committee was formed to review the proposed amendments, and only after that was a bill to amend the Constitution submitted to Parliament.

The USDP-dominated Parliament only amended a few minor articles of the Constitution, and the effort was generally seen as ineffective.

"The USDP did just as we are doing in terms of constitutional amendments… Why do they [the military] only oppose it now, while they didn't oppose the formation of the committee as unconstitutional [when the USDP was in power]?" NLD vice chairman Dr. Zaw Myint Maung told local media on Sunday.

From the outset, the military appointees, who hold 25 percent of seats in Parliament as stipulated in the Constitution, have cited Chapter 12 of the charter in their rejection of the NLD's proposal to form the committee.

They said that at least 20 percent of lawmakers must agree to a bill's submission before it can be discussed in Parliament. The committee was formed after a majority of votes—from the NLD and other ethnic party members in Parliament—agreed to do so.

The senior officers repeated during Saturday's press conference that the military's main duty is "safeguarding the charter" and strongly warned that they wouldn't tolerate any amendments that harm the "essence" of the Constitution, referring to the 48 basic principles of the Union stated in Chapter 1 of the charter.

NLD spokesperson Dr. Myo Nyunt told The Irrawaddy on Monday that the essence of the Constitution should be public representation and the deriving of the Union's sovereign power from the public.

"But if they see maintaining the Tatmadaw's important role [in politics] as the essence, I would say we don't share the same view on that," he said.

He added that the proposed amendments to the Constitution will only be submitted after all members of the amendment panel, including ethnic parties and independent candidates, reach a common agreement.

"It seems that they [the military] want to amend the Constitution as they desire. But we will amend it as per the wishes of all ethnic people," the spokesperson added.

The post NLD Urges Public 'Not to Worry' Amid Military Warnings over Charter Reform appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

A Tale of 3 Myanmar Political Assassination Plots

Posted: 25 Feb 2019 05:57 AM PST

YANGON—Two weeks ago, a Yangon court handed down death sentences to two men involved in the killing of National League for Democracy (NLD) legal adviser U Ko Ni, who was gunned down at point blank range outside Yangon International Airport two years ago.

With U Ko Ni's assassination widely believed to be politically motivated, these were the highest-profile capital cases in Myanmar's recent history. U Ko Ni was a longtime advocate for amending the country's Constitution, mainly to diminish the military's involvement in politics. The Constitution was drafted by the military and is widely criticized as undemocratic. At the time of his death, the 63-year-old lawyer was advising the ruling NLD on charter reform.

On Feb. 15, a judge at Yangon's Northern District Court pronounced that convicted gunman Kyi Lin should be hanged for his premeditated murder of U Ko Ni. His accomplice Aung Win Zaw received the same sentence for helping to plan the killing. (Two others received prison sentences while another major suspect is still at large.)

Since independence, U Ko Ni's case is the third political assassination plot—successful or otherwise—that has led to the death sentence and gripped the public.

Seventy years before U Ko Ni's bloody assassination in Yangon, Myanmar national hero General Aung San and his cabinet members were shot to death during a meeting at the city's Secretariat. The killings, which took place less than one year before the country achieved independence from the British, were masterminded by U Saw, a former prime minister of British Burma and the general's bitter political rival.

U Saw, center, on the gallows at Insein Prison on May 8, 1948.

U Saw and nine men were put on trial for the assassinations, and a special tribunal handed down death sentences to all of them in December 1947 after convicting them of committing or abetting the murders. But only U Saw and five accomplices were executed on a late summer morning in May 1948.

As the gray dawn broke on the day, witnesses said, U Saw emerged from his cell and smiled to everyone he saw on his way to the gallows. The 48-year-old paid his last respects to a Buddha statue on the way. He even shook hands with some of the officers supervising the execution and said goodbye. While U Saw paid with his life, his family's suffering lasted long after his death for they became virtual outcasts for what he had done.

The case may have appeared to be open-and-shut, but many loose ends were left hanging, leading to conspiracy theories and rumors of other participants in the assassination plot, including British Army officers.

In his book "A Trial in Burma", which tells the full story of the assassination and trial in the context of the politics and personalities involved, author Dr. Maung Maung, a former assistant attorney-general who briefly served as Myanmar's president in 1988, writes that Britain itself was on trial in the eyes of the public, as rumors swirled that figures in London supported the plot, believing that with Aung San gone and U Saw in charge, Burma might be kept in the British fold. As a result, to this day many Myanmar people still suspect the British were behind Gen. Aung San's killing.

Twenty-nine years later, in March 1976, another assassination plot was hatched, this time within Myanmar's military circles targeting state leaders including the president, General Ne Win; U San Yu, who was general secretary of the then ruling Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP); and National Intelligence Chief Colonel Tin Oo.

The coup plotters—a group of young army officers led by a captain—were unhappy with Ne Win's Burmese Way to Socialism, as well as his recent ouster of General Tin Oo as defense minister and chief of staff. The general was quite popular among army personnel at the time. (U Tin Oo went on to become one of the founders of Myanmar's currently ruling NLD and is currently the patron of the party.) They wanted to restore Gen. Tin Oo to his former position.

The assassination was planned to take place at the Armed Forces Day dinner on March 27 at the Presidential Residence on Yangon's Ahlone Road. It didn't happen, however, due to poor coordination among the plotters and the long distance between the site where their weapons were stored and the targeted location. The plotters aborted the plan and agreed to make another attempt later. The plan was leaked, however, and arrests began.

On the evening of July 2, a frightened 36-year-old man appeared at the entrance to the compound of then U.S. Ambassador David L. Osborn on Pyay Road asking for political asylum.

Capt. Ohn Kyaw Myint (right) stands trial.

The panic-stricken man was the leader of the failed coup, Captain Ohn Kyaw Myint. He told the ambassador that the plot had been uncovered and that he feared imminent arrest.

Unfortunately, his request fell on deaf ears, as the U.S. government was trying to maintain good relations with Burma at the time. Embassy officials persuaded the fugitive to get into an embassy car and drove into the city while asking him for details about himself and the other plotters. During the ride, they refused his asylum request and managed to get him to leave the car voluntarily somewhere downtown.

The New York Times reported in late August of 1976 that Osborn said he called on the authorities the following morning to report that a man claiming to be an officer had requested asylum. The embassy did not want the Burmese government to suspect U.S. complicity in the reported coup attempt.

The paper said it learned independently that the ambassador had not notified the Foreign Ministry, which would have been in accordance with protocol, but had made his report to Col. Tin Oo, the chief of intelligence. A few days later Capt. Ohn Kyaw Myint was arrested. Along with 13 others, he was put on trial. The trial ended on Jan. 11, 1977 with the captain being sentenced to death, while having also earned the public's silent admiration. Capt. Ohn Kyaw Myint was executed in 1979 without his family's knowledge, according to U Win Htein, who was then an Army captain and went on to become an aide to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi until early last year. U Win Htein was himself dismissed from the army in 1977 for withholding information about the plot.

Forty-one years later in 2017, NLD legal adviser U Ko Ni was shot dead. While the victim himself did not hold a position in the state leadership, as in previous cases, his endeavors on behalf of constitutional amendment were unquestioningly remarkable and important for Myanmar. Were it not for his expertise in the Constitution, there would have been no "State Counselor" position created for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, allowing her to serve as the de facto head of state. The position was necessary as the military-drafted charter bans her from holding the presidency. He advised the NLD on what should be changed in the Constitution in order to make it democratic for the betterment of all Myanmar citizens, bestowing equal rights and self-determination on the country's diverse ethnic minorities. The motive behind the assassination is an open secret. For his relentless activism and contributions to the NLD on charter reform, he was rewarded with a bullet to the head.

In all three high-profile assassinations, the victims attracted varying levels of public sympathy. The whole nation mourned the loss of its leader Aung San and his cabinet. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi praised U Ko Ni as a "martyr" and a majority of the people remember him as a "hero" who sacrificed his life while helping to shape a better Myanmar society bound by a democratic constitution. At the same time, his killing epitomizes how difficult it will be to change the charter. The failed assassination attempt against Ne Win and his colleagues was a source of public dismay. Their survival led the country to become poorer and the people continued to suffer for decades to come.

Kyi Lin (center) and Aung Win Zaw (right) appear at a court hearing in April 2017. / The Irrawaddy

Given the diverse motives for these attempted and successful killings, public opinion regarding the assassins is varied as well. U Saw and his men have gone down in history as a national disgrace. This will also be the case for Kyi Lin and Aung Win Zaw, U Ko Ni's assassins. Despite their death penalties, some questions remain unanswered, such as who masterminded the killing. Only when those behind it are brought to trial will justice be done for the slain Muslim lawyer. Capt. Ohn Kyaw Myint may be a daredevil in the eyes of some due to his unrealistic coup plot. Nobody can deny, however, that he tried to change the regime. He gave his life in the fight against the repressive Ne Win regime. He deserves praise for that.

The post A Tale of 3 Myanmar Political Assassination Plots appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Selling Rakhine to the World

Posted: 25 Feb 2019 05:44 AM PST

In the wake of the 2017 Rohingya crisis and ongoing fighting between the military and Arakan Army, the Myanmar government is desperate to attract investors to Rakhine State in hopes that they will help reverse the fortunes of one of the country’s poorest regions. To that end, it invited more than 600 of them to the beach resort town of Ngapali on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the first ever Rakhine State Investment Fair, which was opened by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi herself. Foreign and domestic companies signed 28 expressions of interest for projects worth a potential $4.9 billion.

Businessman U Htun Htun Naing has been playing a key role in helping the state government bring investors to Rakhine. He is also chairman and group CEO of Blue Ocean Investments and of Blue Ocean Operating Management Co. Ltd, based in Yangon. The Irrawaddy's Nan Lwin spoke with him about the current investment climate, China, Japanese and Indian interest in Rakhine, and what government technocrats are doing to try to revive Rakhine’s image abroad.

What sectors in Rakhine have the most potential for investment?

Rakhine State has abundant opportunities for investment. The Rakhine Investment Fair wants to attract both foreign and local investment, particularly for infrastructure projects such as building and upgrading roads, bridges and ports. Once we receive investment for infrastructure, we can move on to production-based industry, the fisheries sector, and service-based and value-added industry.

What are the priority foreign investment projects for Rakhine State?

Speaking of infrastructure projects, we now have investors for the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone in Kyaukphyu, and also for the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project in Sittway. However, we need to upgrade road access to other parts of the country. We have improved access to electricity for the public, but we still need more for industrial use. The government is currently implementing a 30 MW power plant project in Kyaukphyu. We need airports. For example, we need to upgrade the Thandwe and Mrauk-U airports. After all those projects are completed, conditions will be better for additional investment here.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visits a fabric stall at the Rakhine State Investment Fair in Ngapali, Rakhine State, on Friday. / State Counselor’s Office / Facebook

As far as we know, the Rakhine State government has invited investors to invest in six major projects. Are the investors interested in investing in those projects?

Yes. We have showcased six major projects from the project bank that was introduced by the Union government at the Invest Myanmar Summit in Naypyitaw. Actually, Rakhine has more than that. That's why we are having a separate investment fair. In terms of the countries interested in investing in Rakhine, China is the top country, Japan is second and [South] Korea is third. Furthermore, among neighboring countries, India and Thailand are also interested in investing in Rakhine.

Which projects do they want to invest in and why?

There is a power play among the countries. After China and Myanmar agreed to implement the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone, Japan and Korea also became interested in initiating mega-projects in Rakhine State. Rakhine occupies a unique geographic position next the India. We have the greatest sea access and own the longest coastline in Myanmar. So investors really love to invest in Rakhine.

However, it would be better if we had more investment, particularly from Korea, Thailand and India rather than China. Because, as we have said, we would like to invite responsible and sustainable investment from foreign investors.

You mentioned that Japan and Korea are interested in mega-infrastructure projects. Can you provide more details about these projects?

Korean investors are eyeing the construction of a new city that they have submitted a proposal for. Moreover, Japan has proposed building both mega and small industrials parks in Rakhine. Thai investors are interested in investing in the tourism sector, especially in Ngapali and Mrauk-U.

If we can upgrade and build airports in Mrauk-U and Ngapali, that would help boost the tourism sector in Rakhine. India is also interested to operate ports. Although India and Myanmar have been working on the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, the Rakhine government just received new proposals from Indian and local investors to build ports in other part of Rakhine.

When we talk about foreign investment in Rakhine State, the investors mostly point out infrastructure problems, electricity and roads in particular. How are you dealing with the infrastructure problems?

When it comes to attracting foreign investment, electricity and roads are crucial for Rakhine State. We will start a mega-electricity project in Kyaukphyu. Moreover, the government has plans for electric power projects in Sittway and Ponnagyun. The government also received proposals for a mini-grid to provide electricity to villages.

Furthermore, we only have access to the sea. We also need better access to the interior. We will need upgraded roads to reach China if we are to implement the One Belt One Road Initiative projects. If we have better road access, we can be the major hub for transporting goods from upper Myanmar to India. So we need to upgrade road access. The government is also inviting BOT [build, operate, transfer] for the road construction projects.

We all know Rakhine has problems securing investment because of the Rohingya crisis and the armed conflict. What is your opinion on that?

Rakhine is a big state that stretches from south to north. The crisis happened in the northern part of the state — Buthidaung and Maungdaw — which borders Bangladesh. Except for Buthidaung and Maungdaw, the rest of the cities — Sittwe, Mrauk-U and Kyauktaw — are peaceful. Kyaukphyu, Thandwe, Gwa, Manaung and Ngapali in particular are the most pleasant places in southern Rakhine. When we look at the map, the crisis happened in a small part that is less than 10 percent of Rakhine State.

However, Rakhine's image has been tarnished because of the international media’s portrayal. Now we are conducting a "Beautiful Rakhine" campaign to revive our image. As you see today, 65 percent of the attendees at the fair are foreign investors and only 35 percent are local investors.

We have problems, but we can solve them. Investment should aim for long-term benefits. I hope investors can invest more for the long-term benefit of the state. We also found out that the root causes of Rakhine's problems are education and the economy. If we have improvements in education and the economy, we will have less crisis. This was also mentioned in a report by late U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

What are the government and your team doing to revive Rakhine's image?

As a first step, we are working on the" Beautiful Rakhine" campaign together with the Rakhine government. We uploaded a lot of photos that show the beauty of Rakhine. We currently reach 7 million people on Facebook. As a second step, we participated in the Invest Myanmar Summit in Naypyitaw. As a third step, we will publish a report about the results of this fair including short- and long-term plans for implementing the investment agreements. We have also traveled abroad to China, India and elsewhere to attract investment and to explain Rakhine's situation.

The post Selling Rakhine to the World appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Photographer Tells the Dark Side of the Elephant’s Story in Myanmar

Posted: 25 Feb 2019 04:21 AM PST

YANGON—Freelance documentary photographer Ko Myo fell in love with elephants when he started photographing the beautiful story of a mahout and his best friend, an elephant called Pho Khwar, and this love has motivated him to spend several years photographing the gentle giants.

"When I got to know more about elephants—their behavior, their nature—I came to love them more and more and wanted to protect them from cruel poachers," said Ko Myo.

Back in 2015, Ko Myo was searching for a topic for his photo essay. His mother told him that people in Bagan still use elephants for traditional ceremonies.

"I started questioning why elephants are going among crowds, why they are working under the bright sunlight. I went to Bagan to see them but they had already left," Ko Myo said.

Luckily, he managed to get the details of the group providing elephant services for the traditional event he had just missed. He traveled to Yinmabin in Sagaing Region.

"I didn't know anything about elephants; I didn't even know what story I could get, so I asked the elephant owner everything," he said, recalling the beginning of his long journey.

Here, he heard the touching story of the elephant Pho Khwar and his best friend, the mahout, and started to capture their story.

Ko Myo taking a photo of a pachyderm somewhere in the jungle. / Supplied

Both the mahout and elephant are 18 years old. They grew up in different elephant camps but after they met, they became best friends—now they play together, eat together and sleep close to one another.

"They are like brothers," said Ko Myo.

The photo essay he created about them, "Brothers," won fourth prize at the 2015 Yangon Photo Festival.

But the story of the elephant in Myanmar is not usually a happy one.

He recalls witnessing a tragic moment of violence between a group of wild elephants and villagers in Kyaukpadaung, Mandalay Region.

"It was in 2015. Six wild elephants from the Bago [mountain range] had wandered into Kyaukpadaung Township. They passed through many villages and so many people came together and used some tame elephants to urge them to change their direction and to go back to their habitat in the Bago mountains. I followed them," Ko Myo recalled.

"At one place, there was a gorge and the elephants were in the middle. The people were scaring them from both sides. One man went very close to the wild elephants and he was telling me to come to take photos but I refused because it was too dangerous. I even called him to come back but he didn't and a big elephant crushed him."

Ko Myo received third prize for “Hunting the Poachers” at the 11th Yangon Photo Festival on February 24, 2019. / Htet Wai

"It looked like a balloon burst. He died right there and I was so confused, scared and sorry for him. I got some pictures of the moment but deleted them later because I don't want to use those sad images for my project even though they are really good," Ko Myo said.

For his second prize-winning photo essay "Beautiful Girl" he followed the story of a newborn elephant calf named Mi Chaw. She was taken away from her mother and saved by an elephant doctor at Wingabaw elephant camp. However, the doctor found it impossible to source the milk she needed and milk powder was expensive. The doctor used Facebook to reach out to others for donations but help came too late.

"We moved her to a nearby elephant camp to save her. If she got milk from elephants, she could survive but she didn't know how to deal with other elephants. She thought the doctor was her father. Her health condition got worse and Mi Chaw died at 23 days old," said Ko Myo.

But their efforts were not in vain. Soon after Mi Chaw died another orphaned calf, Marry, was brought to the elephant camp.

"We sent her to Wingabaw and were able to support her with the things donated for Mi Chaw. Now, Wingabaw elephant camp has other motherless calves and they have everything they need. It's all because of Mi Chaw," said Ko Myo.

He continued to spend many years studying the lives of elephants, staying in the jungle with other villagers. He got a lot of contacts and a deep understanding of elephants. He even learned an elephant lullaby only known by old mahouts. In more recent years, he began to look into the wild elephant trade.

"When someone contacted me to say that an elephant was killed, I went to that place immediately. Most of the time I don't get permission to take a photo. Sometimes they allow it but it's really risky," said Ko Myo.

He spoke of the risks he takes to photograph the illicit trade—sometimes poachers would try to attack him, but he pushes on with his drive to document it regardless.

"If I don't photograph those moments, the public can't know these terrible things and more elephants will die and poachers will cut more skins and tusks and kill them."

An elephant is seen dead and with its skin cut off by cruel poachers in the jungle. / Ko Myo

He urges other photographers to document wildlife trading too and to give awareness to the public.

"It's not only elephants, other animals are also suffering from illegal wildlife trading. The animals are living in nature—they never intentionally hurt people, they just defend themselves when people come too close to them," said Ko Myo.

As well as "Beautiful Girl" which won him an award in the 2017 Yangon Photo Festival, his most recent photo essay about the illegal wild elephant trade "Hunting the Poachers" won third prize in the professional photo category at this year's festival.

"It doesn't matter whether I win a prize or not but I'm happy to accept the prize too. I just want people to become aware of this issue, that's more important," said Ko Myo.

Ko Myo said most elephant poaching happens in the Bago mountain range and in Irrawaddy Region. In 2017, about 59 wild elephants were killed by poachers but this number dropped to 18 in 2018. Currently, there are about 2,000 wild elephants left in Myanmar and if they keep losing their habitat, there will be more conflict with humans and illegal trading. Wild elephants might disappear from Myanmar altogether.

"Through Ko Myo's photos, people can know more about elephants: that they are lovely and worth protecting; that we should value them and they don't deserve to be killed. His projects help to raise awareness of the illegal wild elephant trade. That's a good impact," said Ko Ye Min Thwin, Senior Communications Officer at WWF Myanmar.

Ko Myo said, "The solution is to raise awareness to encourage people to stop using products made of animal [parts]. All poaching and trading is motivated by the greed of humans, so humans should stop using all animal-made products."

The post Photographer Tells the Dark Side of the Elephant's Story in Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Military Major Killed in Fighting With Arakan Army in Rakhine

Posted: 25 Feb 2019 03:02 AM PST

YANGON — The Office of the Commander-in-Chief said a Myanmar military major was killed during fighting with the Arakan Army (AA) in northern Rakhine State’s Buthidaung Township Friday night, near where the rebel group killed 13 border police officers in early January.

Brig. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman with the office, identified the dead officer as Maj. Aung Ko Nyein.

"This has been confirmed, and it happened in the same location where four [border police] stations were attacked in Buthidaung," he told The Irrawaddy on Monday, declining to answer further questions.

On Sunday, Maj. Aung Kyo Nyeins's wife, Daw Phyo Pa Pa Win, posted a short message to her Facebook account that said: "Now you left me with two daughters." More than 200 users including some soldiers responded with condolences.

Masarita Nyarni, who identified herself as the major’s sister on her own Facebook page, posted messages and photos on Sunday stating that her brother was a graduate of the 44th intake at the Defense Service Academy and died during fighting in northern Rakhine. But she said he died Saturday, not Friday. The posts have since been removed.

The AA reported clashes with the military on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U townships in northern Rakhine and in Paletwa Township in neighboring Chin State, but not in Buthidaung.

A source close to the AA told The Irrawaddy that Maj. Aung Ko Nyein may have been killed during fighting between the military and AA in the mountains of Mrauk-U because the military had recently sent soldiers from various battalions to the area.

The AA claims it killed six soldiers in Paletwa and Mrauk-U on Thursday and that it killed at least two soldiers and severely wounded at least five in Kyauktaw on Friday. It said one AA fighter and an unspecified number of soldiers died in fighting on Saturday in Paletwa.

The AA also claims that the military randomly fired about 70 rocket propelled grenades and mortar shells ranging from 105mm and 120mm in size into a forested area in Paletwa on Friday. It said the shells produced an unusually large amount of smoke and that it was investigating whether they were chemical weapons.

Maj. Aung Ko Nyein’s death during fighting with the AA is the second involving a high-ranking officer that the military has confirmed since December.

The post Myanmar Military Major Killed in Fighting With Arakan Army in Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Japanese Newspaper Apologizes to Commander-in-Chief over Interview

Posted: 25 Feb 2019 12:50 AM PST

YANGON—Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun has issued an official apology to the Office of the Commander-in-Chief after the latter complained to the Myanmar Press Council over alleged inaccuracies in an interview with Army chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

The Office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army) filed a complaint with the council on Feb. 16, apparently upset that the Asahi Shimbun had failed to honor its agreement to show the senior general a draft of the interview prior to publication. The interview was conducted in Naypyitaw on Feb. 14.

"Yes, we filed a complaint, and Asahi Shimbun gave us an apology. As it sent us a formal apology, it can be said that the case is settled now," Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun of the Tatmadaw True News Information Team told The Irrawaddy. Myanmar's military is commonly referred to as the Tatmadaw.

The senior general had asked to see a draft of his interview with the Japanese newspaper's Yangon bureau chief, Ryuta Sometaya, to prevent any mistakes or misunderstandings. However, the newspaper published the story the following day on its Japanese-language website without doing so.

In its complaint, the Myanmar Army said the Japanese newspaper failed to report the interview correctly and precisely, and therefore breached Chapter 4, Paragraph 9 (a) of the Media Law and Chapter 10, Para 33 (c) of the Media By-law.

The Myanmar Press Council has asked the Myanmar Army to clarify which parts of the Asahi Shimbun's story it believes could cause misunderstanding. The website of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief has itself published the entire interview in both Burmese and English.

U Myint Kyaw, joint secretary 1 of the press council, said, "In my view, if it agreed to show a draft before publication, [the newspaper] has to do so, because it is an interview," adding that the situation might be different if the military were demanding an apology over a straight news story.

The interview touched upon the military chief's view on constitutional amendment, the military's role in Parliament, the Rohingya issue, the peace process, and the policies of State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the ruling National League for Democracy.

The Press Council has invited representatives of both sides to discuss the issue at a meeting on March 1.

The post Japanese Newspaper Apologizes to Commander-in-Chief over Interview appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘Revenge’ Killing Following Death of ARSA Leader 

Posted: 25 Feb 2019 12:10 AM PST

DHAKA—Armed assailants shot dead one Rohingya paramedic and injured a computer technician at the Muchuni camp in Teknaf sub-district of Cox's Bazar on Friday evening for allegedly sharing information about the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) military commander Nurul Alam who was killed in a 'gunfight' with a Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) earlier the same day.

The police discovered the body of paramedic Mohamed Hamid, 41, in a forested area near the camp hours after being kidnapped by sympathizers of Nurul Alam. Computer operator Hasan Ali was shot in Muchuni refugee camp at around 7 p.m. on Friday.

"The police on receiving information rushed to the spot and dispatched Hasan to the district hospital, while the body of Hamid was found later at night," said additional police Superintendent Nihad Adnan Taian of Teknaf-Ukhia Circle.

The police official said sympathizers of slain Nurul Alam carried out the attack at the dispensary where Hamid, better known as Doctor Hamid, worked and took his body to the nearby forest.

He suspected that Nurul Alam's cohorts singled him out and killed him as revenge for sharing information about Nurul Alam.

Teknaf police and army personnel rushed to the spot and recovered Hamid's body, sending it to the district hospital.

Nurul Alam is said to have been involved in, or an organizer of, a number of serious crimes committed in the region since 2016, including murder and looting, most notably an incident of looting of arms from an Ansar security establishment near the Nayapara Rohingya shelter in Tekhnaf in May 2016. The commander of the Ansar battalion was killed during the incident.

Nurul Alam was killed on Friday morning in what has been called a "gunfight" with RAB next to the road near Damdamia of Teknaf.

"We are collecting intelligence and closely monitoring the development," RAB's Teknaf Commander Lieutenatn Mirza Shahed Mahtab told Dhaka-based newspaper New Age.

He said they were yet to clarify the identities of the Hamid's killers but would continue joint patrols in the area.

Cox's Bazar additional police Superintendent Iqbal Hossain said on Saturday afternoon that no one had yet been arrested and that the case had yet to be filed with the Teknaf police.

Local Rohingya believe that Hamid worked as an informant for the law enforcement agencies. Police officials believe that Nurul Alam’s deputy Al Yaqeen leader Sadek was behind Hamid's murder.

When The Irrawaddy contacted Hamid's family they were unwilling to comment.

As of Sunday evening, a case was yet to be filed with the Teknaf police, though the hunt for the killers continues.

The post 'Revenge' Killing Following Death of ARSA Leader  appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Irrawaddy Region Bridge Collapse Kills Six

Posted: 24 Feb 2019 10:53 PM PST

PATHEIN, Irrawaddy Region — A wooden bridge in Irrawaddy Region’s Ingapu Township collapsed early Saturday morning while a logging truck was crossing it, killing six people on board.

The bridge, which spanned the Ma Mya Hpauk Creek along the Htoo Gyi-Shwegyin-Thaebyingon road in Htoo Gyi Town, had been declared dangerous by local authorities. Use of the bridge was banned and another had been built for crossing the creek.

A six-wheel logging truck was crossing the bridge when it collapsed at about 1:30 a.m. Six people on board were crushed to death by the logs they were hauling. The driver and two other passengers were injured but survived.

"The bridge is dangerous to use. So we had put up warning signs asking commuters to use the bypass," police Lt. Col. Tun Shwe, of the Irrawaddy Region Police Force, told The Irrawaddy.

He said it took firefighters almost nine hours to recover the dead bodies and that the injured were sent to the Hinthada People's Hospital.

People gather at a bridge that collapsed in Ingapu Township, Irrawaddy Region, on Saturday. / Kyaw Lin Aung/Ingapu

Nyaungbingyikwin Village Tract administrator U Htay Aung said five of the dead were between the ages of 20 and 30 and that the oldest was 48.

"There are warning signs at both ends of the bridge. When the truck reached the middle of the bridge, it could not bear the weight and broke down. Six of the seven people sitting on the logs were killed on the spot. The driver, who drove recklessly, is to be blamed for the accident," U Htay Aung said.

The Htoo Gyi police station has opened a case against the detained driver for causing the deaths.

In a separate case on Feb. 10, a six-wheel truck carrying 2,500 bamboo poles plunged into a ditch in Irrawaddy’s Thabaung Township, killing seven people on board.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Security Men and Metal Detectors: Vietnam Prepares for Trump-Kim Summit

Posted: 24 Feb 2019 08:25 PM PST

HANOI — Dozens of North Korean security men with identical haircuts and suits marched off an aircraft at Hanoi airport on Sunday, as Vietnamese soldiers searched through shrubbery outside a posh hotel in the city center days before a North Korea-U.S. summit.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, hoping to build on a commitment they made at their first meeting, in Singapore in June, to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear bombs.

They are expected to meet for their second summit in Hanoi’s Government Guesthouse, an elegant, colonial-era building in the city center, or at the nearby Metropole Hotel, sources have told Reuters.

Vietnam has confirmed that Kim will arrive for an official goodwill visit as well as the summit with Trump, but has released no further details regarding the location of meetings.

A Reuters witness saw Vietnamese soldiers in camouflaged fatigues sweeping the area around the Metropole with a metal detector. Its potted plants were thoroughly checked.

Teams of soldiers were also seen busy on nearby rooftops, installing radio devices and equipment under camouflaged webbing.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered that security should be a top priority for the summit, the government said in a post on its website.

The Southeast Asian country is relishing its role as peacemaker, seeing it as an opportunity to burnish its international standing and balance its foreign ties.

Vietnam has pushed U.S. and North Korean security services to work closely to prepare for the summit, a senior Vietnamese security official told Reuters.

Media published photographs taken at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport showing a North Korean cargo plane with its loading door open and the security men filing off onto the tarmac.

Some banners proclaiming the summit have gone up along Hanoi’s tree-lined streets and some lamp posts are decked with North Korean, Vietnamese and U.S. flags fluttering above a handshake design, but apart from that, for now at least, life goes on as normal.

Motorists have been warned to expect road closures when the leaders are in town.

Security at the train station in the town of Dang Dong, on the Chinese border where Kim is expected arrive by train, has also been stepped up.

Vietnamese soldiers were seen patrolling its streets on Sunday. 

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‘Roma’ Wins Two Early Oscars as Queen Rocks Show Without a Host

Posted: 24 Feb 2019 08:18 PM PST

LOS ANGELES—Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” took home two early Oscars on Sunday at an Academy Awards ceremony held without a host but filled with powerhouse music performances.

“Roma” won the best foreign language Oscar—a first for Mexico—and director Cuaron was named best cinematographer—two of several awards that his sentimental movie is expected to win on Sunday.

The black-and-white “Roma” went into Sunday’s show with 10 nominations, including best picture. A win would mark the first best picture Oscar for Netflix and a sign that streaming services can not only compete with traditional Hollywood studios, but beat them at their own game.

British band Queen got the first Oscar ceremony in 30 years without a host off to a rousing start with a performance of their hit songs “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You” that brought the A-list crowd to its feet.

Their appearance, with singer Adam Lambert, made them the first rock band ever to open the Academy Awards and celebrated the global success of best picture nominee “Bohemian Rhapsody,” about the British band and its late frontman, Freddie Mercury.

The film took three early wins for sound and production design, and Rami Malek is considered a strong contender before the end of the awards night.

Yet Queen weren’t the only big musical acts on Sunday.

Lady Gaga and her “A Star is Born” director Bradley Cooper sang an emotional rendition of their hit song “Shallow,” sitting side by side at a grand piano and bringing the audience to its feet.

Bette Midler and Jennifer Hudson also took the stage for nominated songs from the film “Mary Poppins Returns” and documentary “RBG.”

However, “RBG, about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, lost the best documentary category to rock climbing tale “Free Solo.”

In the acting races, Mahershala Ali was named best supporting actor for playing a black pianist touring the segregated U.S. South in the 1960s—his second Academy Award in three years.

Regina King won her first Oscar for her supporting role as a mother fighting for justice in “If Beale Street Could Talk.”

The lack of a host did not deter presenters from cracking Hollywood and political jokes.

“There won’t be a host, there won’t be a popular movie category and Mexico is not paying for the wall,” said presenter Maya Rudolph quipped, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump’s lengthy campaign to build a wall on the U.S. southern border.

Comic actress Melissa McCarthy turned up on stage dressed as an over-the-top monarch, her pockets stuffed with plush rabbits, in a nod to best picture nominee “The Favourite.”

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Trump Happy if N.Korea Doesn’t Test Weapons; Peace Deal a Possibility

Posted: 24 Feb 2019 08:13 PM PST

WASHINGTON/HANOI — U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would be happy as long as North Korea maintains its pause on weapons testing, and he was in no rush to strike a nuclear deal with its leader, Kim Jong Un, when they hold their second summit this week.

The two leaders will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.

The two leaders pledged to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, but their vague agreement has produced few results and U.S. Democratic senators and security officials have warned Trump against cutting a deal that would do little to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

As Kim made his way across China by train for the summit, North Korean state media warned Trump on Sunday not to listen to U.S. critics who it said were disrupting efforts to improve ties.

Trump, speaking in Washington on the eve of his departure for Vietnam, said he believed he saw eye to eye with Kim and that they had developed “a very, very good relationship.”

“I’m not in a rush. I don’t want to rush anybody,” Trump said.

“I just don’t want testing. As long as there’s no testing, we’re happy.”

North Korea conducted its last nuclear test, its sixth, in September 2017. It last tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2017.

The Trump administration has pressed the North to give up the nuclear weapons program which combined with its missile capabilities pose a threat to the United States, before it can expect any concessions.

But in recent days, Trump has signaled a possible softening, saying he would love to be able to remove sanctions if there is meaningful progress on denuclearization.

Limited deal?

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the two sides might agree to declare a formal end to the 1950-1953 Korean War at the summit.

The war ended in a truce, not a treaty, and the North has long called for a treaty to end it. It also wants security guarantees.

The United States has for years demanded North Korea’s complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization before any concessions could be granted.

North Korea denounced that stance as unilateral and “gangster like.”

Trump’s latest comments would appear to support speculation his administration is open to seeking a limited deal at the summit.

Officials in Washington and the South Korean capital, Seoul, have said discussions have included allowing inspectors to observe the dismantlement of North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear reactor and opening U.S.-North Korea liaison offices.

Declaring an end to a technical state of hostilities that has existed since the 1950s, and allowing some inter-Korean projects like opening a tourism zone in North Korea were other possibilities.

Few details of Kim’s trip to Vietnam had been announced until early on Sunday, when North Korean state media confirmed he had left Pyongyang by train, accompanied by senior officials as well as his influential sister, Kim Yo Jong.

The Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the official mouthpiece of the ruling Worker’s Party, said on Monday the entire nation received news of the leader’s long foreign trip with “countless excitement and thrill.”

“Our people wish the Dear Marshal will come back safely from a long foreign visit, following his trail in our minds day and night,” the newspaper said

Kim's train passed through the central Chinese city of Wuhan at around 7 a.m. on Sunday, Yonhap news agency reported on Monday. That would put it on track to arrive in Vietnam by early Tuesday.

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Happy Birthday Sir Maung Ba, British Burma Home Affairs Minister

Posted: 24 Feb 2019 08:00 PM PST

Today is the 146th birthday of Maung Ba, who served as Myanmar's home affairs minister from 1932 to 1937 under British colonial rule. His predecessors were Sir Maung Khin, U May Aung and Sir J. A Maung Gyi.

Maung Ba was one of the 13 winners of a Sir Award bestowed by the British government while Myanmar was under colonial rule, and was awarded the title of KSM (Kyet-tha-yay-saung Shwe-salwe-ya Min), an honor bestowed on notable Burmese in public service by the colonial government.

He served as chairman of the committee tasked with raising funds to establish Rangoon University in 1920. He was vice chancellor of the university in 1928 and 1931 and also served as chairperson of the Burma Research Society.

The former home affairs minister passed away on June 4, 1937 in Pyin Oo Lwin Township, Mandalay Region. His body was brought to Yangon and entombed in the precinct of Ngahtatgyi Pagoda.

In its obituary for him, Dee-Dok Journal praised Sir Maung Ba as a minister loved and respected by both the government and the people, and an official who never upset the poor.

by Wei Yan Aung

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Saturday, February 23, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

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Amendments Should Not Harm Essence of Constitution, Military Warns

Posted: 23 Feb 2019 06:09 AM PST

YANGON—Myanmar's military has denounced recent attempts made by the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) to amend the country's constitution, saying it is "breaching constitutional rules" and warning that the military wouldn't tolerate any amendments that harm the essence of the Constitution.

Speaking at a press conference held in Yangon on Saturday afternoon, senior leaders of the military, or Tatmadaw, reiterated the opposition of its Parliament appointees against the formation of a joint committee tasked with amending the military-drafted Constitution.

"We hereby would like to repeat again that we are not objecting to constitutional reforms, but we object to their action (of forming a committee) which is against constitutional rules and Parliament by-laws," said Maj-Gen Tun Tun Nyi.

He said the ratio of members of the committee is "not fair" and that any resulting report presented by the 45-member committee would not be "complete." The military was allocated eight seats on the committee.

"The Constitution belongs to all nationals and it took long time to draft it… The amendments also need to take time and must be carried out broadly," he said.

Gen. Than Soe, a military representative in Parliament, said the committee's attempts at drafting an amendment "breaches the Constitution."

"It should be enough that the committee's duty is to submit the report on their findings for the amendments of the Constitution. I also presented this objection when we discussed the formation of the committee at the Parliament. Allowing [the committee] to draft the amending bill of the Constitution breaches the Constitution," he said.

Maj-Gen Tun Tun Nyi said the NLD has previously breached the Constitution by creating the new post of state councilor, now filled by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who is barred from becoming president under the Constitution.

"We will need to wait and see what the results and consequences [of this second breaching of constitutional rules] will be, he said.

The senior military leaders said that as the joint committee has been formed, the military representatives will agree to take part in the committee. However, they warned that they wouldn't accept any amendments that harm the essence of the Constitution or any of the 48 basic principles of the Union stated in the charter's Chapter 1.

The military appointees, who hold 25 percent of seats in Parliament as stipulated in the Constitution, cited Chapter 12 of the charter in their rejection of the NLD's proposal to form the committee from the outset. They said that at least 20 percent of lawmakers must agree to submitting a bill before discussing it in Parliament. The committee was formed after a majority of votes—from the NLD and other ethnic party members in Parliament—agreed to its formation. The NLD rejected the accusation, saying it is not yet proposing amendments, but merely the creating of an all-inclusive committee to review it for potential reforms.

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This Week in Parliament

Posted: 22 Feb 2019 08:14 PM PST

Lawmaker U Thaung Aye of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) criticized the Mandalay Region government's filming of his meeting with residents in his constituency of Pyawbwe Township. He said the meeting was to explain the functions of Parliament to local people. But the regional government reportedly sent instructions to the Pyawbwe Township General Administration Department to film the meeting and submit it to the government along with a report. The lawmaker complained that filming was in violation of parliamentary laws.

Tuesday (Feb. 19)

Parliament voted to form a 45-member committee to draft amendments to the Constitution with representatives from 14 parties: 18 from the ruling National League for Democracy; eight from the military; two from the USDP; two from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy; two from the Arakan National Party; one each from the other political parties; one independent; and the Parliament speaker and deputy speaker.

Brig. Gen. Maung Maung, who leads military-appointed lawmakers in Parliament, warned of national instability if any one political party amends the Constitution with only its goals in mind.

Wednesday (Feb. 20)

The Lower House approved a proposal by lawmaker Daw Zinmar Aung urging the government to draft a plan to promote digital literacy in Myanmar, which has been suffering from the negative impacts of false content on social media.

Thursday (Feb. 21)

In the Upper House, lawmaker U Kyaw Toke, of Mandalay Region, claimed that farmers do not have access to agricultural loans under the rural development plan of the Co-operatives Department. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, the department received $100 million from the Export-Import Bank of China five years ago in order to lend money to farmers. Co-operatives Department Director U Myo Aung insisted that the loans are being provided to farmers only.

USDP lawmaker U Nyan Tun, who served as a vice president under former President U Thein Sein, submitted a proposal to Parliament urging the government to respond effectively to international organizations that attempt to divide the country. He said the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, European Union and UNHCR adopted a resolution at the U.N. General Assembly on the human rights situation in Myanmar, and accused them of jeopardizing the country’s democratic transition and setting a trap that risked splitting Myanmar apart. Parliament agreed to debate his proposal.

Friday (Feb. 22)

The Lower House voted down a proposal by lawmaker U Sein Win urging the government to keep reserves of rice and crop seeds in preparation for climate change-inflicted disasters.

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Friday, February 22, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

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Eleven Rohingya Arrested for Beating German Journalists, Bangladeshi Aides

Posted: 22 Feb 2019 07:32 AM PST

DHAKA—At least 11 Rohingya people were arrested on Friday for allegedly beating three German television journalists and their local fixer at noon on Thursday while they were making a documentary at the Lambashia Camp in Kutupalong, in the Ukhiya sub-district of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

Three employees of German broadcaster ARD—cameraman Gunder Stegner, 61, Stefanie Appel, 49, and Ernico Leube, 44—and Bangladeshi fixer Mohammad Shihabuddin were beaten and had to seek treatment at a nearby hospital.

A police constable and the driver of the microbus carrying the foreign nationals were also injured in the incident.

Shihabuddin, who also works as the head of production at Bangladeshi private television channel Boishaki, filed a complaint with the Ukhia police station, leading to the arrest of 11 Rohingya people. They were sent to court on Friday.

Kazi Dider Ul Alam, the court inspector at Cox's Bazar district headquarters, said the Judicial Magistrate's Court sent all of the 11 Rohingya to jail.

German Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Fahrenhollz said in a tweet on Friday that, "It happened because of a misunderstanding. They are well and safe now".

Cox's Bazar Police Superintendent ABM Masud Hossain said that six persons including four journalists were injured when a Rohingya mob attacked them at Lombashia, part of the Kutupalong Rohingya camp, in the afternoon.

The journalists were working on a documentary film for German national television when they were attacked, the police official said.

Law enforcement officials rescued them and took them to a local hospital. The Rohingya mob also damaged their vehicle and camera.

Police officials later recovered the Germans' missing mobile phones, electronic equipment and other items that reportedly went missing during the attack.

Rezaul Karim, who is in charge of the Kutupalong camp, said the journalists were filming a segment for their documentary on the Rohingya crisis when they picked up two minor girls aged about 8 to 10 in their micro-bus in order to give them new clothes.

At one stage, the girls started crying, the officials said. Some Rohingya suspected the girls were being trafficked and led an attack on the foreigners, injuring them all. The police constable was injured seriously. The mob also damaged the micro-bus, witnesses said.

Meanwhile,  in a statement, the newly formed Rohingya organization Rohingya Refugee Committee, Bangladesh, stated on Friday that "We Rohingya in Cox’s district, Bangladesh Camps, are extremely concerned [about] the attack on journalists."

The statement reads, "On February 21, at 12:30 pm, three foreigners known as German Journalists took two Rohingya children with their vehicle from camp 4 to Camp 1 E."

"The Rohingya community assumed that the children were being trafficked, as it has happened frequently in camps. People asked the driver and interpreter why the children had been taken with them but they did not explain well to the people. So, some emotional persons suspected them of being [traffickers] and protested against trafficking," it reads.

"We are extremely sorry [about] the attack on the journalists, which … happened because of a misunderstanding. Therefore, we would kindly request that Bangladesh government, NGOs, and agencies to be calm on this issue; we are also providing awareness to people to [remain] calm in future situations. This is not the community’s fault only, but [shows the] need for more security inside the camps. It will be better if the government deploys more security," the statement reads.

"We would like to have more engagement between the community, NGOs, and authorities about security issues inside the camps," it concludes.

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Amid Disappearance of Villagers, Three Burned Bodies Found in N. Rakhine

Posted: 22 Feb 2019 06:26 AM PST

YANGON—Two village administrators confirmed that at least three burned bodies were discovered on Thursday, two days after a series of clashes between Myanmar Army troops and Arakan Army (AA) rebels near Yan Aung Pyin village in northern Rakhine State's ancient city Mrauk-U.

U Kyaw Maung Yin, village administrator of Kyauktaw Township's Kyar Net Kan village, told The Irrawaddy that four residents from his village went missing on Tuesday, the same day the AA fought with a military column for almost the whole day there.

He explained that eight villagers from his village traveled to Yan Aung Pyin to buy firewood in the Ran Chaung region in upper Yan Aung Myin. A group of six people traveled in two boats along Ran Chaung Creek, while other two locals traveled by motorbike on Tuesday.

The Irrawaddy spoke with two eyewitnesses who were questioned and released by Army soldiers on the outskirts of Yan Aung Myin village and safely arrived back in their village on Tuesday evening. Survivor Ma Kyi Kyi Htay recalled that she and three villagers were in the same boat, which was loaded with firewood from Ran Chaung region.

She explained that two other men, Ko Aye Thein and Myo Min Zaw, took boats from her village Kyar Net Kan and met in Tha Kyaw village, where they spoke for a while. The two men decided to leave Tha Kyaw village at 1:30 pm, while Ma Kyi Kyi Htay's group decided to stop there for a few hours.

In the afternoon, Ma Kyi Kyi Htay's boat left the village but they were stopped and told to dock by a military unit near Yan Aung Myin village. She said that a number of Army soldiers surrounded them and brought them to their commander. The villagers were surprised to see that the boat belonging to Ko Aye Thein and Myo Min Zaw was also docked there.

"They [the soldiers] asked us a number of questions like where we were going, and what kind of items we had on the boat," said Ma Kyi Kyi Htay.

Another villager, U Than Maung, who was with Ma Kyi Kyi Htay on the same boat, recalled telling the soldiers that by about 3:30 pm they could hear no gunfire, so they decided to return to the village. They were being questioned by a commander near a tent about whether the villagers had seen any Arakan Army troops on the way when he saw a hand under a tarpaulin. He was unable to tell whether the person was alive or dead, or whether he was one of the two men from his village.

When they arrived back to the village they informed the relatives of Ko Aye Thein about what they had seen. Village administrator U Kyaw Maung Yin explained that the wives of Ko Aye Thein and family members of the other two men on the motorbike, Maung Win Sein and Maung Shwe Soe, reported their disappearance to him on Tuesday.

U Kyaw Maung Yin informed neighboring village administrators and the General Administrative Department (GAD) office in Kyauktaw Township of the disappearance of the villagers.

He was informed that some burned corpses were found on the outskirts of Yan Aung Pyin village on Wednesday night. He gathered the relatives and wives of the missing four villagers and went there to identify the badly burned bodies on Thursday. Similarly, another villager, U Tun Hla Sein from Yan Aung Pyin, reportedly disappeared on Tuesday.

U Tun Hla Sein's wife Daw Ah Dar Sein had already complained that her husband had been held by the Army since Tuesday. She went alone to see her husband in a tent, where had been was tied up with a rope since the afternoon, and requested a high-ranking soldier release him.

On Wednesday, she went there alone but only saw the dead bodies of her husband alongside two other strangers, but was unable to retrieve the body, as the soldiers were still there. On Thursday, about 50 villagers from two villages conducted a search but only found bodies reduced to ashes, according to the village administrator U Maung Hla Sein.

He said the family members could not identify the bodies, as only a few remnants and three skulls remained at the scene. Daw Ah Dar Sein's daughters and sons claimed that their father's clothes and bag were abandoned near the scene. Daw Ah Dar Sein could not be reached for comment on Friday as she does not have a phone.

Kyar Net Kan villager U Than Maung said, "I don't have anything to say about this. It is done; nothing can be changed."

On Wednesday, the military announced it had killed nine AA insurgents and seized one RPG, but the AA said it lost only three fighters during the clashes. The AA also announced that it had killed at least 30 Army troops in a series of clashes in Mrauk-U Township.

Based on firsthand eyewitness accounts, indiscriminate shootings by Army troops in northern Rakhine State clearance operations have already killed two civilians this month.

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In Their Own Words: Warnings against Constitutional Reform

Posted: 22 Feb 2019 05:28 AM PST

Since the ruling National League for Democracy launched its official push to amend the undemocratic military-drafted Constitution late last month, there has been no shortage of comment on the endeavor, mostly from the military and its proxy party, the formerly ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). While they support reform in principle, they said, they disagree with the way the NLD is going about it, warning that the party is not following the amendment procedures prescribed in the charter. Even the country's former president, ex-General U Thein Sein, who has been out of public sight for most of the past four years, broke his silence to offer his views on the reform bid. Here is what a number of key personalities ranging from the country's military chief to a former president and ex-ministers, as well as members of the opposition USDP, had to say.

Snr-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing in 2016 / The Irrawaddy

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar military chief

"In principle, we agree with the idea of constitutional amendment. But the important point is that no amendment should harm the essence of the Constitution."

— Interview with Japanese news agency Asahi Shimbun on Feb. 14 in Naypyitaw.

Brig-Gen. Maung Maung in Parliament in February 2019 / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy

Brigadier-General Maung Maung, leader of military-appointed lawmakers in Parliament

"The country will face instability if any one political party amends the Constitution with only its goals in mind. Our country is in a strategic position, so it could become a battleground if the wrong position is taken. It is necessary to be aware of this."

— Comment to the media after the parliamentary session on Feb. 19, at which lawmakers approved the nomination of members of the joint constitutional reform committee.

USDP lawmaker U Thaung Aye in Parliament in February 2019 / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy

U Thaung Aye, USDP lawmaker

"The country may experience instability, as people will organize rallies in support of this or that side. Those who manage the country should consider this in advance."

"Whether we raise an objection or not is of no significance to this Parliament. Decisions made through a voting machine, and not with the brain, won't reflect the truth."  

— Comment on Feb. 19 following Parliament's approval of the constitutional reform committee's membership by secret vote, in which lawmakers pressed buttons to record their vote. (Reported by Standard Time Daily)

USDP lawmaker and former President's Office Minister U Soe Thein in 2018 / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy

U Soe Thein, USDP lawmaker and former President's Office minister

"It would be better to start with [constitutional] articles that are easy [to amend]. Democratic reform can be implemented only when you know the way forward. [Look at] the cases of Egypt and Indonesia. Egypt didn't know the way, so they failed. Implementing a democratic transition is like holding a glass; it can fall and break."

— Comments to the media at Parliament on Feb. 21.

Former President U Thein Sein in Mandalay on Feb. 15, 2019 / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

Former President U Thein Sein

"[The Constitution] took nearly 16 years of consulting, drafting and writing. If [the Constitution] is really to be amended, lawmakers in Parliament can't do it alone. How many of them are legal experts? Over 1,000 [legal experts] drafted [the 2008 Constitution] through consultation. It didn't happen easily. So, it should be amended at the appropriate time.

— Comment made on Feb. 15 on the sidelines of a donation ceremony at Maha Gandhayone Monastery in Mandalay.

Former Information Minister and presidential spokesperson U Ye Htut in 2013 / The Irrawaddy

U Ye Htut, former information minister and presidential spokesperson

Calling the NLD's attempt to launch constitutional reform a "trap", former information minister cum presidential spokesperson U Ye Htut wrote the following on his Facebook page on Feb. 19:

"In my view, this move is merely a pre-2020 election tactic [by the NLD] rather than a genuine attempt at constitutional amendment.

"Therefore, the confrontation with the Tatmadaw and the USDP in Parliament makes NLD core supporters more active and excited.

"And this also makes the general public forget about the stalled peace process, the Rakhine crisis and the economic slowdown. And news about constitutional amendment makes headlines.

"And when the 2020 election draws near, the NLD can make the excuse that it hasn't been able to fulfill its campaign pledges because the Constitution has yet to be amended."

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Top ARSA Commander Killed in ‘Gunfight’ in Cox’s Bazar

Posted: 22 Feb 2019 03:35 AM PST

DHAKA—A senior military commander of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), also known by its former name Harakah al-Yaqeen, was killed on Friday morning in what is being called a "gunfight" with the Bangladesh police's specialized unit, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), in the Teknaf sub-district of the Cox's Bazar.

ARSA has not yet made any statement on the death of their commander and top arms collector, Nurul Alam.

Alam is said to have been involved in, or an organizer of, a number of serious crimes committed, including murder, in the region since 2016, the most serious of which was the looting of arms from an Ansar security establishment near the Nayapara Rohingya shelter in Tekhnaf in May 2016. The commander of the Ansar battalion was murdered during the incident.

Bangladesh's Ansar is a paramilitary auxiliary force under the home affairs ministry and is responsible for internal security and law enforcement.

The RAB completed its investigation into the case in August 2017 and submitted the charges to the local magistrate's court but the case was still pending as of the time of Alam's death on Friday.

RAB Battalion 7 spokesperson Mimtanur Rahman confirmed on Friday that they were carrying out a raid on a place called Damdamia located in the Teknaf sub-district at about 5 a.m. when they came under attack. In retaliation, they opened fire and one man was killed.

"They were preparing to commit a robbery along with others," he added.

An RAB announcement stated that their operational team had exchanged fire with a group of "robbers" in which the "top robber", the displaced Myanmar national Nurul Alam was killed.

It said they seized two "foreign-made" pistols, two magazines and 13 bullets from the scene.

In a number of videos released on social media since 2016, Nurul Alam has been seen holding a machine gun and standing beside ARSA leader Ataullah abu Ammar Jununi.

The RAB pinned the 2016 arms robbery and murder on nine people, one of whom was Alam.

Investigators told Dhaka-based daily newspaper New Age in August 2016 that the looted firearms and ammunition were taken to Maungdaw Township on the Myanmar side of the border by a small Maungdaw-based small extremist group.

The RAB claimed that they arrested Alam in the Kutupalong area of Cox's Bazar on Feb. 28, 2017. In March the same year, acting on information given by the arrested Alam, they recovered a further six submachine guns in the same area of Bandarban.

In January 2017, the two 'masterminds' of the robbery—Khairul Amin and Master Abul Kalam Azad—were arrested along with some of the looted arms and ammunition in the deep forests of Bandarban District.

RAB's Teknaf commander Lieutenant Mirza Shahed Mahtad said Alam had been in jail for a year until he was released on bail.

"Since then, he was absconding and hiding in the hilly area around Shalban and Muchini camps of Nayapara," Mirza said. "He was involved in four or five recent killings inside the Rohingya camps including those of volunteers who had previously helped law enforcers to catch him."

A Teknaf-Ukhia police additional superintendent Nihad Adnan Taian said they had been examining Alam's records and his involvement in a number of murders.

Myanmar has blamed Rohingya extremists for the Aug. 25, 2018 strike on security posts in Rakhine State which triggered a fierce army crackdown causing over 700,000 Rohingya to flee to camps in Bangladesh.

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AA Abducts Village Official, Police Station Chief in Chin State

Posted: 22 Feb 2019 03:04 AM PST

SITTWE—The Arakan Army (AA) abducted the village administrator and the head of the police station in Than Taung village in Chin State's Paletwa Township at around 3 am on Friday, according to local villagers.

AA troops first brought village administrator U Cha Haw to the front of the village police station. They asked the station chief, Police Lieutenant Salai Bieber, to come out and demanded weapons from him.

When Pol. Lt. Salai Bieber refused, the AA abducted him along with the village administrator, local resident U Nai Htan told The Irrawaddy.

No shots were fired during the abduction, local residents said. However, at around 8 am police returned fire after hearing shots from the opposite bank of the creek on which the village is located, they said. More gunfire was heard from the same location at around noon.

No one was injured in the incident, but many villagers fled out of fear for their safety, they said.

Another villager, U Lwin Ai, told The Irrawaddy, "They [the AA] didn't enter the police station. From outside, they told the station chief to come out, and then they abducted him. We heard gunshots from the opposite bank of the creek. We don't know if it was a clash or just warning shots."

Paletwa Township police chief Police Major Tun Tun Win said only, "I can't provide details. We are still working on it," he told The Irrawaddy.

AA information officer U Khaing Thukha said he did not have any details about the abduction in Than Taung, but acknowledged that local AA commanders occasionally reprimand those who get in the way of implementing "The Way of Rakhita", a phrase coined by the political wing of the AA, the United League for Arakan, to refer to their Arakanese nationalist movement.

"I still don't have information about the incident. But there may be cases in which local commanders rebuke those who get in the way of 'The Way of Rakhita,'" he told The Irrawaddy.

Than Taung police station was on full alert, local residents told The Irrawaddy at noon on Friday.

In December, the AA sent warning letters, each accompanied by a bullet and the official AA stamp, warning the recipients against disturbing those who are "implementing the Way of Rakhita."

One letter sent to the head of a local police station in Buthidaung Township warned that the AA would take decisive action against anyone who disrupted their movements.

The post AA Abducts Village Official, Police Station Chief in Chin State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Pitches Investors on Rakhine State

Posted: 22 Feb 2019 12:35 AM PST

NGAPALI, Rakhine State — State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday invited responsible and sustainable investors from home and abroad to back projects in Rakhine State and help one of Myanmar’s poorest and most troubled regions turn a corner.

Speaking in the beach resort town of Ngapali at the state’s first ever investment fair — which is running with the tag line “Rakhine is open for business to the world” — she said she and her government recognized the “grave challenges” they were facing.

The state counselor said her government was doing all it could to meet the area’s security and humanitarian needs, in line with the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, which had been led by the late U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. While doing so, she added, "we have to address economic issues in Rakhine, that we may achieve the progress and development needed to sustain stability and prosperity."

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said her administration has made the rule of law and sustainable development in Rakhine a priority from the beginning. But she added that much of the state’s potential remained untapped.

"For too long the international community's attention has been focused narrowly on negative aspects related to problems in north Rakhine rather than on the larger picture that shows the immense potential of this state [for] peace and development," she said.

"Every kyat spent by this government, every dollar disbursed by our development partners and every dollar invested by the private sector is a vote of confidence in the resilience and potential of Rakhine and its people," she added.

The Rakhine State Investment Fair follows the Invest Myanmar Summit in Naypyitaw in January, the government’s first move to reverse a significant decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) over the past two years. Facing an ongoing civil war and a tarnished international image following the Rakhine crisis, the government is desperately seeking more FDI in hopes of achieving peace through economic development.

The government is running the fair in cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Japan External Trade Organization. Before the event, South Korean Ambassador Lee Sang-hwa said his country was also in strong support, with a particular interest in the state’s fishery and tourism sectors.

More than 200 people are attending from Myanmar and 10 other countries, mainly Japan, South Korea and Thailand.

The fair is focusing on three major areas: agriculture, livestock and fisheries; tourism; and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Rakhine's state government showcased six priority projects: the Kyaetaw-Mingan project, which includes a port, trade zone, apartments, supermarket and a SME zone in Sittwe, the state capital; construction of a new airport in Mrauk-U; the upgrade of Ngapali Airport; an eco-tourism project on Man Aung Island; the Ponnagyun industrial project in Sittwe; and a new city project in Mrauk-U.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said special economic zones managed with efficiency and probity can stimulate growth, create jobs, spark offshoot industries and renew hope for communities. She assures investors that such projects would open the way for homegrown Rakhine firms and SMEs in their supply chains.

"Most important of all, we must ensure that the benefits obtained from these and other projects are shared equitably amongst all communities," she said.

Rakhine is one of Myanmar’s poorest states despite occupying a western coastline rich in natural resources, oil and gas in particular. Sixty-nine percent of the population lives in poverty. Many lack access to public services and struggle with poor infrastructure, unemployment, meager living conditions and a lack of legal support.

"We would like to focus on foreign and domestic investment which, when made with imagination and foresight and implemented with responsibility and dedication, could play a crucial role in putting Rakhine's development trajectory on track," Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said.

Rakhine hosts the western terminus of a Chinese-owned pipeline that has been carrying oil and natural gas across Myanmar from the Bay of Bengal to China's Yunnan Province since 2010. Amid Western rebuke of Myanmar over its handling of the Rakhine crisis, China also inked a framework agreement with the government for the Kyaukphyu Deep Sea Port last November. The port will give China access to the Bay of Bengal and enhance its regional connectivity as part of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative.

Since the National League for Democracy took power in 2016, the government has made several economic reforms. Following the outbreak of the Rakhine crisis in late 2017, however, foreign investment has declined significantly, most of all from the West. Last year, FDI dropped to its lowest level since 2013. Rakhine State has had an especially hard time attracting interest.

At the Invest Myanmar Summit last month, Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations U Thaung Tun pushed investors to invest in Rakhine instead of blaming and shaming the country. He told them the violence had affected only three of the state’s 17 townships and that the rest of Rakhine was safe to invest in.

The Rakhine government itself is also making efforts to attract investors to the peaceful south of the state, according to U Kyaw Aye Thein, its minister of finance, revenue, planning and economy.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi presented potential investors with a long list of sectors open for business: ecotourism, agriculture, livestock breeding, aquaculture and forestry, manufacturing, textiles and garment manufacturing, power generation and distribution, education, health care, infrastructure, real estate and oil and gas.

Adding a note of caution, she added, "I am confident that all of you understand well the necessity to ensure that investments do not aggravate a fragile environment already vulnerable to natural disasters and climate change.

"I mentioned earlier the potential for aquaculture in Rakhine. But we would wish to avoid the unchecked expansion of commercial fishery projects that could degrade our precious mangrove stock."

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said Myanmar’s economy was projected to grow 6.2 percent in 2018-2019 and that the growth was spread across all sectors but driven to a large extent by energy and private enterprise.

The post Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Pitches Investors on Rakhine State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Making Myanmar’s Constitution Democratic

Posted: 21 Feb 2019 10:45 PM PST

Myanmar's 2008 Constitution is indisputably undemocratic, as it grants the military and its chief extraordinary power. Making it more democratic, however, is and will be for the foreseeable future an extremely difficult proposition. Having said that, unless the charter is amended in accordance with truly democratic principles, the country's current democratic transition is unlikely to make significant progress in bringing about civil liberties, equality, regional autonomy and rule of law for all citizens.

Mindful of the difficulty of its task, the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) initiated an attempt to amend the military-drafted charter by proposing the formation of a joint committee on constitutional amendment in late January. The 45-member joint committee was formed over strong objections from the military and its proxy in Parliament, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which was formed by ex-generals. The committee must submit its report on the proposed amendments to Parliament by July 17.

When U Aung Kyi Nyunt, a member of the NLD's Central Executive Committee, proposed the formation of the joint committee in January, he told Parliament the Constitution needed amending as it includes undemocratic articles. He pointed out that it contains provisions that contradict one another and prevent the establishment of a democratic federal union and a genuine multi-party democratic system. He said it also fails to ensure checks and balances between the three branches of government, equal rights for all citizens, and free and fair elections. All of his arguments echoed points the NLD made in its 2015 Election Manifesto.

The NLD has not drawn up a list of specific articles to be amended, preferring to give the joint committee the opportunity to conduct a chapter-by-chapter discussion of which articles are not in accord with democratic standards.

In 2014, however, the NLD published a list of proposed amendments to 168 of the Constitution's 457 articles. In its introduction, the NLD described the list as incomplete, saying it comprised only significant items that could be amended without endangering the process of national harmony and reconciliation as it existed at that time, acknowledging the views of the powerful military and the elected civilian government.

Thousands of people attend a public rally organized by the NLD in Maubin, in the Irrawaddy Delta region, in May 2014 to show their support for amending the Constitution. / The Irrawaddy

The implication is that the NLD believes there are more provisions that could potentially be amended. But if the items and chapters to be discussed are to be selected based on their undemocratic nature, the 168 items the party cited five years ago all remain valid candidates for amendment.

Certainly, changing them all is out of the question. The NLD knows just how far it can go with this task. Even its initial attempt to form the joint committee faced strong resistance from all military appointees and USDP lawmakers in Parliament.

Bearing those practical limitations in mind, the following analysis examines which parts of the Constitution the NLD is most likely to try to amend in the coming months and years, possibly before the upcoming election in 2020.

The main reason the NLD selected those 168 items for amendment is because they are so clearly out of step with basic human rights and democratic principles. I have grouped the proposed amendments into three main areas, based on their ultimate aim:

  1. To reduce the role of the military and its commander-in-chief in politics, in accordance with basic human rights and democratic principles.
  2. To limit the president's executive power in the regions and ethnic states, as well as in the judicial system
  3. To decentralize state power by granting a degree of autonomy to parliaments in the regions and states, allowing them to elect their own chief ministers and giving them greater decision-making power, rather than taking instructions from Naypyitaw.

Beyond these main goals, there are some other interesting proposals such as changing the current national flag to better reflect the country's aspirations since independence, and amending Article 432, which protects ex-ruling generals from being sued, effectively placing them above the law.

The NLD's proposed amendments start with Chapter 1 and cover almost all of the charter's 15 chapters. This analysis does not examine the details of every proposal made, but will touch on the main items.

Rejecting the notion of 'qualified' democracy

The suggested amendments to Chapter 1 of the charter—"Basic Principles of the Union"—are highly likely to face serious objections from military appointees and the USDP. However, they are likely to receive a warm welcome from other parties and, of course, the public.

  • In Chapter 1, Article 6(d) says, "the Union's consistent objectives are [the] flourishing of a genuine, disciplined multi-party democratic system" (emphasis added). The NLD suggests getting rid of the word "disciplined", reasoning that "'democracy' doesn't need to be modified."

When talking about democracy, officially or unofficially, the military, previous military regimes and ex-military officials have always used the phrase "disciplined democracy". To their way of thinking, democracy is tantamount to anarchy. This kind of brainwashing is typical of military institutions in Myanmar; perhaps its common to all authoritarian countries.

  • Article 6(f) is the main article enshrining the extraordinary privileges the military enjoys in the political sphere, "enabling the Defense Services to be able to participate in the National political leadership role of the State." The NLD suggests this phrase be removed, citing another charter provision, Article 4, which reads, "The sovereign power of the Union is derived from the citizens…" The NLD explains: "One single organization ought not to permanently play a leadership role." That article specifically is one of the most unpopular articles in the Constitution among the public.
  • Article 8 says: "The Union is constituted by the Union system." The NLD suggests this be amended to make it clear that the country's political system is a federal Union, as the current description, "the Union system", is ill defined. The party officially aims to form a democratic federal Union; almost all ethnic political parties and armed groups endorse this policy.
  • In a single stroke, Article 14 renders the Constitution essentially undemocratic, as it guarantees that 25 percent of the seats in all parliaments shall be held by military appointees nominated by the commander-in-chief. The NLD says this is against democratic principles, but does not seek to remove it. Instead, it suggests amending it step by step through negotiations. The NLD knows that it's not practical to seek to remove it right away under the current democratic transition, in which the military still holds key political, legislative and administrative powers beyond those related to territorial defense.

Obviously, the military and its powerful commander-in-chief will not accept an immediate change to this particular article under current circumstances. Amending it could take years or even decades. Holding 25 percent of the seats in all parliaments is a key political privilege for the military. It is one of the articles the NLD can't amend at the moment, and this will remain the case for the remainder of the government's current tenure, which ends in 2021.

  • Article 17(b) guarantees the commander-in-chief extraordinary powers to nominate military personnel to positions related to defense, security and border administration in the central government, as well as in all 14 regional and state governments. The NLD proposes amending this on the grounds that it violates democratic principles, but will also proceed slowly in this area.
  • Another very sensitive item is Article 20(c), which states that the commander-in-chief is the supreme commander of all armed forces (including the police force). The NLD proposes that the article be removed, arguing that the Police Department shouldn't be under the command of the military.
  • Article 40(c) is a special source of concern for many people, as it essentially hands the commander-in-chief the power to stage a coup. The article states that the commander-in-chief "has the right to take over and exercise State sovereign power in accord with the provisions of this Constitution" if there is a state of emergency that could cause disintegration of the Union, disintegration of national solidarity or loss of sovereign power, or in the face of attempts to take power through wrongful forcible means such as an insurgency or other forms of violence.

Again, the NLD does not suggest removing this article; instead, it seeks to add the phrase, "In agreement with the Union Parliament" before "the commander-in-chief has the right…" to reflect the fact that sovereign power is derived from the country's citizens.

Inclusion of the phrase would unequivocally take back this extraordinary power currently wielded by the commander-in-chief. It is also in line with democratic principles. Again, however, making this change would require the commander-in-chief's consent.

Strict one-term limit for president

Chapter 3—Head of State—includes an article that has become internationally and domestically notorious. Article 59(f) was written with a specific individual in mind: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of the current government. This is just one of a score of articles targeted for change among the many interesting proposals made by the NLD in regards to this chapter.

  • Article 59(f) bars a person whose spouse and children are foreign citizens from becoming president. The NLD suggests removing it, saying that Article 59(b) contains sufficient protections. It says the president "shall be a citizen of Myanmar who was born of both parents who were born in the territory under the jurisdiction of the Union and being Myanmar Nationals."
Then-opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi addresses a crowd of supporters at a public campaign to reform the Constitution in Mandalay in May 2014. / The Irrawaddy

The NLD also points out that there is no such article in the constitutions of other countries, and there were no such restrictions in either of Myanmar's previous constitutions approved in 1947 and 1974. The party is right to point out that this particular article targets Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was then opposition leader and under house arrest when the previous military regime drafted the Constitution in 2008. But the current military leaders and the formerly ruling USDP have shown an unwillingness to change it so far.

  • Article 59(d) is also among those most criticized by the public. Laying out the qualifications of the president and vice presidents, it states that they "shall be well acquainted with the affairs of the Union such as political, administrative, economic and military" issues (emphasis added). The NLD suggests changing the word "military" to "security" in order to enable a president to be elected without such a qualification. The NLD says the existing provision, too, is against international norms.
  • Article 60(b) concerns another privilege guaranteed to the military. The NLD suggests it be removed in order to reduce the role of the military in politics. The article grants not only the two houses of Parliament—the Upper and Lower houses—the right to elect a vice president, but also requires a group of military officials appointed by the commander-in-chief to elect a third vice president. (The military candidates are always ex-generals.) The president is to be elected from among the three vice presidents. The NLD calls for the removal of the article, saying there should be only one vice president. This article is obviously intended to grant the military executive power in the government. It is of course undemocratic—and intended to pave the way for a high-ranking military official to become president.
  • This proposal made by the NLD sounds very interesting. Article 61(c) says that the president and the vice presidents "shall not serve more than two terms". This is in line with international democratic norms. But the NLD goes further, suggesting that presidents serve not more than one term (five years). The NLD says such a change would prevent the revival of an authoritarian system in the country and keep incumbents from trying to hold on to power.

This suggestion is clearly the product of a mentality haunted by the country's five-decade-long military authoritarian system. Its main aim is to ensure that new leaders, even elected ones, can't hold power indefinitely, like previous ruling generals including General Ne Win, who ruled the country for 28 years (from 1962 to 1988) and Senior General Than Shwe, who ruled the country for 19 years (from 1992 to 2011).

No immediate challenge to the military chief's power to appoint lawmakers

In Chapter 4—Legislature—the NLD suggests gradually removing the right granted to the commander-in-chief to nominate military officials for appointment to 25 percent of the seats in all Union, regional and state parliaments. In this chapter, most amendments suggested by the NLD relate to privileges granted to the commander-in-chief and his parliamentary appointees.

Military representatives in Parliament / REUTERS

Chapter 5—Executive—includes a very controversial article relating to the formation of the National Defense and Security Council (NDSC). The NLD suggests amending many clauses in this chapter in order to reduce the power of the president to grant more autonomy to parliaments and the governments of regions and ethnic states.

  • Many observers believe that Article 201 makes the NDSC the country's most authoritative body when it comes to making decisions when urgent issues or emergencies arise. The controversy is over its constitutionally mandated composition: It has 11 members—the president, two vice presidents, the two house speakers of the People's Parliament and National Parliament, the military commander-in-chief and deputy commander in chief, and the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, home affairs and border affairs. The military/civilian ratio is six to five. Critics point out that when it comes to voting on emergency issues, the military will always have the final say.

Like many, the NLD is most concerned about this, which is why its government has never called an official NDSC meeting in the three years it has been in office. Instead, during crises it has called meetings of many or all of those officials, along with additional high-ranking officials. The NLD also appears to believe that the council's composition is not appropriate politically. It suggests that two deputy house speakers be added, as the current 11 members include "deputies" like vice presidents and deputy commanders-in-chief. It also suggests including only one vice president. This suggestion sounds logical in terms of the ratio of vice presidents and vice commanders-in-chief. It would give the council 12 members—seven from the civilian side (comprising representatives of the government and Parliament)—while the military will have only five members. This would clearly reduce the power of the military on the council.

  • In articles 248 to 286 of this chapter, the NLD's suggested amendments involve reducing the executive power of the president in order to grant regional and state parliaments and governments a degree of autonomy. The NLD provides the clear and concise reason that regions and states must have a degree of autonomous power.

The proposed changes include direct elections for the chief ministers of those regions and state governments by their respective parliaments, and giving each chief minister the power to independently form his or her own government, including deciding on the number of ministries needed. All suggestions made by the NLD in this chapter would ensure chief ministers have significant autonomy.

  • Article 204(b) gives the president power "to grant amnesty in accord with the recommendation of" the NDSC. The NLD suggests modifying this to "grant amnesty in accord with the recommendation of the Union Parliament and the National Defense and Security Council," saying decisions involving amnesty should include the recommendations of elected members of Parliament.

Supreme Court the final arbiter

During the decades of military rule, the judicial system in Myanmar was infamous for its lack of independence. Chapter 6 of the Constitution—Judiciary—places the Supreme Court under military Courts-Martial in terms of legal authority: "Without affecting the powers of the Constitutional Tribunal and the Courts-Martial, the Supreme Court of the Union is the highest Court of the Union."

  • The NLD suggests making the Supreme Court unconditionally the highest court in the Union. Thus, it suggests removing the phrase, "Without affecting the powers of the Constitutional Tribunal and the Courts-Martial" from the above provision, making the Supreme Court truly the highest legal authority.
  • The NLD suggests eliminating all articles from 320 to 336, which involve the Constitutional Tribunal and its formation, in order to hand all its duties to the Supreme Court. It also proposes modifying the articles to curb the president's power over the Supreme Court. All of these suggestions are aimed at ridding the judicial system of the influence of the Courts-Martial and executive power.

Chapter 7 must surely be the strangest of any included in any country's constitution. It concerns the Defense Services, known as the Tatmadaw in Burmese. Even in Myanmar, this chapter stands out, as it had no equivalent in the country's previous constitutions in 1947 and 1974. It appears before the chapter on citizens and their rights. This particular chapter shows that the military has become more powerful constitutionally than at any time in the country's history. In fact, this chapter has no place in a democratic constitution, but again the NLD is not proposing to eliminate it entirely. But even a "realpolitik" approach may not favor it, as this is the biggest "landmine" in the NLD's path to reform. The NLD will face withering opposition from the military if it even suggests removing it—even though, at the end of the day, this chapter shouldn't exist.

  • The NLD suggests amending two of the chapter's eight articles. Article 338 reads: "All the armed forces in the Union shall be under the command of the Defense Services." The NLD suggests having the Police Department administered by its own ministry. Currently, the department is under the Home Affairs Ministry, whose minister is an Army general appointed by the commander-in-chief.

    According to the Constitution, the Myanmar Police Force is under the control of the military. / The Irrawaddy
  • Article 339 grants the Tatmadaw absolute authority in regard to safeguarding the country, which can be interpreted as giving the commander-in-chief undiluted power in this sphere. It reads: "The Defense Services shall lead in safeguarding the Union against all internal and external dangers." The NLD suggests modifying this to say, "The Tatmadaw should take [responsibility for this] duty under the leadership of the head of state."

The 2008 Constitution is riddled with conditions, but Chapter 8—Citizens, Fundamental Rights and Duties of the Citizens—has more than its share of unnecessary conditions. The NLD highlights two articles in this chapter, relating to arrest without remand and forced labor.

  • Article 359 says: "The Union prohibits forced labor, except for hard labor [imposed] as a punishment for crime duly convicted, and duties assigned by the Union in accord with the law in the interest of the public" (emphasis added). The NLD suggests doing away with forced labor in any circumstances. The issues of forced labor attracted a lot of notoriety to Myanmar under the previous military regime.
  • Another unnecessary clause in this chapter, according to the NLD, is the following bolded passage in Article 376: "No person shall, except in matters of precautionary measures taken for the security of the Union or prevalence of law and order, peace and tranquility in accord with the law in the interest of the public, or matters permitted according to an existing law, be held in custody for more than 24 hours without the remand of a competent magistrate" (emphasis added). The NLD suggests amending this to: "No person shall be held in custody for more than 24 hours without the remand of a competent magistrate."

As a reason, it says the article should be in harmony with Article 21(b) of Chapter 1, Basic Principles of the Union, which reads: "No citizen shall be placed in custody for more than 24 hours without the permission of a Court."

  • A proposal by the NLD relating to Article 383 is likely to irritate the military and its proxy USDP, as it calls for the elimination of three civic "duties", which were printed on the front page of every book and publication across the country under the former regimes.

The article reads: "Every citizen has the duty to uphold: a) non-disintegration of the Union; b) non-disintegration of national solidarity; c) perpetuation of sovereignty." The NLD suggests eliminating the entire article, saying it echoes an earlier article in the Constitution and pointing out that these are duties not only of citizens but also of the government.

No immunity for the military chief, even in emergencies

Chapter 11—Provisions on State of Emergency—which gives special powers to the commander-in-chief, especially during a state of emergency, contains a phrase that, in the context of this Constitution, perhaps shouldn't surprise us.

  • Article 418 reads: "Notwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution, commencing from the day of transfer of the sovereign power to the commander-in-chief of the Defense Service, it shall be deemed that the members appointed and assigned duties by approval of the relevant Hluttaws [parliaments] in accord with the Constitution…" (emphasis added). The NLD suggests removing the phrase in bold, saying the Constitution shall not be violated at any time and that no action is above the Constitution.
  • Article 432 of this chapter is one of the most important provisions in the charter because it protects ex-ruling generals from prosecution for wrongdoings committed in the past. It is also one of the most unpopular with the public. The article basically means "No legal action shall be taken" against any civilian or military service members (including the military chief), and their organizations shall not face legal consequences for their actions in times of emergency (when the military chief or NDSC is exercising sovereign power).
Myanmar military chief Snr-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing in February 2018 / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

The NLD proposes removing the clause "no legal action shall be taken", claiming it is not in accord with international standards. Needless to say, the military and USDP will resist this strongly.

Article 436 of Chapter 12—Amendment of the Constitution—is one of the most controversial articles in the charter as its purpose is to make it difficult to make even reasonable amendments.

  • Article 436(a) says that if it is necessary to amend a number of crucial articles (most of which privilege the military) in certain chapters, "it shall be amended with the prior approval of more than seventy-five percent of all the representatives of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw [Union Parliament], after which in a nation-wide referendum only with the votes of more than half of those who are eligible to vote" (emphasis added). Obtaining more than 75 percent of votes is virtually impossible, as military officials appointed by the commander-in-chief occupy 25 percent of seats in Parliament.
An old woman wears a T-shirt with an illustration saying 'No to Article 436' during a constitutional reform rally in Yangon in May 2014. / The Irrawaddy

This is quite likely the most difficult part of the constitution to change. This article, the NLD says, gives the military the upper hand at the expense of the public when it comes to amending the Constitution. The NLD adds that equality and justice are important for national reconciliation. It suggests the article be amended so that those articles it mentions can be amended with the approval of more than seventy-five percent of all elected representatives (excluding the military appointees) of the Union parliament, or by more than 50 percent of all the representatives (including military lawmakers). It seems fair but is unlikely to be accepted by the military.

Uninspiring national symbol

Since the Constitution was approved in 2008, many people have complained about the new national flag, which bears no resemblance to previous flags. Chapter 13 concerns the State Flag, State Seal, National Anthem and the Capital.

Myanmar’s previous flag, which was introduced in the post-independence period (left). The current flag (right) was introduced under the 2008 Constitution. / The Irrawaddy
  • In this chapter, the NLD only suggests replacing the flag. It points out that it is wrong to entirely do away with the previous flag, which was a source of great inspiration to the public as it was associated with the country's successful struggle for independence. It adds that the current flag is also quite similar to the flags of some other countries.

These are among the many articles the NLD is highly likely to try to amend. To get all of them amended remains a virtual impossibility for the foreseeable future, especially prior to the 2020 election, which is likely to be the NLD's tentative timeframe. But if even one of the provisions discussed above remains in the Constitution, we can't regard it as fully democratic.

This analysis begs an obvious question: Why doesn't the NLD draft a new constitution, rather than try to amend so many items in the current one? Some political observers have suggested just that. But such an option is simply not possible. The military does not even accept the NLD's initiative to amend the charter; that it would entertain the notion of a new charter is out of the question. Therefore, we can safely say it's not a practical solution under current political conditions.

As for the NLD, it seems determined to push the issue as far as it can in the coming months with the aim of securing a significant quantity of substantive amendments. To achieve this, the NLD will need to implement, at a minimum, the following four strategies: 1) strike a balance between seeking reform and "realpolitik"; 2) use its majority in Parliament in a democratic manner; 3) marshal all of its public support to help it achieve its goal; and 4) coax the commander-in-chief into adjusting his political position sufficiently to accept its proposals.

As it does so, the party faces one fundamental restriction—not to engage in the kind of counterproductive activity that could provoke a military coup. That is the bottom line. Beyond that, there shouldn't be any limitations on its efforts.

The post Making Myanmar's Constitution Democratic appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Construction of Yangon’s Outer Circular Road to Begin by Year End

Posted: 21 Feb 2019 10:33 PM PST

YANGON—Myanmar's Ministry of Construction has announced it will construct two circular roads inside and outside Yangon with the assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Construction of the outer road is to be divided into four phases and will start with the eastern section, according to U Kyi Zaw Myint, deputy director general of the ministry's road and bridge construction department.

The eastern section will link the Thilawa Special Economic Zone in Yangon's Thanlyin with Hlegu; the northern section will link Hlegu with Hlaingtharyar; the western section will link Hlaingtharyar with Dala; and the southern section will link Dala with Thanlyin.

"We plan to build the eastern section first. As it will be a six-lane road, the investment will be huge," he told reporters.

The eastern section will be 69 kilometers long, and will include a 1.4-kilometer long bridge across the Bago River. It will have a speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour.

The ring road will link Thilawa Special Economic Zone, Mingalardon Industrial Zone, the Yangon-Mandalay Expressway and Yangon International Airport.

"The road will be 300 feet in width. We will be able to calculate the investment amount after developing the road design. It will be implemented as a public-private partnership," said U Kyi Zaw Myint.

The construction ministry has selected 10 finalists for the construction of the eastern section, and will announce the tender winner in May. Construction of the first phase is expected to begin later this year and will take three years to complete.

On the list of finalists are Chinese, French, Japanese and Korea companies, Thai-Chinese joint ventures, and joint ventures between Myanmar and foreign firms.

The construction ministry will invite tender for phase two later this year, said U Kyi Zaw Myint.

According to JICA's 2040 master plan for Yangon, there will be an inner and outer circular road connecting strategic points around the city.

The inner road will be an elevated highway, the first section of which will be 20 kilometers long and link Strand Road in downtown Yangon to Mingalardon Industrial Zone to the north via Pazundaung Township and Waizayana Road.

The second section of the inner road will be built through Kha Ye Pin Road, Mingalardon Road and Kyimyindaing Road to link Strand Road and Mingalardon Industrial Zone.

The plan aims to solve the notorious traffic problems in the commercial hub of Yangon where 90 percent of vehicles in entire country are driven.

"We are optimistic about the project. I have had to negotiate with local farmers in Hlegu [whose lands are required] for the construction. The project area will use around 50 acres of farmland," Lower House lawmaker U Thein Tan told The Irrawaddy, adding that local farmers have accepted the rate of compensation offered by the construction ministry.

The post Construction of Yangon's Outer Circular Road to Begin by Year End appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

India Reiterates Plan to Stop Sharing of Excess Water with Pakistan–Minister

Posted: 21 Feb 2019 08:41 PM PST

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD—An Indian government minister reiterated on Thursday the country’s plan to restrict the flow of water to Pakistan from its share of rivers, the latest effort by New Delhi to pressure its neighbor after a militant attack in Kashmir.

“Our government has decided to stop our share of water which used to flow to Pakistan,” Nitin Gadkari, transport and water resources minister, said in a tweet. He added that the country would divert water from eastern rivers and supply it to its people in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab states.

Gadkari did not elaborate but officials from his ministry said he was re-stating decisions already taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including a dam project cleared by his cabinet last December. Officials said no new decision had been taken on Thursday.

Gadkari’s comments underlined New Delhi’s anger over an attack by a Pakistan-based militant group last week in the disputed region of Kashmir, which killed 40 paramilitary police. India has accused Pakistan of not doing enough to control such groups, while Pakistan has denied involvement.

The sharing of water supplies from the Indus River and its tributaries between the two countries is regulated under the 1960 Indus Water Treaty. In recent years India has begun ambitious irrigation plans and construction of many upstream dams, saying its use of upstream water is strictly in line with the treaty.

Following an attack on security forces in the Kashmir town of Uri in 2016, India began to fast-track development of some of the dam projects, escalating tensions between the arch-rivals.

Pakistan has opposed some of these projects saying they violate the World Bank-mediated treaty on the sharing of the Indus waters, upon which 80 percent of its irrigated agriculture depends.

On Thursday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan authorized the country’s armed forces to hit back against India if attacked but repeated a call for an investigation into the attack in Kashmir.

“The incident was conceived, planned and executed indigenously,” said a statement issued following a meeting of Pakistan’s National Security Committee, which added Pakistan was “not involved in any way, means or form”.

India's top military commander in Kashmir, Lieutenant-General K.J.S. Dhillon, accused Pakistan's main Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency on Tuesday of controlling those behind the bombing and warned of retribution.

India has long blamed Pakistan for a nearly 30-year revolt in Jammu and Kashmir, its only Muslim-majority state. Pakistan denies any involvement and has repeatedly urged New Delhi to hold talks to decide the future of the region.

The post India Reiterates Plan to Stop Sharing of Excess Water with Pakistan–Minister appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Drops Off UN Agenda in Geneva Next Week

Posted: 21 Feb 2019 08:30 PM PST

GENEVA — Myanmar will be represented by a government minister at a U.N. conference in Geneva next week, and not by the country’s de facto leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, according to the latest agenda for the meeting on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, an agenda for the Conference on Disarmament seen by Reuters showed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been criticized by the West over the government’s treatment of Rohingya Muslims and other human rights concerns, was scheduled to speak at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

Two officials confirmed she was expected, raising the prospect of a possible meeting with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is due to speak at the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday and the disarmament forum on Tuesday.

But an agenda posted on the conference’s website later in the day listed Kyaw Tin, Union minister for international cooperation, as the speaker from Myanmar. U.N. officials said they did not have any information about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi coming to Geneva.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay did not respond to calls seeking comment and diplomats at Myanmar’s mission in Geneva were unavailable throughout the day.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is a former political prisoner who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, but her reputation has suffered badly in recent years.

Her government’s relations with the United Nations are tense following the Rohingya crisis. About 730,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from Myanmar’s Rakhine State into Bangladesh since a military crackdown in 2017 after Rohingya insurgents attacked security posts.

Myanmar has banned the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, from coming to the country and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s administration has opposed raising the profile of the U.N. resident coordinator in Myanmar.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has largely shunned travel to the West since the Rohingya crisis broke but she and senior officials in her administration travel regularly within Asia.

A U.N. mandated fact-finding mission said that Myanmar’s military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingya with “genocidal intent” and called for generals to be prosecuted. Myanmar rejected the findings.

Last year Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visited Australia, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam and Nepal. She travelled to Switzerland in 2012, visiting the Swiss government in Bern and the U.N. and the International Labor Organization in Geneva.

The post Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Drops Off UN Agenda in Geneva Next Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Sees ‘Enormous Potential’ in Saudi Economy as Crown Prince Visits

Posted: 21 Feb 2019 08:16 PM PST

BEIJING—China sees “enormous potential” in Saudi Arabia’s economy and wants more high-tech cooperation, the Chinese government’s top diplomat said, as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman began a two-day trip to Beijing.

The Saudi delegation, including top executives from Aramco, arrived on Thursday on an Asia tour that has already seen the kingdom pledge investment of $20 billion in Pakistan and seek additional investment in India’s refining industry.

The crown prince will meet President Xi Jinping, who has made stepping up China’s presence in the Middle East a key foreign policy objective, despite its traditional low-key role there.

Meeting Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, State Councilor Wang Yi said the main features of their ties were respect, understanding and support for each other, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.

“All countries in the world have the right to develop, and Saudi Arabia is an emerging market country with enormous potential,” the ministry paraphrased Wang as saying.

China supports Saudi’s efforts to diversify its economy and is willing to strengthen high-tech cooperation, Wang added.

Saudi Aramco, the world’s top oil exporter, will sign a pact to build a refinery and petrochemical project in northeastern Liaoning province in a joint venture with China’s defense conglomerate Norinco, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The investments could help Saudi Arabia regain its place as the top oil exporter to China, a position Russia has held for the last three years. Saudi Aramco is set to boost market share by signing supply deals with non-state Chinese refiners.

China has had to step carefully in relations with Riyadh, since Beijing also has close ties with Saudi regional foe Iran.

On Wednesday, Xi told the speaker of Iran’s parliament that China’s desire to develop close ties with Iran would stay unaltered, regardless of the global situation.

China is also wary of criticism from Muslim countries about its camps in the heavily-Muslim far western region of Xinjiang, which the government says are for de-radicalization purposes and rights groups call internment camps.

Wang said both countries face the threats of terrorism and extremism, and should strengthen cooperation to safeguard security and stability.

China was not seeking to play politics in the Middle East, the widely-read state-run tabloid, the Global Times, said in an editorial on Friday.

“China won’t be a geopolitical player in the Middle East. It has no enemies and can cooperate with all countries in the region,” said the paper, published by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily.

“China’s increasing influence in the Middle East comes from pure friendly cooperation. Such a partnership will be welcomed by more countries in the Middle East.”

The post China Sees 'Enormous Potential' in Saudi Economy as Crown Prince Visits appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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