Burma : Election 2010

[Mid]

USDA transformed to political party
Kyaw Kha
Monday, 29 March 2010

The much anticipated transformation of the junta backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) into a political party, has come through. It will contest the 2010 general elections under the same nomenclature.

The information was disclosed by a high ranking party official.

The USDA has been converted into USDA party and all government staff and students and youths under 25 years of age have been expelled from the organization. The rest are being issued party membership cards since last week, the official said.

“We have started the ground work to contest the election. The organization is converted into a party. We have already formed division sand district level branches and all the assets and ownership have been transferred. There are now no more government property and assets,” he told Mizzima.

Though the USDA party has not yet been registered with the Election Commission, it is preparing to contest the election.

While the military regime is trying to blackout news of the steps being taken for the conversion, all the USDA members interviewed by Mizzima confirmed the news.

Party sources disclosed that they do not need to do special organizational work because they have been doing regular work by building roads and bridges for the people.

The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) set up the USDA on 15 September 1993 after seizing power by a coup in 1988. The five top generals of the ruling ‘State Peace and Development Council’ (SPDC) including Senior Gen. Than Shwe are patrons of the organization.

The USDA has 17 State and Division level branches, 66 district level branches, 320 township branches and 24 million members, according to an official statement issued in 2007. Agriculture Minister Maj. Gen. Htay Oo is the General Secretary.

According to the Party Registration Law, government staff members and all persons under the age of 25 years are barred from being party members. But the exact number of current members of the USDA minus the barred members is not yet known.

Serving generals and serving ministers of the cabinet will contest the general election as candidates of the USDA, the opposition group in exile, the ‘Forum for Democracy in Burma’ (FDB) Secretary General Dr. Naing Aung said.

“Military personnel will contest the election through the USDA. Many senior leaders will resign from their army posts and will contest,” he said.

Naypyitaw, the new capital has instructed blacking out the news on the current status of the USDA, which is considered the pillar of the military regime. Earlier, Burmese analysts speculated that USDA would assume a new name to contest the election and may be broken up to more than one party.

USDA members have been building roads and distributing drinking water as part of its organizational work along with serving military party members. But the image of the USDA was tarnished after the pre-meditated attack on NLD members and leaders in 2003 in Depayin and its involvement in the brutal crackdown on protesters in the 2007 saffron revolution.

The source in Naypyitaw said, some serving cabinet ministers and serving military officers will announce their resignation from their posts soon.

The NLD party of Aung San Suu Kyi, who narrowly escaped being killed in the Depayin attack, decided today not to register the party with the Election Commission.

Mizzima learnt that USDA leaders monitored the NLD meeting on the issue, held today.

bnionline.net

[Mid]

Rohingya to Form Political Party, Contest Elections
SAW YAN NAING
Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Rohingya, the Muslim minority living primarily in Burma's western Arakan State, will form a political party and contest the upcoming elections although most Rohingya are not currently Burmese citizens, according to sources close to prominent members of the Rohingya community.

“They [the Rohingyas] will form a party. They contacted us so we could help each other,” said Ohn Lwin, the leader of a separate party called the National Political Alliance. Ohn Lwin said the leader of the new Rohingya party will be Ohn Tin, a Rohingya living in Rangoon.

The new Rohingya party has not yet registered nor chosen a name. “They won't put the word 'Rohingya' in the name of their party because the current regime does not recognize them as an official ethnic group,” said Ohn Lwin. Some sources said the new Rohingya party would be named the “Myanmar Bengalis.”

Despite the fact that a vast majority of the Rohingyas in Burma live in Arakan State, according to Ohn Lwin, the new Rohingya party plans to contest nationally in constituencies such as: Sittwe, Buthidaung, Maungdaw and Rathedaung in Arakan State; Kyaukse, Meiktila and Yamethin in Mandalay Division; Mingalar Taung Nyunt, Thingangyun and Tamwe in Rangoon Division; and Moulmein in Mon State.

Although it would appear difficult for the primarily non-citizen Rohingya community to form a viable political party, the Burmese military regime, who in the past have ruthlessly oppressed the Rohingya, appear to be aiding the process and solving the citizenship problem, at least for purposes of the election.

According to the new electoral law, people holding a temporary identification card may vote if they are 18 or older.

In early February, local immigration officials in Arakan State reportedly issued temporary ID cards to adult Rohingyas with the help of the regime-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and National Unity Party (NUP) to make them eligible to cast ballots in the upcoming election. According to sources, each Rohingya had to pay 3,500 kyat (US $3.50) for the temporary ID cards and approximately 60 percent of the Rohingya living in Arakan State now have cards.

Sources also told The Irrawaddy that in mid-March, Brig-Gen Phone Swe, deputy minister for home affairs, joined some Rohingya businessmen on a one week campaign trip to Rohingya regions in Arakan State such as Buthidaung and Maungdaw.

So although it remains to be seen what direction the new Rohingya party will choose, observers say the regime appears to be enlisting the Rohingya on its own behalf.

In fact, Aung Zaw Win and Aung Naing, two Rohingya businessmen who live in Rangoon, will reportedly contest the elections as a separate proxy party of the Burmese regime. They have already campaigned together with pro-junta groups such as the USDA and NUP, according to sources close to the Rohingya community.

The Rohingya are the second largest ethnic group in Arakan State, after the Rakhine. Rohingya are in the majority in Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung townships, in the northern part of the state. They comprise nearly 30 percent of the state's population of 2.75 million people.

The Rohingya face harsh treatment by Burmese authorities. They are prohibited from traveling outside Arakan State and are further marginalized by other discriminatory laws. Normally, Rohingya people are not recognized as citizens of Burma even though many were born there and have lived in northwestern Arakan State all their lives.

Despite this historical oppression, from the beginning of the Burmese state, in 1948, the government has brought the Rohingya into the fold when it served its purposes.

The Rohingya people were first recognized by U Nu, Burma's first prime minister.

U Nu and his colleague, Ba Swe, of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL), publicly stated in their campaign speeches that the “Bengali Muslims” were recognized among Burma’s ethnic races under the name of “Rohingya.” Then some AFPFL leaders in the area granted instant citizenship to the new influx of Bengalis to allow them to cast votes for their party.

This trend of allowing Rohingyas to vote has continued under the current military regime, despite the fact that the regime officially declared the Rohingya stateless in 1982.

In the 1990 general election, Rohingya were allowed to vote and four Rohingya won constituencies in northern Arakan State such as Buthidaung and Maungdaw. In 2008, the Rohingya were allowed to vote in the referendum using the same type of temporary ID cards currently being issued.

irrawaddy.org

[Mid]

Mon Alliance Will Not Take Part in Election
LAWI WENG
Thursday, April 1, 2010

A political alliance representing Burma's Mon community has decided not to take part in the planned general election.

The decision, taken on March 30 at a meeting of a 15-member committee in the Mon State capital, Moulmein, leaves the Mon with no representation in the election.


A monk prays at the Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda, also known as the Golden Rock Pagoda, in Mon State.
(Photo: Reuters)

The alliance includes former members of the central committee of the New Mon State Party (NMSP), an armed group that signed a ceasefire agreement with the junta in 1995, members of the Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF) and other respected Mon community leaders.The MNDF announced last week that it will not contest the election because the junta's election law is unjust.

The NMSP announced last year its opposition to participation in the election. The party has called for a review of the 2008 constitution, saying it doesn't protect ethnic or democratic rights.

A member of the political alliance's committee, speaking anonymously, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday, that a majority rejected the election law and decided not to contest the election.

“It was like the National League for Democracy decision,” he said.

When the Mon political alliance formed in June last year it said it planned to take part in the election, although its committee was divided on the issue. The promulgation of the election laws in March swung opinion against participation in the election.

At a meeting of the committee in March, one member, Nai Banya Aung Moe, told The Irrawaddy that the Mon alliance could advance peace and democracy by taking part in the election.

“We need national reconciliation, peace, democracy and development,” he said. “I want to implement work on that.”

A Mon monk in Rangoon said: “They (regime) will not get one vote from our people if the Mon has a political party participating in the election.”

The monk said: “If there is a Mon political party at the election, the Mon people will have a chance to vote for their own people. We will be able to know what is going on inside parliament if we have representatives there. Without our people in parliament, we know nothing about what is going on.”

The MNDF participated in the 1990 election, winning five seats. The junta then disbanded the party and sentenced four elected representatives to long prison terms.

The party's military wing continues to bear arms, saying it will remained armed until the Mon people win freedom.

irrawaddy.org

[Mid]

Junta raking candidate backgrounds
AHUNT PHONE MYAT
20 April 2010


UMFNP chair Aye Lwin says authorities are scouring candidate histories

Burmese authorities are reportedly collecting information on the backgrounds of candidates looking to contest elections this year, the head of a registered party has said.

The 19 parties that have so far registered for Burma’s first elections in 20 years, rumoured to be in October, are yet to receive an approval.

But, according to Aye Lwin, chairperson of the Union of Myanmar Federation of National Politics (UMFNP), one of the more prominent parties looking to run this year, the group learnt recently that checks were being carried out on the histories of party members.

“[The authorities] are officially collecting background information on about 27 or 28 [Central Executive Committee candidates],” he said. Fifteen of those belong to the UMFNP, while the rest are members of the closely-allied 88 Generation Students (Union of Myanmar), a party led by his younger brother, Ye Htun.

Aye Lwin, known to have close ties with the ruling junta, was a student activist in the 1988 uprising against military rule before switching sides and campaigning against international sanctions on Burma.

The deadline for parties to register expires in the second week of May. Ohn Lwin, communications officer for the National Political Alliances, speculated that the approvals would be given by the Election Commission (EC) once the deadline is up.

“It is likely that the [EC] is waiting until they get [applications] from everyone,” he said. “We are waiting to be informed and will not yet start our [campaign] activities, such as releasing statements; we are worried that we will be seen as crossing boundaries if we start now.”

Out of the 19 parties registered, 16 have been formed in the past few months. The majority of these are either outwardly pro-junta or part of the so-called ‘third force’ in Burmese politics that are allied to neither incumbent nor opposition.

It is unclear what role these parties will play in a post-election Burma: observers have said that the polls are little more than a show of legitimacy for the ruling junta, which will continue its hold on power under the guise of a civilian government.

One of the registered parties, the Kachin State Progressive Party, is comprised of members of three Kachin ceasefire groups, including the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO).

The KIO is now at loggerheads with the ruling junta following its refusal to transform into a Border Guard Force (BFG), and military analysts have warned that fighting may break out.

The BGF issue is seen as a means for the junta to shore up support and bolster its army size in the run-up to elections, with border units ostensibly coming under the command of Naypyidaw.

dvb.no

[Panda]

Just a yellow version of what Thailand could become.

[Mid]

BURMA’S ELECTORAL DILEMMAS
Ashley South

Those inside the country seeking to participate in the elections, are hoping to make the best of a poor set of options. They are surely better placed than exiled politicians and their sympathisers to judge the opportunities and constraints locally.

http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newman...a-election.pdf

[Mid]

Shan party not to re-register with Election Commission
Hseng Khio Fah
Tuesday, 04 May 2010

The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), the second largest victorious party in Burma and the top winning one in Shan State in the 1990 elections, released a statement on May 3 saying that the party will not re-register to contest the general elections unless its party chairman and other imprisoned leaders are released, according to Sai Lake, the party’s spokesman.

The announcement came after the military junta failed to respond to the party’s petitions, the spokesman said.

The announcement said the party had sent petitions to Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) twice (on 21 December 2009 and on 6 February 2010) for meetings with its two imprisoned leaders to discuss the party’s future plans.

“The EC members took a decision not to re-register unless they are allowed to discuss matters with their leaders,” said Sai Lake. “The party’s main contention is the release of all our leaders and then a tripartite dialogue (between the NLD, junta and ethnic nationalities).”

In addition, the junta drawn up 2008 constitution is undemocratic and its recently announced electoral laws are also not all-inclusive, the statement said.

It said that the party leaders were arrested for failing to attend the junta’s second time National Convention (NC), which was held in 2004 to draft guidelines for the new union constitution.

The party had attended the first time NC, which took place for three years from 1993 to 1996, in the hope of achieving self- determination, ethnic equality and to build a genuine democratic country. However, in reality, things did not turn out as expected. The party therefore decided not to attend the second NC and as a result, its leaders were sentenced to long-terms in prison, said the statement.

Hkun Tun Oo, party leader and elected MP from Hsipaw, is currently serving a 95-year term in Burma’s northernmost town Putao, while general secretary Sai Nyunt Lwin aka Sai Nood is serving an 85 year term in Kalemyo, Sagaing division.

The two were detained along with seven other leaders on 8 and 9 February 2005 on charges of treason, defamation, setting up of illegal organization and violation of the 5/96 Law prohibiting people from criticizing the constitution drafted by its rulers. The draft was “ratified” by an overwhelming 92 per cent of the country’s eligible voters in May 2008, according to a junta announcement.

A few months earlier, the party was warned by Naypyitaw that if it fails to re-register after two months of the electoral laws announcement, it would be no longer be recognized as a political party, said Sai Lake.

Nevertheless, the party will not change its political stand, commitments and activities even though it is to be outlawed. It will also continue to engage in Shan literature and cultural activities, he said.

According to the statement, the party was formed: To build a genuine democratic country, to forge unity with other ethnic nationalities, to demand ethnic equality and to resolve political problems in a peaceful manner.

bnionline.net

[Mid]

No foreign election observers
May 12, 2010


Mr. Campbell said following his talks that the United States was 'profoundly disappointed' in the junta's preparations for the upcoming elections and wanted 'immediate steps' to address fears that they would lack legitimacy. PHOTO: AP

YANGON - MYANMAR has no need for foreign observers to monitor its first elections in two decades, state media reported on Wednesday, despite international concerns that the polls will lack legitimacy.

'International watchdog groups do not need to come,' the chairman of the country's election body told a visiting US envoy, according to the New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

'Arrangements have been made to ensure free and fair elections,' Election Commission chairman Thein Soe was quoting as telling US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell on Monday.

Election candidates will be allowed to appoint a representative and helper to observe polling stations and the ballots are to be counted in front of the voters, Mr Thein Soe said. Critics say the polls are aimed at simply entrenching the ruling generals' power.

Mr Campbell met several government ministers and opposition leaders, including detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, during his two-day visit to the military-ruled country. He said following his talks that the United States was 'profoundly disappointed' in the junta's preparations for the upcoming elections and wanted 'immediate steps' to address fears that they would lack legitimacy.

Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) was forcibly dissolved last week under widely criticised laws governing the elections, which are scheduled for some time later this year. The NLD refused to meet a May 6 deadline to re-register as a party - a move that would have forced it to expel its own leader - and boycotted the vote.

straitstimes.com

[Mid]

Myanmar elections 'on Oct 10'
Jun 10, 2010

WASHINGTON - US SENATOR Jim Webb said on Wednesday he expected Myanmar to hold elections on Oct 10 and urged support for the vote despite the military regime's exclusion of the democratic opposition.

Mr Webb is a leading US advocate for engagement with the junta, although he called off a trip to Myanmar this month due to allegations the country was developing nuclear weapons with support from North Korea.

Myanmar plans to hold its first elections in two decades later this year, although the regime has not set an exact date.

'What I'm hearing is that they will take place... on 10-10-10,' Mr Webb, a member of President Barack Obama's Democratic Party who represents Virginia, told the Asia Society. The Obama administration last year initiated dialogue with North Korea but has voiced concern about the elections, ahead of which Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy was forcibly dissolved.

Mr Webb acknowledged that the election was designed to preserve the military regime, but said it was a step forward that the country would allow at least some opposition figures to stand for seats.

'In East Asia, in South-east Asia, you have to build the future a step at a time,' Mr Webb said. 'When's the last time China had an election? When's the last time Vietnam had an election?' he said. 'It doesn't mean we don't talk to them, and it doesn't mean we don't try to advance the notions of a fairer society.'

straitstimes.com

[Slopperout]

Mr Webb acknowledged that the election was designed to preserve the military regime, but said it was a step forward that the country would allow at least some opposition figures to stand for seats.

Ridiculous....big sanctions and regime change needed.

[Mid]

Politicians call for election postponement
AHUNT PHONE MYAT
11 June 2010


Junta chief Than Shwe's post-election future is uncertain
(Reuters)

Politicians in Burma say they need more time for campaigning prior to elections this year as recent rumours suggest the polls could be held in October.

US senator Jim Webb, a long-time Burma advocate in the US senate, on Tuesday told an Asia Society forum that “What I’m hearing is that they [elections] will take place…on 10-10-10,” referring to 10 October this year. If true, the date would be in keeping with successive Burmese generals’ fixation on numerology.

But veteran politician and self-styled election observer, Amyotharyay Win Naing, said that if true, he would want the government “to reconsider and postpone the date as long as they can.”

“If elections are held without providing at least eight months to for preparation, elections are much less likely to meet people’s desires and benefit them. So I would like to urge the authorities to postpone the elections, if possible, to 2011 and not 2010.”

Many of the parties entering the elections are still not “properly formed”, said Win Naing, and if elections are held so soon, citizens will be forced to cast votes without understanding specific policies of the parties.

His views were echoed by Aye Lwin, leader of the registered Union of Myanmar Federation of National Politics.

“We are [struggling] and if the parties are to be pushed forward into the elections without being given sufficient time, I think this 2010 election will be hard for us.

“If we are to open party offices in 330 townships, just 150 to 200 days are not enough [to finish the job]. Suppose we open one office every day in each town, it will take over 300 days. So frankly, we do need more time.”

Ohn Lwin of the National Political Alliances party said that the group will improvise a strategy according to exisiting political circumstances.

“We can’t just think about what we like with the current situation; we have to move according to the political climate. We will only have perfect elections on the second or third term.

“Previously, we were joking that the elections will be held on 8-8-88, 9-9-99 or 10-10-10. However, we don’t know for sure if [Webb’s prediction] is true or not because the government is very secretive. If true, then we participate [in the elections.] That’s all we aim.”

Currently 42 groups have applied for political party registration to stand in the elections – 32 of whom are new groups – while 31 parties have been approved party formation.

dvb.no

[Mid]

Burma unveils campaigning laws
FRANCIS WADE
Additional reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat
23 June 2010


Burmese junta chief Than Shwe's future after the elections is unclear (Reuters)

Political parties running for elections in Burma this year will have to give a week’s notice before holding public speeches and are barred from chanting slogans and waving flags.

The rules, announced today in the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper, appear to be an attempt at dampening the impact of party campaigns and stifling debate. One directive bans parties from giving talks or publishing material “that can spark disputes on racial affairs or religious affairs or individuals or others, and that can harm dignity and morality”.

Another law orders that parties must not campaign in public places, such as schools, workplaces, markets and government offices, while marching and chanting of slogans is banned. Thu Wei, from the Democratic Party, said that the laws “restrict [parties] from publicising themselves”.

Regional observers also believe that the campaigning laws are an attempt to weaken the opposition and ensure a smooth passage to office for government proxy parties.

“This is like Singapore; they don’t allow parties to go just anywhere and interview and talk to people, and do door-to-door visits,” said Somsri Hannanuntasuk, director of the Asia Network for Free Elections (ANFREL). “Both countries don’t want the opposition or other parties to be known by the public.”

Concerns about the legitimacy of Burma’s first elections in 20 years arose following the government’s unveiling of laws in March that banned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from running and forced the dissolution of her party. Questions have also been raised about the impartiality of the Election Commission (EC), which will act as the supreme authority during the polls.

“We don’t know if [the EC] is really independent and can exercise its power,” Somsri said. “If you look at other countries’ ECs, they have bargaining power with the government, but this commission is under the ruling junta and is appointed by the military so I don’t think they will give equal treatment for every party.”

The EC head, Thein Soe, said last month that international monitors would not be allowed in the country to observe the elections. Similar controversies also surrounded the 2008 constitution referendum, which was allegedly supported by more than 90 percent of the population, despite complaints of widespread vote rigging and coercion of voters.

Candidates have also complained that preferential treatment is being given to the party headed by Burma’s prime minister, Thein Sein, while groups opposed to the current government are being hindered in their campaigning.
Last week the National Democratic Force (NLD), an offshoot of Suu Kyi’s party, was approved to run in the elections but is yet to be given permission to campaign.

“It will be interesting to see what happens with the NDF; how much the government restricts their freedom [to campaign], whether they allow them to have media access and campaign on television and radio,” said Somsri.
“The EC should organise a debate and allow all 33 parties to talk equally about their policy, but I don’t think this will happen. We’ll see, it might be too early to say because the elections might not even be this year.”

dvb.no

[Mid]

Suu Kyi’s lawyer warned on reporting
KHIN HNIN HTET
28 June 2010


Nyan Win told by authorities to limit reporting on Suu Kyi's opinion
(Reuters)

The lawyer for detained Burmese opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been warned by the government not to relay her opinions about the upcoming elections to media outlets.

Nyan Win, one of the few people permitted by the military junta to visit Suu Kyi, told the Thailand-based Irrawaddy magazine last week that in a recent meeting with the Nobel laureate, she said that Burmese people had the right to choose whether or not to vote.

“The last time I met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, she talked about some legal facts – that by law a voter has the right to vote and the right to not vote. I told this to the media and they reported it but now I’ve been warned against doing this again,” he said.

Suu Kyi’s response to the warning was one of “disappointment”, Nyan Win said. “She also said it was just ‘educating about law’, and that the government has the responsibility to help people understand the law. She said she will complain to those concerned and asked me to find facts.”

He added that authorities told him he was restricted to reporting about her response to her court case; in May, Suu Kyi launched a final appeal against her house arrest, which was handed down in August last year after she was found guilty of ‘sheltering’ US citizen John Yettaw.

Courts are yet to respond to the appeal, but the lawyers who met with Suu Kyi on the 25 June showed her the draft statement that they will present to the court, which the recently-turned 65-year-old made some amendments to.

The Burmese government today enacted an unprecedentedly severe raft of media censorship rules that will curtail the freedom of publications inside Burma to report on the elections, slated for later this year.

Burma already has some of the world’s strictest media laws, and authorities are expected to clamp down on reporters working for exiled media groups as the polls near. Already some 15 journalists are behind bars in the pariah state, some serving sentences as long as 35 years.

dvb.no

[Bangyai]

Perhaps Abhisit should send some observers from the Democrat party to learn a few tricks and see how things work in the Burmese way of democracy.

[nevets]

If any one thinks she will be free and Burma have a properly elected government ,then they are in cloud cuckoo land.

[Mid]

First posters against 2010 elections appear in Kachin State
Tuesday, 22 June 2010

Kachin State is witnessing the first of the poster protests against the Burmese military junta’s forthcoming 2010 general elections. Pamphlets are being distributed and posters pasted in Myitkyina the capital of Kachin State against the polls since June 19.

The posters are A-4 size papers with a “Cross Mark” on the sentence – ‘2010 election.’ The posters have also been pasted on the walls around three major cities in Kachin State--- Myitkyina, Bhamo and Waingmaw Townships, said eyewitnesses.


Kachin students pasted a poster, the anti-constitutional Referendum in Bhamo, Kachin State before May 10, 2008.
Photo: Kachin News Group.

“We are putting up posters in places where people gather and where it is easy to spot like bridges and lampposts,” said an activist.

However, the authorities have ordered the police and the fire brigade, who uses as a security force to take down all the posters immediately.

While there is no organization, which has taken the responsibility for the posters, it is believed to be the handiwork of individual civilians for the first time in Kachin State, said the activist.

So far most of the poster protests were organized by the All Kachin Students Union (AKSU) in Kachin State, who often protested against the Irrawaddy Myitsone dam construction.

The poster movement against the elections comes from those who did not accept the 2008 constitution, which they believe will only legitimize military rule in Burma.

The protesters also condemn the junta for refusing to hand over power after the 1990 general election results to the National League for Democracy (NLD).

After the student led mass protest in Burma in 1988 August or the 8888 uprising, the NLD led by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi won the 1990 parliamentary polls with 392 out of 492 seats.

“Whatever it takes, we civilians in Kachin State will express what we want whenever we get the chance,” said activists.

The activists strongly believe that one day justice will be done and they will continue to protest the 2010 general election.

The junta backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) with over 20 million members in the country is the only party conducting election campaign in Kachin State. Kachin ethnics represented by parties such as the Kachin State Progressive Party (KSPP) and Northern Shan State Progressive Party (NSPP) are still awaiting approval from the Union Election Commission to contest the election.

USDP was formed on April 29 by USDA leaders including junta’s Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein, who resigned his post to contest the election.

kachinnews.com

[harrybarracuda]

Mr Webb acknowledged that the election was designed to preserve the military regime, but said it was a step forward that the country would allow at least some opposition figures to stand for seats.

What a f*cking twat.

That's a step forward from the election where the NLD won a convincing majority and the government simply ignored the whole thing, is it?

It would be a step forward if the junta would actually release some of the opposition in time for the election - AND clear them to participate. But it would be pointless, because if they lost again (unlikely as they are obviously rigging it so they don't), they'd simply ignore the result again anyway.

This idiot should shut his mouth and stick to pocketing the backhanders from lobbyists and save valuable oxygen for someone who has something useful to say on the subject.

[Mid]

Suu Kyi’s former allies allowed to form party
Friday, 09 July 2010 23:49

YANGON: Former members of Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s disbanded National League for Democracy received permission yesterday to run in rare elections, amid signs of a rift within the opposition.

The activists have been granted permission to create a new party, the National Democratic Force (NDF), to stand in the military-ruled country’s first polls in two decades later this year, according to state TV and radio.

“It’s a victory for the people,” said Khin Maung Swe, one of the leaders of the new party.

“I’m glad for the people because we can officially strive for democracy,” he told said.

The NLD refused to meet a May 6 deadline to re-register — a move that would have forced it to expel Suu Kyi — and opted to boycott the vote, which critics say is a sham designed to legitimise the junta’s half-century grip on power. There have been signs of friction between older hardline opposition figures and younger more moderate figures who opposed the boycott decision.

Long-time NLD spokesman Nyan Win, who is also Suu Kyi’s lawyer, said he had “nothing to say” about the NDF’s participation in the vote.

“It’s their own decision. We have to see what they will really do. The government also recently said it was working for democracy,” Nyan Win said.

The NLD, which was founded in 1988 after a popular uprising against the junta that left thousands dead, won a landslide victory in 1990 elections but the military rulers never allowed it to take office.

Suu Kyi has spent much of the past 20 years in jail or house arrest. Under election legislation unveiled in March, anyone serving a prison term is banned from being a member of a political party and parties that fail to obey the rule will be abolished.

In a sign of growing discord within the opposition, former top NLD members have accused the NDF of copying their symbol of a bamboo hat and recently lodged a complaint with the election commission about its use of the image.

Khin Maung Swe said the NDF would not remove the hat from its official seal.

“Our symbol is a golden bamboo hat and two stars. As we were allowed to be a registered political party, we will officially form our central committee in the coming week,” he said.

So far 38 political parties out of 43 which applied to be recognised have been given permission to register ahead of the elections.

Suu Kyi had her incarceration lengthened by 18 months in August last year after being convicted over a bizarre incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside home, and there are fears her detention may be extended again. Her dedication to non-violence in pressing for change earned her a Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and placed her — along with Nelson Mandela — among the world’s foremost voices against tyranny.

The woman known in Myanmar simply as “The Lady” remains the most powerful symbol of freedom in a country where the army rules with an iron fist

pen.com.qa

[Mid]

Burmese Army to transport 100,000 Burman voters to Kachin State
Thursday, 15 July 2010

In a two pronged strategy the Burmese military junta plans to transport 100,000 Burman voters to Kachin State to win the elections and then settle them to control the resource rich state. That the first step could tantamount to rigging the polls seems to be nobody’s concern.

The junta will leave no stones unturned to win the elections. For starters the Burmese Army has promised to ferry 100,000 Burman voters to Kachin State from Burma Proper during the country’s yet undated countrywide elections late this year, military sources said. Then the new comers will be settled.


Yuzana Company's Thai-styled factory is under construction beside Stilwell Road, or Ledo Road between Namti-Danai, Kachin State.
Photo: Kachin News Group.

The Danai-based Regional Operation Command (ROC or da-ka-sa) has promised to systematically transport Burman people from Burma Proper and the 2008 Cyclone Nargis-hit areas in Irrawaddy River basin to Hukawng Valley in western Kachin State, said the sources.

In a twin strategy, the move envisages immediate domination of the Kachin population in the polls with the help of the newly transported Burman population so that the junta-back political party wins the forthcoming elections, and later to control the entire valley, added the sources.

This promise was made early this year to Burmese military leaders in Naypyitaw, the capital of the country and to Maj-Gen Soe Win, commander of Northern Regional Command by the commander of ROC-Danai.

Secret missions on this score, have been undertaken by the ROC-Danai and Chinese-Burman U Htay Myint, chairing the Yuzana Company since late 2006, said natives of the valley.

The same year, the company was allotted over 200,000 acres of land in the Hukawng Valley for cassava and sugar cane plantation by the junta. It extended the land grab to over 400,000 acres, added locals.

An appeal was made by native Kachin people to the Burmese junta supremo Snr-Than Shwe to stop the mass land grab in Hukawng Valley. The plea went unheeded.

On the pretext of hiring company workers and in other ways, tens of thousands of Burmans have already been brought to the valley over the last four years, according to sources close to the company.

Local sources said, the Yuzana Company is into both crop plantation and importing people by using the state-budget granted by the junta. The Htoo Company owned by Tay Za, or Teza, son-in-law of Snr-Gen Than Shwe is also indirectly involved in the current mission in the valley under the name of the Yuzana Company.

Kachin history says, the Hukawng Valley was ruled by 12 Kachin Duwas, the ancient Kachin rulers before a separate Kachin land and Burmans in Burma Proper received independence together from the British in 1948.

Soon after independence, the Kachin land was gradually controlled by the majority Burman and systematic resettlement of Burmans in Kachin land was implemented by successive Burman-led governments.

kachinnews.com

[Mid]

Burma's Polls May be Pushed to December
WAI MOE
Thursday, July 15, 2010

The Burmese military junta may extend the date of the election to the end of the year, said political sources based on conversations with election commission officials who had contacted newly formed political parties to invite them to attend the junta's Martyr Day ceremony on Monday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a leader of a new political party in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that his party learned from election officials that the polls, previously expected to be held in October, are now not expected before December.


Residents of Rangoon, Burma, stopping on the streets in March to read news accounts of the new election laws.
(Photo: AFP)

“It is now July, less than 90 days from the expected election date of October 10, and all political parties are in the process of collecting members. The circumstances say the election could not be held be in October,” said the party leader.

Political sources in Rangoon said the lack of activity by the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), led by Prime Minister Thein Sein, also indicates that the election will not be held in October. For example, no USDP signboard has been placed in Burma’s biggest cities, including Rangoon and Mandalay.

A businessman in Rangoon who has been nominated by the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) to run as a USDP candidate in the election, told The Irrawaddy that the USDP is in the membership organizing stage, adding that he and other candidates have applied for party membership with the USDP.

“People should expect no unusual activity from the USDP at this time, but the mother organization, the USDA, is working on its ongoing community development projects such as road construction and opening libraries across the country,” he said.

Diplomats and international observers, including US Senator Jim Webb, had previously predicted October 10 as the election day. But a rumor circulated earlier this month predicting that junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his top generals had decided to shift the election date from October to an undisclosed date.

Than Shwe and his top generals reportedly held a meeting about the election with military commanders on July 10, said an official source from Napyidaw, citing a military telegraph to regional military commands instructing commanders to arrive in the capital by July 9.

Meanwhile, the Rangoon Division Election Commission held a meeting with new political parties on Wednesday, calling on the parties to attend the Martyr Day event on July 19 and pay respects to independence heroes, including Aung San, father of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was assassinated 63 years ago.

“At the meeting, officials from the Division Election Commission said they invited 21 political parties based in Rangoon to attend the Martyr Day event. But representatives from only 14 parties showed up at the meeting yesterday,” said a source.

He added that division-level leaders of the the USDP and representatives of the National Democratic Force, a splinter group of the main opposition National League for Democracy, attended the meeting.

“On July 19, political parties will have three minutes to pay their respects to martyrs, following government officials led by Rangoon Mayor U Aung Thein Lynn, family members of martyrs and diplomats,” he said.

irrawaddy.org

[Mid]

Burmese FM ‘gets an earful’
20 July 2010


Nyan Win is given 'an earful' at the ASEAN summit
(Reuters)

Burmese foreign minister Nyan Win “got an earful” from his Southeast Asian colleagues on the need for elections in his country to be fair and credible, the ASEAN bloc’s chief said on Tuesday.

“Myanmar [Burma], I think, got an earful last night,” Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) secretary general Surin Pitsuwan told reporters, referring to a working dinner on Monday by the group’s foreign ministers.

“ASEAN is very much concerned and ASEAN is very much interested in the peaceful national reconciliation in Myanmar.”

Surin said Nyan Win was told the elections could have “positive or negative implications” for ASEAN, a 10-nation group of about 600 million people trying to project itself as a major trade and investment partner. The United States says it expects the elections – the country’s first in two decades – will not be free and fair.

But Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa said ASEAN “won’t have any preconceived notion of how it will be”, except to refer to previous commitments from Burma.

“So we have a reasonable degree of hope,” Natalegawa said. Burma’s top diplomat “listened very, very attentively” during the dinner discussions, Surin said. Nyan Win briefed his fellow ministers on the progress of the elections planned for this year, but gave no date for the vote.

ASEAN is “not really concerned” about the date and was told it will be announced on completion of the party registration process, Natalegawa said. He said Indonesia had raised the possibility of ASEAN countries sending witnesses to the election.

“I use the term ‘visitors’. I deliberately avoid the use of the term ‘observers’ or ‘monitors’,” he said. ASEAN has a principle of non-interference in its members’ affairs.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) led by detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is boycotting the ballot because of laws which would have forced it to expel her and other members in prison before it could participate. The military regime gave permission to some former NLD members to run under a new name.

dvb.no

[Mid]

Myanmar’s pro-democratic party chief quits over polls
Friday, 06 August 2010

YANGON: The head of one of Myanmar’s newly formed pro-democracy parties resigned yesterday and said he would boycott the country’s first elections in two decades because they would not be free and fair.

Phyo Min Thein, 41, who spent about 15 years behind bars for joining Myanmar’s bloody 1988 uprising, co-founded the Union Democratic Party (UDP) with fellow former student activists and ethnic leaders in late May.

“I do not believe the coming 2010 election will be free and fair,” Phyo Min Thein said.

He said he was disappointed that political prisoners were not being released and that parties were being prevented from conducting political activities freely ahead of the vote.

Many leaders of the 1988 uprising — in which thousands of people died as soldiers opened fire on mass student demonstrations in Yangon — were given long prison terms and some are still locked up. Phyo Min Thein said the UDP had accepted his resignation and were considering their future without him.

The UDP is one of nearly 40 parties that have so far been allowed to register for the elections, which Western countries fear are a sham aimed at shoring up the junta’s half-century grip on power.

Detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won the last polls in 1990 by a landslide but the military never allowed the party to take power.

thepeninsulaqatar.com

[Mid]

Burmese opposition party threatens to shun polls

One of Burma's biggest political parties has threatened to pull out of this year's long-awaited elections if there are signs of foul play by the ruling military in the run-up.

The Union Democracy Party or UDP is considered one of the frontrunners in the opposition camp.

Forty parties have registered with the military-appointed Election Commission but it has yet to decide which parties will be allowed to take part.

At least seven parties are believed to be proxies of the military, which will retain control of key ministries and enjoy a 25 percent quota of parliamentary seats under a new constitution.

The armed forces chief will also be more senior than the president.

Phyo Min Thein, a leading pro-democracy figure, quit as UDP chief last week and derided the election as a farce.

radioaustralianews.net.au

[Mid]

continues : https://teakdoor.com/thailand-and-asi...ml#post1526472

[Bettyboo]

No opposition parties should take part, they would be shooting themselves in the foot, balls, head, etc...