BurmaNet News, January 15, 2010

[Editor]

January 15, 2010, Issue #3877


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar democracy leader Suu Kyi meets official
Reuters: Ageing Myanmar opposition gets "middle-aged" boost
DVB: Woman included in NLD expansion
DVB: Burma electoral laws ‘70 percent complete’
New Light of Myanmar: Myanmar Gazette

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Thai Cabinet to reconsider migrants' work permits
Right Vision News (Pakistan): Bangladesh: BDR, Nasaka talk fencing issue

INTERNATIONAL
Kyodo News (Japan): Okada, Thai's Kasit agree on need for 'fair' Myanmar
election

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: A mouse tries to catch a big cat’s tail – Htet Aung
United News of Bangladesh: Bangladesh-Myanmar maritime boundary talks: A
big step forward – Barrister Harun ur Rashid




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

January 15, Associated Press
Myanmar democracy leader Suu Kyi meets official

Yangon, Myanmar -- Detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi
on Friday held her first meeting this year with the Cabinet official
responsible for contact with her, as her party makes preparations for
possible participation in elections.

Officials said Suu Kyi was taken from her home to meet for about 20
minutes with Relations Minister Aung Kyi. The officials, who spoke on
condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release
information, did not know the contents of their talk.

Myanmar's military government has set elections, the first since 1990, for
an unspecified date this year. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy
party, which has not yet declared whether it will take part, this week
expanded its central executive committee by nine members to 20.

Last year, party colleagues agreed to Suu Kyi's suggestion that the
committee be reorganized. Most of its members are elderly.

Suu Kyi's last meeting with Aung Kyi was on Dec. 9, when he informed her
that her request to be allowed to meet with the party elders was granted.
She met them on Dec. 16.

Suu Kyi has also requested a meeting with junta chief Senior Gen. Than
Shwe to explain how she would cooperate in tasks "beneficial to the
country," but is not yet known to have received any response.

The constitution adopted in 2008 that set up this year's polls was
considered undemocratic by her party. It has clauses that would ensure
that the military remains the controlling power in government, and would
bar Suu Kyi from holding office.

Politics in Myanmar have been deadlocked since Suu Kyi's party
overwhelmingly won the 1990 elections. The military refused to allow it to
take power and clamped down on the pro-democracy movement, causing the
United States and another Western nations to impose economic and political
sanctions in an attempt to isolate the junta.

However, the Obama administration has said the sanctions failed to foster
reforms and is seeking to engage the junta through high-level talks.
____________________________________

January 15, Reuters
Ageing Myanmar opposition gets "middle-aged" boost

Yangon – Myanmar's main opposition party has injected some youth into its
aging leadership, although the new recruits are all in their 60s and the
ailing 92-year-old chairman keeps the top job.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) of detained Nobel laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi said nine "middle-aged" party officials were joining its
executive committee, whose 11 existing members have an average age of
nearly 82.

"We have added nine middle-aged party officials to fulfill the desire of
the party's youth members and help reinforce the committee," senior NLD
member Khin Maung Swe told Reuters.

Much of the NLD's leadership is frail and in poor health. Chairman Aung
Shwe has been housebound for over a year due to illness.

Some of the older members are against the NLD running in this year's
elections, the first in two decades, because they believe the constitution
gives too much power to the military, which has ruled for almost five
decades.

A former top NLD official said it was unlikely the new members, all former
political prisoners, would have any impact on party policy in the short
term.

"The only change we can expect is a steep drop in the average age," he
said. "They have injected new blood into the leadership but the brains of
the party will remain as old as before."

(Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Alan
Raybould)

____________________________________

January 15, Democratic Voice of Burma
Woman included in NLD expansion – Htet Aung Kyaw and Francis Wade

Another woman will join the Burmese opposition party’s central committee
after a major and unprecedented expansion was yesterday put into motion.

Nine people in total have been added to the existing 11-member central
executive committee (CEC) of the National League for Democracy (NLD)
party. One of these, Dr May Win Myint, is now the only female in the
committee other than the detained leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

The news was met with muted enthusiasm by the secretary general of the
Thailand-based Burma Women’s Union (BWU), Tin Tin Nyo, which has in the
past called for a greater gender balance within the party.

“Only after 20 years has one more woman been included in the CEC,” she
said. “It’s a positive step, but it’s taken so many years to get [here].”

“I would suggest however that the NLD consider more women at this
decision-making level. There are 20 people, and only two of these are
women. The other woman, Aung San Suu Kyi, is under house arrest, so it’s
really only one woman [who is active].”

Another prominent addition to the CEC is party spokesperson and lawyer for
Suu Kyi, Nyan Win, who acted as the international media’s first port of
call during the Suu Kyi trial last year.

Another NLD spokesperson, Khin Maung Swe, said that the majority of the
CEC, those who were neither detained or in poor health, will hold a
plenary meeting next Monday to assign duties to the new members.

He added that the expansion was being undertaken to prepare for “the
upcoming political situation in the country”, but declined to say whether
this was a reference to the looming elections, which the NLD is yet to
announce whether it will participate in.

Some lower-ranking NLD members complained last week however that the
decision-making process to select the new members had been done without
full cooperation from the various party wings.

Khin Maung Swe reacted by saying that the party had needed to act swiftly
on the requests of regional members. The expansion was first framed as a
call for fresh blood in the party following a rare meeting between Suu Kyi
and two ageing CEC members, chairperson Aung Shwe and secretary U Lwin.

“Due to our respect to [regional members], we carried out the expansion
quickly. If we have to collect opinions from the ground level, we wouldn’t
be able to do it this quickly,” he said. “One day, when we can convene
everyone, we will do this as a fully democratic procedure.”

____________________________________

January 15, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burma electoral laws ‘70 percent complete’ – Francis Wade

The majority of Burma’s electoral laws have been completed and will be
rounded off in a matter of months, the Thai foreign minister reported
after a meeting with his Burmese counterpart.

Speculation has been rife over the possible date of Burma’s first
elections since 1990, with eyes now fixed to the latter part of 2010, most
likely October. The ruling junta has confirmed only that they will be held
this year.

A number of potential runners in the elections have said however that the
lack of confirmation from the ruling junta of both the date and the laws
governing polling has hindered their ability to prepare, and may force
their withdrawal.

Thai foreign minister Kasit Piromya told Reuters yesterday after a meeting
with Nyan Win that “60 to 70 percent” of the electoral and political party
laws had been completed.

“You take another two or three months to make it 100 percent, so it will
take you by that time from the mathematical, or the guessing point of
view, to the middle of this year,” he said. “So, I think the elections
would be most probably in the second half.”

According to information leaked from a meeting between the head of a
prominent Japanese charity and the chief of the Union Solidarity and
Development Association (USDA), a proxy of the Burmese junta, the
elections will be held in October, most likely on the 10th.

The 10/10/2010 date would be in keeping with the junta’s fixation on
numerology, which has dictated many of the key decisions of the military
since it took power, including currency devaluations and the 1990 election
date.

Nyan Win also sought to assure Piromya that elections would be “free and
fair”, following criticism from the international community that
constitution, supposedly ratified by 92 percent of the country in the
weeks following cyclone Nargis in May 2008, would entrench military rule.

Indonesia’s foreign minister echoed international concerns but said that
delays to announcing the election date may remedy this.

“For us the main criterion, or the main preoccupation, would be that we
have that necessary positive, democratic atmosphere for a credible
election to take place,” he said, after meeting Nyan Win at an Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Vietnam.

“It’s best to allow things for such conditions to be established rather
than to rush into it and then we have a situation where the ideal
condition is not there.”

____________________________________

January 15, New Light of Myanmar
Myanmar Gazette

Nay Pyi Taw — The State Peace and Development Council has appointed Col
Soe Aung of the Ministry of Defence as Director-General of Relief and
Resettlement Department under the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and
Resettlement on probation from the date he assumes charge of his duties. —
MNA

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

January 15, Irrawaddy
Thai Cabinet to reconsider migrants' work permits – Lawi Weng

Nearly 60,000 Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, whose migrant
registration cards are due to expire on Jan 20, will be deported if they
do not get work permits within the next few days or the Thai government
quickly changes its policy to allow them to stay, according to leading
right groups in Thailand.

“Many of the 59,228 migrant workers [whose cards expire on Jan. 20] have
not been to apply for nationality verification. If the Thai government
does not extend their registration cards for one more year, they will be
deported,” said Andy Hall, the director of the Migrant Justice Programme
(MJP), based in Bangkok.

“Even if the government deports them, they will come back illegally
because they need the money. The government should find a solution for
them. It is quite dangerous if they are forced to work underground,” he
said.

MJP said it will ask Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to consider
deeply what will happen to the 59,228 migrants if they are deported.

The Thai government announced in December 2008 that migrants who have not
yet completed the nationality verification process by Feb 28, 2010, would
be deported.

MJP and other rights groups said that the Thai government will have a
Cabinet meeting soon and the migrants will have to wait until a Cabinet
resolution is issued that allows them to formally extend their permits.

The right groups have urged the Thai government to allow two more years
for migrant workers to go through the nationality verification process. In
the meantime, there are only 12,000 migrant workers in Thailand who have
work permits.

Of an estimated 2 to 3 million Burmese migrant workers in Thailand only
1,310,686 have registered as migrant workers.

Many of the Burmese migrants are from ethnic minority groups, such as the
Mon, the Karen and the Shan, and have fled from Burmese army oppression
and human rights abuses.

To verify their Burmese nationality, migrant workers have to submit
detailed biographical information to the Burmese military. Many fear for
their safety and of repercussions against family members in Burma if they
turn up at the military government offices for nationality verification
registration.

The rights groups say very limited public awareness has been raised about
the national verification process and its benefits, both for migrant
workers and employers.

The right groups have called on the Burmese government to send their
officials to verify their people's nationalities in Thailand in order to
encourage Burmese migrant workers to register. Due to a lack of
information and awareness about the national verification process, they
say many migrant workers have chosen to stay away from the process.

The Cambodian and Lao governments have sent their officials to Thailand to
complete the process in previous years. However, the Burmese government
has refused the demand and wants all migrant workers to go to three border
points––Myawaddy, Tachilek and Kawthoung––for nationality verification
registration.
____________________________________

January 15, Right Vision News (Pakistan)
Bangladesh: BDR, Nasaka talk fencing issue

A zone commander-level meeting between Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and
Myanmar's border guard Nasaka was held at Chakdhala frontier under
Naikhyongchhari upazila of Bandarban district yesterday on the issue of
erecting fence along border.Earlier, BDR lodged a protest with Nasaka for
erecting fence adjacent to zero point along border ignoring the
international boundary laws, BDR sources said.Combat of cross-border
smuggling, continued intrusion of Rohingyas and maintenance of peace
border also figured at the meeting.Nasaka handed over Azizul Haque and
Noor Mohammad, two Bangladesh nationals to BDR.

Both were held by Nasaka for the last six months, said sources.A
nine-member team from each side participated in the flag meeting.Commander
of the 15th Battalion of BDR stationed at Naikhyongchhari, Lt Col Shafiul
Azam, led the Bangladesh side while Col Umony Singh led the Nasaka of
Myanmar.Our Correspondent in Khagrachhari adds: police yesterday arrested
a Myanmar citizen from Guimara area under Ramgorh Upazila in
Khagrachhari.Arrestee Mohammad Rafiq 30, is son of Abdul Alim of
Goalliyadev village under Iaikep district of Myanmar.Guimara police
station Sub Inspector Mohammad Rashed told this correspondent that Rafiq
was staying in Cox's Bazar for the last seven years. A few days ago he
brought to Guimara his other associates. However, they managed to escape
police raid.A case was filed with Guimara police station in this
connection. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Right Vision
News. For more information on news feed please contact Sarabjit Jagirdar
at htsyndication at hindustantimes.com

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

January 15, Kyodo News (Japan)
Okada, Thai's Kasit agree on need for 'fair' Myanmar election

Tokyo – Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and his Thai counterpart
Kasit Piromya agreed Friday that an ''open and fair'' general election in
Myanmar is important for the further development of Southeast Asian
nations, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

January 15, Irrawaddy
A mouse tries to catch a big cat’s tail – Htet Aung

To try to remedy the country’s ill-managed agricultural economy, Burma’s
leading outspoken economist unveiled a few economic reform proposals
recently during a rare economic forum held in cooperation with UN-ESCAP in
December.

As a follow-up, U Myint, a retired economics professor at the Rangoon
Institute of Economics and a former economic adviser to ESCAP, held a
press briefing at the Myanmar Egress Capacity Development Center on Jan.
9.

In his press statement, U Myint recalled that someone at the conference
expressed the view that the only people worth talking to in Myanmar are
the generals, but the generals are poor listeners or are hard of hearing
so it is a waste of time to talk to them because nothing useful will
result.

Responding to this view, he said in his statement: “The military
establishment here, like  other establishments, is not a monolith. It has
its hardliners and soft liners, conservative wing and liberal wing, and
poor listeners and good listeners.”

U Myint is not in the camp of some Burma military watchers who regularly
predict that the power struggle among the military leaders will lead to
the establishment's disintegration. He  prefers to work to try to
influence the military establishment.

The economic forum gained the attention and criticism of some Burma
observers because of the presence of Economics Nobel Laureate Joseph
Stiglitz, who recently offered economic advice to the generals.

Many observers saw the event as just another political dance by the
generals that was aimed at reducing international political pressure
before the election this year.

But, the forum offered a platform for U Myint and others to state their
views. Economic experts in Burma, such as U Myint, take a real risk if
they criticize the economic mismanagement of the generals while at the
same time trying to engage them in a dialogue.

“It does not matter if the mouse is black or white, as long as it is not
caught by the cat,” said U Myint, reversing a quotation of Deng Xiaoping,
China’s former paramount leader. “I request that you keep in mind that
mice take considerable personal risks in trying to bring about change in
Myanmar [Burma].”

This conference was different, because of Stiglitz's presence, but
seminars on Burma’s economy involving the junta and Burmese economists,
including U Myint, have been held in the past.

U Myint is, in fact, a committed economic reformer trying to change an
outdated and ineffective economic policy. Since the heyday of spymaster
Gen Khin Nyunt, he has tried to engage with the generals to improve the
country’s economy.

On Jan. 22, 1998, the state-run New Light of Myanmar reported the
attendance of Gen Khin Nyunt at the closing ceremony of a five-day seminar
called “An Analysis and Assessment of the Current Economic Situation in
Myanmar.”

It was co-sponsored by the Office of Strategic Studies of the Ministry of
Defense and the Tun Foundation Bank in which U Myint is a director.

Later, U Myint publicly criticized the junta’s economic mismanagement. In
2006, he gave a talk on Burma’s economy at the American Center in Rangoon.
Young Burmese political reformers, including 88 Generation student leaders
Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, joined the talk. I was also attended the
event.

In the same year, U Myint presented a paper, “Myanmar Economy: A
Comparative View,” at the Burma Studies Conference in Singapore.

“When we got independence from Britain in 1948
we said 'Burma is an
agricultural country, and it is rich in natural resources,'” U Myint wrote
in this paper. “Fifty years later, we are still saying 'Myanmar is an
agricultural country, and it is rich in natural resources.'”

“In 1938 when the country was a British colony, the share of agriculture
in GDP was 48 percent. In 2003, agriculture's share was reported to be 52
percent. But it also indicates there is no structural change in the
economy, and that we are not getting anywhere.”

U Myint, in his recent press statement, proposed to set up a Rice
Technical Advisory Group (RTAG) with academics and professionals, who
would advise on how to improve the agricultural base.

The question now is: How can Burma’s patriotic western-educated economists
convince the blind-nationalist non-economist-minded generals for the
structural change of the country’s economy?

Dr Tin Soe, a former professor and head of a department at the Rangoon
Institute of Economics, discussed the main characteristics of the Burmese
economy in a paper, “Policy Dilemmas and Economic Development: A Case
Study of Myanmar Economy in Transition.” The paper appeared in the Journal
of International Cooperation Studies Vol. 15, No. 3 in 2008.

He wrote: “The policies and plans in Myanmar especially since the early
1960s under military regimes were characterized by inconsistency,
instability, interruption and discontinuation, rigidity and limited scope
and vision, lack of transparency, unpredictability and uncertainty,
quantitative physical targets-orientation, inefficient and ineffective
implementation and use and abuse of consultancy and advisory services.”

Elaborating on the “use and abuse of consultancy and advisory services,”
he wrote: “The SPDC has formed the Myanmar Academy as a national
think-tank organization
to mobilize the retired and in-service professors,
rectors, researchers and scholars to provide consultancy services. The
advisers/consultants are rarely formally consulted in formulating
policies, and, if used, it is usually to legitimize the decisions made by
the policy makers to convince the public.

“At times, the services of consultants, scholars, researchers have been
abused,” he wrote. “Assignments were controlled....[so that a] final
‘report’ usually came out in a distorted and incomprehensible form.”

While reading Dr Tin Soe’s paper, I remembered my news article on U
Myint’s explanation when he was accused of supporting the junta's
double-hike in the price of fuel in 2007. (The Irrawaddy, Sept. 6, 2007)

At that time, U Myint said: “The strongest reservations on this matter
[fuel price hike] were raised by me and my colleague, Prof. Dr Tin Soe.”


In his illuminating paper, Tin Soe wrote: “As a matter of
historical-cultural fact, although the social status of the intellectuals
or learned persons in Myanmar society is high traditionally, the ruling
class has rarely given them an effective role in policy making or in
implementing policy.”

Tin Soe’s assessment of the role of Burmese intellectuals in formulating
government policy is true.

However, if the country had an army of outspoken intellectuals such as U
Myint and Tin Soe, it would have a fighting chance of influencing the
hard-of-hearing generals.
____________________________________

January 15, United News of Bangladesh
Bangladesh-Myanmar maritime boundary talks: A big step forward – Barrister
Harun ur Rashid

During the recent meeting (8th and 9th January) in Dhaka, the delegations
from Bangladesh and Myanmar have been able to agree on the method of
delimitation of sea boundary. It is a very positive outcome. It is not
only a big step forward to achieving a successful outcome but also
demonstrates the determination of both countries to resolve the issue
bilaterally.

The talks at earlier stages bogged down on what method -equidistance or
equity of resources-is to be applied to draw the boundary in the Bay of
Bengal. While Bangladesh had proposed equity of resources as the method of
boundary, Myanmar insisted on apply the equidistant method.

Bangladesh case was that if equidistant method was applied, a gross
distortion would take place in the boundary line making it much narrower
than Bangladesh deserved and was thus not acceptable. It is further
claimed that equidistance method, if applied, will lose 48,025 square
kilometres of Bangladesh's claimed area to Myanmar.

During the recent talks, both delegations agreed for the first time since
1974 that both methods will be applicable to demarcate the maritime
boundary. This difficult hurdle has been overcome and now the process of
nitty-gritty of demarcating the boundary will hopefully proceed within a
time-framework to complete the process.

Factors contributing to the agreed outcome:

The very fact that Bangladesh and Myanmar sat for negotiations on maritime
boundary in April 2008 after a lapse of 22 years demonstrated the
willingness of both countries to achieve an accord on this important issue
when sources of energy are explored from maritime areas (sea bed).

Other factors that have contributed to the agreement of method of
demarcation deserve mention as follows:

o Bangladesh and Myanmar are friendly states and any confrontation on this
issue is not desirable. All the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and
Myanmar wish the issue to be settled peacefully between them.

o Coastal belts or configuration adjacent to the sea are fashioned by
nature and do not conform to any neat mathematical formula and therefore
equidistant method that is based on a geometrical calculations does not
apply for all the regimes of the sea claimed by states under UNCLOS.

o Both the Ambassador of Myanmar in Bangladesh and Bangladesh Ambassador
in Myanmar must have sincerely worked behind the scene to have an agreed
method to resolve the issue

o It seems Bangladesh side has been able to convince Myanmar side that its
position stands on the principle of international law as contemplated by
the UNCLOS and would not agree to the equidistant method because
Bangladesh and Myanmar are not opposite states but adjacent/lateral
states.

oBangladesh's initiation of proceedings on maritime boundary to
international arbitration under Annex VII of the UNCLOS demonstrates
Bangladesh's deep commitment to international law and Myanmar seems to
have seen merit in Bangladesh's case.

o Both sides are aware that UNCLOS emphasises bilateral agreement as a
preferable method to achieve the mutually satisfactory result.

o Negotiation implies persuasion and compromise without abandoning vital
national interests. Negotiations involved understanding of the other's
point of view and in all successful negotiations it becomes necessary to
give something in return to the other side.

Against the background, it is heartening to note that bilateral
negotiations on sea boundary have turned into a positive momentum and the
next meeting would be held in April.

Law under the UN Convention:

The 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea provides guidelines for drawing
maritime boundary as between states.

Bangladesh ratified the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
in July 2001 while Myanmar ratified it in May 1996. This means both states
are legally bound by the provisions of the UNCLOS in delimiting the
maritime boundary

There are three issues to be settled with Myanmar with regard to
delimitation of maritime boundary: (a) Territorial Sea (b) Exclusive
Economic Zone (c) Continental Shelf (sea bed).

The territorial sea extends to 12 nautical miles, the exclusive economic
zone to another 188 miles and the continental shelf may extend another 150
miles. In all 350 miles of maritime boundary are involved.

The jurisdiction of a state on territorial sea is three
dimensional---control on airspace of the territorial sea, surface water
and seabed except "innocent passage" of foreign ships, while the
jurisdiction on economic zone and continental shelf is resources-oriented.
States has the exclusive right to explore, exploit, preserve, conserve and
protect living and non-living resources of the sea of these areas.

With regard to the territorial sea, Article 15 of the UN Convention on the
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides the equidistant method for its
delimitation, unless the states concerned agree otherwise.

The equidistant method is drawing a median line every point of which is
equidistant from the nearest points on the baselines from which the
breadth of the territorial sea is measured. It is a line based on
geometric calculations.

With regard to the delimitation of economic zone and continental shelf,
UNCLOS in its Articles 74 and 83 does not provide equidistant method as
the basis of agreement.

Both the Articles provide that the delimitation agreement on economic zone
and continental shelf must achieve "equitable solution" That means justice
and fairness must guide the negotiations leading to an equitable solution.

I would argue Bangladesh's concavity and heavily indented coastline,
natural prolongation of its land territory to continental shelf, its
scanty natural resources in proportion of the huge population, and the
general orientation of the Bangladesh's topography are some of the factors
to be considered by Myanmar in determining the maritime boundary of
Bangladesh to achieve an equitable solution, as contemplated by the UN
Convention.

Another fact is to be borne in mind that the claim in the areas in the Bay
of Bengal constitutes about 10-12% of Myanmar's but Bangladesh's stake is
100% per cent. Bangladesh should get a fair and just share of the
continental shelf (sea bed) of the Bay of Bengal in terms of the UN
Convention.

Summing up:

Given the spirit of goodwill generated through the agreed method of
demarcation of maritime boundary, I would argue that a mutually accepted
boundary will hopefully be completed so that both countries may exploit
and explore the maritime areas for their benefit of economic development.

It is hoped that India will adopt similar stance in resolving the maritime
boundary issue with Bangladesh.

[Barrister Harun ur Rashid is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN,
Geneva]
January 15, 2010, Issue #3877


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar democracy leader Suu Kyi meets official
Reuters: Ageing Myanmar opposition gets "middle-aged" boost
DVB: Woman included in NLD expansion
DVB: Burma electoral laws ‘70 percent complete’
New Light of Myanmar: Myanmar Gazette

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Thai Cabinet to reconsider migrants' work permits
Right Vision News (Pakistan): Bangladesh: BDR, Nasaka talk fencing issue

INTERNATIONAL
Kyodo News (Japan): Okada, Thai's Kasit agree on need for 'fair' Myanmar
election

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: A mouse tries to catch a big cat’s tail – Htet Aung
United News of Bangladesh: Bangladesh-Myanmar maritime boundary talks: A
big step forward – Barrister Harun ur Rashid




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

January 15, Associated Press
Myanmar democracy leader Suu Kyi meets official

Yangon, Myanmar -- Detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi
on Friday held her first meeting this year with the Cabinet official
responsible for contact with her, as her party makes preparations for
possible participation in elections.

Officials said Suu Kyi was taken from her home to meet for about 20
minutes with Relations Minister Aung Kyi. The officials, who spoke on
condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release
information, did not know the contents of their talk.

Myanmar's military government has set elections, the first since 1990, for
an unspecified date this year. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy
party, which has not yet declared whether it will take part, this week
expanded its central executive committee by nine members to 20.

Last year, party colleagues agreed to Suu Kyi's suggestion that the
committee be reorganized. Most of its members are elderly.

Suu Kyi's last meeting with Aung Kyi was on Dec. 9, when he informed her
that her request to be allowed to meet with the party elders was granted.
She met them on Dec. 16.

Suu Kyi has also requested a meeting with junta chief Senior Gen. Than
Shwe to explain how she would cooperate in tasks "beneficial to the
country," but is not yet known to have received any response.

The constitution adopted in 2008 that set up this year's polls was
considered undemocratic by her party. It has clauses that would ensure
that the military remains the controlling power in government, and would
bar Suu Kyi from holding office.

Politics in Myanmar have been deadlocked since Suu Kyi's party
overwhelmingly won the 1990 elections. The military refused to allow it to
take power and clamped down on the pro-democracy movement, causing the
United States and another Western nations to impose economic and political
sanctions in an attempt to isolate the junta.

However, the Obama administration has said the sanctions failed to foster
reforms and is seeking to engage the junta through high-level talks.
____________________________________

January 15, Reuters
Ageing Myanmar opposition gets "middle-aged" boost

Yangon – Myanmar's main opposition party has injected some youth into its
aging leadership, although the new recruits are all in their 60s and the
ailing 92-year-old chairman keeps the top job.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) of detained Nobel laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi said nine "middle-aged" party officials were joining its
executive committee, whose 11 existing members have an average age of
nearly 82.

"We have added nine middle-aged party officials to fulfill the desire of
the party's youth members and help reinforce the committee," senior NLD
member Khin Maung Swe told Reuters.

Much of the NLD's leadership is frail and in poor health. Chairman Aung
Shwe has been housebound for over a year due to illness.

Some of the older members are against the NLD running in this year's
elections, the first in two decades, because they believe the constitution
gives too much power to the military, which has ruled for almost five
decades.

A former top NLD official said it was unlikely the new members, all former
political prisoners, would have any impact on party policy in the short
term.

"The only change we can expect is a steep drop in the average age," he
said. "They have injected new blood into the leadership but the brains of
the party will remain as old as before."

(Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Alan
Raybould)

____________________________________

January 15, Democratic Voice of Burma
Woman included in NLD expansion – Htet Aung Kyaw and Francis Wade

Another woman will join the Burmese opposition party’s central committee
after a major and unprecedented expansion was yesterday put into motion.

Nine people in total have been added to the existing 11-member central
executive committee (CEC) of the National League for Democracy (NLD)
party. One of these, Dr May Win Myint, is now the only female in the
committee other than the detained leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

The news was met with muted enthusiasm by the secretary general of the
Thailand-based Burma Women’s Union (BWU), Tin Tin Nyo, which has in the
past called for a greater gender balance within the party.

“Only after 20 years has one more woman been included in the CEC,” she
said. “It’s a positive step, but it’s taken so many years to get [here].”

“I would suggest however that the NLD consider more women at this
decision-making level. There are 20 people, and only two of these are
women. The other woman, Aung San Suu Kyi, is under house arrest, so it’s
really only one woman [who is active].”

Another prominent addition to the CEC is party spokesperson and lawyer for
Suu Kyi, Nyan Win, who acted as the international media’s first port of
call during the Suu Kyi trial last year.

Another NLD spokesperson, Khin Maung Swe, said that the majority of the
CEC, those who were neither detained or in poor health, will hold a
plenary meeting next Monday to assign duties to the new members.

He added that the expansion was being undertaken to prepare for “the
upcoming political situation in the country”, but declined to say whether
this was a reference to the looming elections, which the NLD is yet to
announce whether it will participate in.

Some lower-ranking NLD members complained last week however that the
decision-making process to select the new members had been done without
full cooperation from the various party wings.

Khin Maung Swe reacted by saying that the party had needed to act swiftly
on the requests of regional members. The expansion was first framed as a
call for fresh blood in the party following a rare meeting between Suu Kyi
and two ageing CEC members, chairperson Aung Shwe and secretary U Lwin.

“Due to our respect to [regional members], we carried out the expansion
quickly. If we have to collect opinions from the ground level, we wouldn’t
be able to do it this quickly,” he said. “One day, when we can convene
everyone, we will do this as a fully democratic procedure.”

____________________________________

January 15, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burma electoral laws ‘70 percent complete’ – Francis Wade

The majority of Burma’s electoral laws have been completed and will be
rounded off in a matter of months, the Thai foreign minister reported
after a meeting with his Burmese counterpart.

Speculation has been rife over the possible date of Burma’s first
elections since 1990, with eyes now fixed to the latter part of 2010, most
likely October. The ruling junta has confirmed only that they will be held
this year.

A number of potential runners in the elections have said however that the
lack of confirmation from the ruling junta of both the date and the laws
governing polling has hindered their ability to prepare, and may force
their withdrawal.

Thai foreign minister Kasit Piromya told Reuters yesterday after a meeting
with Nyan Win that “60 to 70 percent” of the electoral and political party
laws had been completed.

“You take another two or three months to make it 100 percent, so it will
take you by that time from the mathematical, or the guessing point of
view, to the middle of this year,” he said. “So, I think the elections
would be most probably in the second half.”

According to information leaked from a meeting between the head of a
prominent Japanese charity and the chief of the Union Solidarity and
Development Association (USDA), a proxy of the Burmese junta, the
elections will be held in October, most likely on the 10th.

The 10/10/2010 date would be in keeping with the junta’s fixation on
numerology, which has dictated many of the key decisions of the military
since it took power, including currency devaluations and the 1990 election
date.

Nyan Win also sought to assure Piromya that elections would be “free and
fair”, following criticism from the international community that
constitution, supposedly ratified by 92 percent of the country in the
weeks following cyclone Nargis in May 2008, would entrench military rule.

Indonesia’s foreign minister echoed international concerns but said that
delays to announcing the election date may remedy this.

“For us the main criterion, or the main preoccupation, would be that we
have that necessary positive, democratic atmosphere for a credible
election to take place,” he said, after meeting Nyan Win at an Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Vietnam.

“It’s best to allow things for such conditions to be established rather
than to rush into it and then we have a situation where the ideal
condition is not there.”

____________________________________

January 15, New Light of Myanmar
Myanmar Gazette

Nay Pyi Taw — The State Peace and Development Council has appointed Col
Soe Aung of the Ministry of Defence as Director-General of Relief and
Resettlement Department under the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and
Resettlement on probation from the date he assumes charge of his duties. —
MNA

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

January 15, Irrawaddy
Thai Cabinet to reconsider migrants' work permits – Lawi Weng

Nearly 60,000 Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, whose migrant
registration cards are due to expire on Jan 20, will be deported if they
do not get work permits within the next few days or the Thai government
quickly changes its policy to allow them to stay, according to leading
right groups in Thailand.

“Many of the 59,228 migrant workers [whose cards expire on Jan. 20] have
not been to apply for nationality verification. If the Thai government
does not extend their registration cards for one more year, they will be
deported,” said Andy Hall, the director of the Migrant Justice Programme
(MJP), based in Bangkok.

“Even if the government deports them, they will come back illegally
because they need the money. The government should find a solution for
them. It is quite dangerous if they are forced to work underground,” he
said.

MJP said it will ask Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to consider
deeply what will happen to the 59,228 migrants if they are deported.

The Thai government announced in December 2008 that migrants who have not
yet completed the nationality verification process by Feb 28, 2010, would
be deported.

MJP and other rights groups said that the Thai government will have a
Cabinet meeting soon and the migrants will have to wait until a Cabinet
resolution is issued that allows them to formally extend their permits.

The right groups have urged the Thai government to allow two more years
for migrant workers to go through the nationality verification process. In
the meantime, there are only 12,000 migrant workers in Thailand who have
work permits.

Of an estimated 2 to 3 million Burmese migrant workers in Thailand only
1,310,686 have registered as migrant workers.

Many of the Burmese migrants are from ethnic minority groups, such as the
Mon, the Karen and the Shan, and have fled from Burmese army oppression
and human rights abuses.

To verify their Burmese nationality, migrant workers have to submit
detailed biographical information to the Burmese military. Many fear for
their safety and of repercussions against family members in Burma if they
turn up at the military government offices for nationality verification
registration.

The rights groups say very limited public awareness has been raised about
the national verification process and its benefits, both for migrant
workers and employers.

The right groups have called on the Burmese government to send their
officials to verify their people's nationalities in Thailand in order to
encourage Burmese migrant workers to register. Due to a lack of
information and awareness about the national verification process, they
say many migrant workers have chosen to stay away from the process.

The Cambodian and Lao governments have sent their officials to Thailand to
complete the process in previous years. However, the Burmese government
has refused the demand and wants all migrant workers to go to three border
points––Myawaddy, Tachilek and Kawthoung––for nationality verification
registration.
____________________________________

January 15, Right Vision News (Pakistan)
Bangladesh: BDR, Nasaka talk fencing issue

A zone commander-level meeting between Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and
Myanmar's border guard Nasaka was held at Chakdhala frontier under
Naikhyongchhari upazila of Bandarban district yesterday on the issue of
erecting fence along border.Earlier, BDR lodged a protest with Nasaka for
erecting fence adjacent to zero point along border ignoring the
international boundary laws, BDR sources said.Combat of cross-border
smuggling, continued intrusion of Rohingyas and maintenance of peace
border also figured at the meeting.Nasaka handed over Azizul Haque and
Noor Mohammad, two Bangladesh nationals to BDR.

Both were held by Nasaka for the last six months, said sources.A
nine-member team from each side participated in the flag meeting.Commander
of the 15th Battalion of BDR stationed at Naikhyongchhari, Lt Col Shafiul
Azam, led the Bangladesh side while Col Umony Singh led the Nasaka of
Myanmar.Our Correspondent in Khagrachhari adds: police yesterday arrested
a Myanmar citizen from Guimara area under Ramgorh Upazila in
Khagrachhari.Arrestee Mohammad Rafiq 30, is son of Abdul Alim of
Goalliyadev village under Iaikep district of Myanmar.Guimara police
station Sub Inspector Mohammad Rashed told this correspondent that Rafiq
was staying in Cox's Bazar for the last seven years. A few days ago he
brought to Guimara his other associates. However, they managed to escape
police raid.A case was filed with Guimara police station in this
connection. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Right Vision
News. For more information on news feed please contact Sarabjit Jagirdar
at htsyndication at hindustantimes.com

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

January 15, Kyodo News (Japan)
Okada, Thai's Kasit agree on need for 'fair' Myanmar election

Tokyo – Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and his Thai counterpart
Kasit Piromya agreed Friday that an ''open and fair'' general election in
Myanmar is important for the further development of Southeast Asian
nations, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

January 15, Irrawaddy
A mouse tries to catch a big cat’s tail – Htet Aung

To try to remedy the country’s ill-managed agricultural economy, Burma’s
leading outspoken economist unveiled a few economic reform proposals
recently during a rare economic forum held in cooperation with UN-ESCAP in
December.

As a follow-up, U Myint, a retired economics professor at the Rangoon
Institute of Economics and a former economic adviser to ESCAP, held a
press briefing at the Myanmar Egress Capacity Development Center on Jan.
9.

In his press statement, U Myint recalled that someone at the conference
expressed the view that the only people worth talking to in Myanmar are
the generals, but the generals are poor listeners or are hard of hearing
so it is a waste of time to talk to them because nothing useful will
result.

Responding to this view, he said in his statement: “The military
establishment here, like  other establishments, is not a monolith. It has
its hardliners and soft liners, conservative wing and liberal wing, and
poor listeners and good listeners.”

U Myint is not in the camp of some Burma military watchers who regularly
predict that the power struggle among the military leaders will lead to
the establishment's disintegration. He  prefers to work to try to
influence the military establishment.

The economic forum gained the attention and criticism of some Burma
observers because of the presence of Economics Nobel Laureate Joseph
Stiglitz, who recently offered economic advice to the generals.

Many observers saw the event as just another political dance by the
generals that was aimed at reducing international political pressure
before the election this year.

But, the forum offered a platform for U Myint and others to state their
views. Economic experts in Burma, such as U Myint, take a real risk if
they criticize the economic mismanagement of the generals while at the
same time trying to engage them in a dialogue.

“It does not matter if the mouse is black or white, as long as it is not
caught by the cat,” said U Myint, reversing a quotation of Deng Xiaoping,
China’s former paramount leader. “I request that you keep in mind that
mice take considerable personal risks in trying to bring about change in
Myanmar [Burma].”

This conference was different, because of Stiglitz's presence, but
seminars on Burma’s economy involving the junta and Burmese economists,
including U Myint, have been held in the past.

U Myint is, in fact, a committed economic reformer trying to change an
outdated and ineffective economic policy. Since the heyday of spymaster
Gen Khin Nyunt, he has tried to engage with the generals to improve the
country’s economy.

On Jan. 22, 1998, the state-run New Light of Myanmar reported the
attendance of Gen Khin Nyunt at the closing ceremony of a five-day seminar
called “An Analysis and Assessment of the Current Economic Situation in
Myanmar.”

It was co-sponsored by the Office of Strategic Studies of the Ministry of
Defense and the Tun Foundation Bank in which U Myint is a director.

Later, U Myint publicly criticized the junta’s economic mismanagement. In
2006, he gave a talk on Burma’s economy at the American Center in Rangoon.
Young Burmese political reformers, including 88 Generation student leaders
Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, joined the talk. I was also attended the
event.

In the same year, U Myint presented a paper, “Myanmar Economy: A
Comparative View,” at the Burma Studies Conference in Singapore.

“When we got independence from Britain in 1948
we said 'Burma is an
agricultural country, and it is rich in natural resources,'” U Myint wrote
in this paper. “Fifty years later, we are still saying 'Myanmar is an
agricultural country, and it is rich in natural resources.'”

“In 1938 when the country was a British colony, the share of agriculture
in GDP was 48 percent. In 2003, agriculture's share was reported to be 52
percent. But it also indicates there is no structural change in the
economy, and that we are not getting anywhere.”

U Myint, in his recent press statement, proposed to set up a Rice
Technical Advisory Group (RTAG) with academics and professionals, who
would advise on how to improve the agricultural base.

The question now is: How can Burma’s patriotic western-educated economists
convince the blind-nationalist non-economist-minded generals for the
structural change of the country’s economy?

Dr Tin Soe, a former professor and head of a department at the Rangoon
Institute of Economics, discussed the main characteristics of the Burmese
economy in a paper, “Policy Dilemmas and Economic Development: A Case
Study of Myanmar Economy in Transition.” The paper appeared in the Journal
of International Cooperation Studies Vol. 15, No. 3 in 2008.

He wrote: “The policies and plans in Myanmar especially since the early
1960s under military regimes were characterized by inconsistency,
instability, interruption and discontinuation, rigidity and limited scope
and vision, lack of transparency, unpredictability and uncertainty,
quantitative physical targets-orientation, inefficient and ineffective
implementation and use and abuse of consultancy and advisory services.”

Elaborating on the “use and abuse of consultancy and advisory services,”
he wrote: “The SPDC has formed the Myanmar Academy as a national
think-tank organization
to mobilize the retired and in-service professors,
rectors, researchers and scholars to provide consultancy services. The
advisers/consultants are rarely formally consulted in formulating
policies, and, if used, it is usually to legitimize the decisions made by
the policy makers to convince the public.

“At times, the services of consultants, scholars, researchers have been
abused,” he wrote. “Assignments were controlled....[so that a] final
‘report’ usually came out in a distorted and incomprehensible form.”

While reading Dr Tin Soe’s paper, I remembered my news article on U
Myint’s explanation when he was accused of supporting the junta's
double-hike in the price of fuel in 2007. (The Irrawaddy, Sept. 6, 2007)

At that time, U Myint said: “The strongest reservations on this matter
[fuel price hike] were raised by me and my colleague, Prof. Dr Tin Soe.”


In his illuminating paper, Tin Soe wrote: “As a matter of
historical-cultural fact, although the social status of the intellectuals
or learned persons in Myanmar society is high traditionally, the ruling
class has rarely given them an effective role in policy making or in
implementing policy.”

Tin Soe’s assessment of the role of Burmese intellectuals in formulating
government policy is true.

However, if the country had an army of outspoken intellectuals such as U
Myint and Tin Soe, it would have a fighting chance of influencing the
hard-of-hearing generals.
____________________________________

January 15, United News of Bangladesh
Bangladesh-Myanmar maritime boundary talks: A big step forward – Barrister
Harun ur Rashid

During the recent meeting (8th and 9th January) in Dhaka, the delegations
from Bangladesh and Myanmar have been able to agree on the method of
delimitation of sea boundary. It is a very positive outcome. It is not
only a big step forward to achieving a successful outcome but also
demonstrates the determination of both countries to resolve the issue
bilaterally.

The talks at earlier stages bogged down on what method -equidistance or
equity of resources-is to be applied to draw the boundary in the Bay of
Bengal. While Bangladesh had proposed equity of resources as the method of
boundary, Myanmar insisted on apply the equidistant method.

Bangladesh case was that if equidistant method was applied, a gross
distortion would take place in the boundary line making it much narrower
than Bangladesh deserved and was thus not acceptable. It is further
claimed that equidistance method, if applied, will lose 48,025 square
kilometres of Bangladesh's claimed area to Myanmar.

During the recent talks, both delegations agreed for the first time since
1974 that both methods will be applicable to demarcate the maritime
boundary. This difficult hurdle has been overcome and now the process of
nitty-gritty of demarcating the boundary will hopefully proceed within a
time-framework to complete the process.

Factors contributing to the agreed outcome:

The very fact that Bangladesh and Myanmar sat for negotiations on maritime
boundary in April 2008 after a lapse of 22 years demonstrated the
willingness of both countries to achieve an accord on this important issue
when sources of energy are explored from maritime areas (sea bed).

Other factors that have contributed to the agreement of method of
demarcation deserve mention as follows:

o Bangladesh and Myanmar are friendly states and any confrontation on this
issue is not desirable. All the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and
Myanmar wish the issue to be settled peacefully between them.

o Coastal belts or configuration adjacent to the sea are fashioned by
nature and do not conform to any neat mathematical formula and therefore
equidistant method that is based on a geometrical calculations does not
apply for all the regimes of the sea claimed by states under UNCLOS.

o Both the Ambassador of Myanmar in Bangladesh and Bangladesh Ambassador
in Myanmar must have sincerely worked behind the scene to have an agreed
method to resolve the issue

o It seems Bangladesh side has been able to convince Myanmar side that its
position stands on the principle of international law as contemplated by
the UNCLOS and would not agree to the equidistant method because
Bangladesh and Myanmar are not opposite states but adjacent/lateral
states.

oBangladesh's initiation of proceedings on maritime boundary to
international arbitration under Annex VII of the UNCLOS demonstrates
Bangladesh's deep commitment to international law and Myanmar seems to
have seen merit in Bangladesh's case.

o Both sides are aware that UNCLOS emphasises bilateral agreement as a
preferable method to achieve the mutually satisfactory result.

o Negotiation implies persuasion and compromise without abandoning vital
national interests. Negotiations involved understanding of the other's
point of view and in all successful negotiations it becomes necessary to
give something in return to the other side.

Against the background, it is heartening to note that bilateral
negotiations on sea boundary have turned into a positive momentum and the
next meeting would be held in April.

Law under the UN Convention:

The 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea provides guidelines for drawing
maritime boundary as between states.

Bangladesh ratified the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
in July 2001 while Myanmar ratified it in May 1996. This means both states
are legally bound by the provisions of the UNCLOS in delimiting the
maritime boundary

There are three issues to be settled with Myanmar with regard to
delimitation of maritime boundary: (a) Territorial Sea (b) Exclusive
Economic Zone (c) Continental Shelf (sea bed).

The territorial sea extends to 12 nautical miles, the exclusive economic
zone to another 188 miles and the continental shelf may extend another 150
miles. In all 350 miles of maritime boundary are involved.

The jurisdiction of a state on territorial sea is three
dimensional---control on airspace of the territorial sea, surface water
and seabed except "innocent passage" of foreign ships, while the
jurisdiction on economic zone and continental shelf is resources-oriented.
States has the exclusive right to explore, exploit, preserve, conserve and
protect living and non-living resources of the sea of these areas.

With regard to the territorial sea, Article 15 of the UN Convention on the
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides the equidistant method for its
delimitation, unless the states concerned agree otherwise.

The equidistant method is drawing a median line every point of which is
equidistant from the nearest points on the baselines from which the
breadth of the territorial sea is measured. It is a line based on
geometric calculations.

With regard to the delimitation of economic zone and continental shelf,
UNCLOS in its Articles 74 and 83 does not provide equidistant method as
the basis of agreement.

Both the Articles provide that the delimitation agreement on economic zone
and continental shelf must achieve "equitable solution" That means justice
and fairness must guide the negotiations leading to an equitable solution.

I would argue Bangladesh's concavity and heavily indented coastline,
natural prolongation of its land territory to continental shelf, its
scanty natural resources in proportion of the huge population, and the
general orientation of the Bangladesh's topography are some of the factors
to be considered by Myanmar in determining the maritime boundary of
Bangladesh to achieve an equitable solution, as contemplated by the UN
Convention.

Another fact is to be borne in mind that the claim in the areas in the Bay
of Bengal constitutes about 10-12% of Myanmar's but Bangladesh's stake is
100% per cent. Bangladesh should get a fair and just share of the
continental shelf (sea bed) of the Bay of Bengal in terms of the UN
Convention.

Summing up:

Given the spirit of goodwill generated through the agreed method of
demarcation of maritime boundary, I would argue that a mutually accepted
boundary will hopefully be completed so that both countries may exploit
and explore the maritime areas for their benefit of economic development.

It is hoped that India will adopt similar stance in resolving the maritime
boundary issue with Bangladesh.

[Barrister Harun ur Rashid is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN,
Geneva]