BurmaNet News, August 21-23, 2010

[Editor]

August 21-23, 2010 Issue #4025

INSIDE BURMA
DPA: Vote for 'good, smart, patriotic people,' Myanmar premier urges
AP: Veteran Myanmar politician says gov't party to win
APN: Numbers stacked against Myanmar opposition, party leaders say
Radio Australia: Burma suspends visas on arrival before election
SHAN: Junta sets new BGF deadline for ethnic armed groups
Xinhua: Myanmar to file human rights report to U.N. next year
Mizzima: State censor bans use of bamboo-hat logo
Mizzima: Political prisoner denied surgery for 1½ years

BUSINESS / TRADE
DVB: Asia’s middle class swells, Burma left behind
Xinhua: Two major Indonesian banks to open offices in Myanmar

ASEAN
The Nation: Human Rights: Asean versus universal standards

REGIONAL
Kyodo News: Myanmar prodded on poll, Suu Kyi
Irrawaddy: Burma-Timor Leste forge closer ties

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Election results will be predictable - Ba Kaung
DVB: Militaries, men and a machismo mindset - Gayatri Lakshmibai
Washington Post: Is Burma on the verge of transformation? - David I.
Steinberg

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 23, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Vote for 'good, smart, patriotic people,' Myanmar premier urges

Yangon - Myanmar's prime minister has urged people to vote for "good,
smart, patriotic people" in the general election on November 7, media
reports said Monday.

Thein Sein also warned voters in the military-run country to "prevent any
destructive acts so the election will meet with success," the government's
New Light of Myanmar reported.

The prime minister was speaking at the opening Sunday of a 32-kilometre
rail link between Pyay and Paukkhaug in central Myanmar.

A general election is planned for November 7 to select an upper, lower and
regional houses of parliament. It would be the first polls the junta-ruled
country has held in 20 years.

The pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party was expected to field
the greatest number of candidates in the polls, which few observers
expected to bring genuine democracy in the country.

A clause in the new constitution allows the military control over any
future elected government by making the upper house of the National
Parliament a partially junta-appointed body with veto power over
legislation.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The last election in 1990
was won by the National League for Democracy Party, led by pro-democracy
icon Aung San Suu Kyi. The victorious party was blocked from assuming
power.

____________________________________

August 22, The Associated Press
Veteran Myanmar politician says gov't party to win

YANGON, Myanmar -- A veteran politician contesting Myanmar's upcoming
elections said Sunday the political party backed by the ruling military
junta will easily win the most seats because challengers face financial
and other handicaps.

Thu Wai, chairman of the newly formed Democratic Party (Myanmar), said the
challenger parties can field candidates in less than half of the national
and regional constituencies.

But the junta's backing gives the Union Solidarity and Development Party,
led by Prime Minister Thein Sein, access to money and a national presence,
and the party is widely expected to receive the most votes.

The Nov. 7 elections are the first in impoverished Myanmar in two decades.
The National League for Democracy party of detained democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi, which overwhelmingly won the last elections in 1990 but was
barred by the military from taking power, has decided to boycott the
polls.

"By creating obstacles to other political parties before the election, it
won't be necessary to cheat or rig votes in the election as the USDP is
getting the upper hand. Thus voting (itself) will be free and fair," Thu
Wai said.

All candidates contesting the polls must pay the Election Commission a
deposit of 500,000 kyat ($500), more than half a year's salary for an
average schoolteacher.

Thu Wai, 77, is a longtime democracy activist and former political
prisoner. His party's executive secretaries include former Prime Minister
U Nu's daughter Than Than Nu, former Prime Minister Ba Swe's daughter Nay
Yee Ba Swe, and Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein, the daughter of a former deputy prime
minister.

Thu Wai said that out of the more than 1,100 seats in the national
parliament and regional parliaments, other political parties may be able
to field candidates in just 500 constituencies, leaving more than half
uncontested.

"Since the Election Commission has given us only two weeks to submit the
candidate list, our capacity to field candidates has been greatly reduced,
as we are short of cash and time," said Thu Wai, adding that his party may
be able to field around 100 candidates, though it had planned on more.

Some 47 political parties have registered to contest the elections and so
far 41 have been permitted.

Election laws passed ahead of the voting have been criticized as
undemocratic by the international community. They effectively bar Nobel
Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi and other political prisoners - estimated at
more than 2,000 - and members of religious orders from taking part in the
elections. Suu Kyi's party was automatically disbanded under the laws for
refusing to register for the elections.

____________________________________

August 22, Asia-Pacific News
Numbers stacked against Myanmar opposition, party leaders say

Yangon - Myanmar's pro-democracy parties are set to field candidates in
only around half of the constituencies in November's election, due to the
limited time and resources available for preparation, political sources
said Sunday.

The shortage of opposition candidates could leave their junta-backed
rivals running unchallenged for many of the seats in the lower and upper
house and regional parliaments, in Myanmar's first general election for 20
years.

'We have about 100 candidates, and I think altogether there will be about
500 candidates for all the democratic forces,' said Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein,
secretary of the Democratic Party.

'The total candidates required for all constituencies and all parliaments
are about 1,100,' said Cho, who complained that parties had not been given
enough time to prepare.

The polls, scheduled for November 7, were only announced on August 13.

Funds were also lacking to register enough candidates, he said. 'To
register one candidate costs 500 dollars which is a huge amount in a poor
country like Burma,' Cho told the German Press Agency, dpa.

'Meanwhile, the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party [USDP]
is very rich, with full support from the government. We can't compete with
them.'

The USDP, which claims to have about 26 million members in a country of 60
million, on Friday opened about 400 offices nationwide. The party, led by
ex-military officers, is deemed the political wing of Myanmar's military
establishment which was ruled the country since 1962.

'USDP will compete in all places, but we can't. That means USDP will win
without any competitions in some constituencies,' Democratic Party
chairman Thu Wei told a press conference.

The Democratic Party is led by Than Than Nu and Nay Yee Ba Swe, daughters
of ex-Prime Minister U Nu, and Nay Phoo Ba Swe, daughter of ex-Prime
Minister Ba Swe.

The party is closely allied with the National Democratic Force party, a
breakaway faction of the National League for Democrcay (NLD), led by Aung
San Suu Kyi, daughter of Myanmar independence hero Aung San.

The NLD and Suu Kyi said they plan to boycott this year's polls.

Myanmar last held a general election in 1990, which was won by the NLD.
But the military have blocked the NLD and Suu Kyi from power for the past
two decades.

Few observers expect November's election to bring about genuine democracy.

A clause in the new constitution allows the military control over any
future elected government by making the upper house of the National
Parliament a partially junta-appointed body with veto power over
legislation.

____________________________________

August 23, Radio Australia
Burma suspends visas on arrival before election

Burma's military junta has suspended visas on arrival for tourists from
September.

The suspension is being seen as a move by the junta to prevent outside
reporters and monitors from entering the country ahead of the November 7
elections.

Many foreign journalists traveled to the country on tourist visas during a
monk-led political protest in 2007 and when Cyclone Nargis hit in 2008.

Journalists and observers granted official visas are accompanied by
minders, thus restricting movement and observation.

Burma has yet to respond to the regional group ASEAN's offer to send
observers during the elections.

The elections, the first since 1991 are widely seen as an elaborate
charade aimed at cementing the army's grip on power and attracting
investment.

http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201008/2991324.htm?=

____________________________________

August 23, Shan Herald Agency for News
Junta sets new BGF deadline for ethnic armed groups - Hseng Khio Fah

The ruling Burmese military junta has scheduled another deadline on the
Border Guard Force (BGF) issue for two of Burma’s ethnic ceasefire groups:
the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the National Democratic Alliance Army
(NDAA) aka Mongla group at its latest meeting on 20 August, according to
sources from the Sino-Burma border.

The two have been ‘instructed’ to give their acceptance on transforming
themselves into the BGF by the first week of September, said a source from
Shan State North’s Tangyan, where the meeting between the UWSA and Lt-Gen
Ye Myint, Chief of Military Affairs Security (MAS), was held.

In keeping with Naypyitaw’s invitation, the UWSA and NDAA on 20 August met
junta’s negotiators led by Lt-Gen Ye Myint and Maj-Gen Kyaw Phyoe,
Commander of Golden Triangle Region Command respectively on the same day,
but at different venues.

The UWSA led by Bo Lakham, Chairman of the Political Consultative
Conference, met Lt-Gen Ye Myint at Tangyan, 83 miles southwest of Shan
State North’s capital Lashio for about half an hour from 9:30 to 10:00 and
the NDAA led by its Vice Chairman Khun Hsang Lu and Sai Kham Mawng, Deputy
Commander of General Staff, met Maj-Gen Kyaw Phyoe at Shan State East’s
capital Kengtung at 13:00 (local time).

“At the meeting between Ye Myint and the UWSA, Ye Myint said that the
election was drawing near so he would urge the UWSA to reconsider its
decision on the BGF before the polls,” the source said.

If the groups failed to convert themselves into BGF by the deadline again,
it will be automatically designated as “an unlawful association or illegal
organizations.”

Nevertheless, Panghsang was said to have given no response to Ye Myint
other than saying they were not authorized to make any decision without
their supreme leader’s guidance.

Mongla was given the same message like Panghsang, said an informed source.
“The group just said that they had nothing new to inform.”

Concerning the BGF program, many deadlines had been set for the ceasefire
groups, and the latest was 28 April 2010. But after the 28 April deadline,
the junta and ethnic ceasefires groups met a couple of times; one was in
May and the second was in June 22. According to the resolution from the 22
June meeting, there would be no new deadline for the groups because the
military junta would just hand it over to the new government to handle if
the elections are held.

Anti-BGF programme groups are: the UWSA, the MNDAA, Kachin Independent
Army (KIA), Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North’’s First Brigade, the Kayan New
Land Party (KNLP) and New Mon State Party (NMSP). All decided to remain
unchanged unless their autonomy demands are met and they will not also
support or participate in the general elections.

The UWSA and NDAA said they will be up holding the following four
principles: 1) will not surrender, 2) will not transform into BGF unless
their autonomy demands are met, 3) will not shoot first, but they are
ready to protect themselves and they will not secede from the Union,
sources said.

____________________________________

August 23, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar to file human rights report to U.N. next year

Myanmar has completed the first draft on report about the country's human
rights status to prepare for submission to the United Nations Human Rights
Council in February 2011, the local Weekly Eleven News reported Monday.

The draft of the Myanmar human rights report is yet to be finalized and
translated into English version for the submission, the report said.

Myanmar's human rights committee, established in April 2000, is chaired by
Minister of Home Affairs U Maung Oo.

The committee comprises of some sub-committees dealing with home affairs,
law, social affairs, labor, health, education, international affairs,
religion and women's affairs.

____________________________________

August 23, Mizzima News
State censor bans use of bamboo-hat logo - Khai Suu

New Delhi – Burma’s state censor has banned news journals using in their
reporting the seal and logo of the party that broke away from Aung San Suu
Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, National Democratic Front party
leader Khin Maung Swe said.

The Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, the Burmese junta’s censor
board had cut the NDF’s bamboo-hat logo from interviews and news presented
by Rangoon-based journals Monitor, Hot News and The Voice weekly since the
first week of this month, he said.

“Some journals could report only interviews; some journals could report
both interviews and use the logo. The journals replied that the logo was
deleted by the censor board when it was contacted,” NDF party leader Khin
Maung Swe told Mizzima.

Sources close to the journals confirmed the ban.

“We presented our draft copy of interviews and the bamboo-hat logo but the
censor deleted both interviews featuring the NDF and the logo,” an editor
with links to these journals said.

“We can print the seals and logos of other parties 
 As far as we know,
they even turned down the draft copy attached with the clippings of
state-run media bearing this logo,” a source close to Hot News told
Mizzima.

The NDF said the censor had restricted news coverage containing its logo,
though the seals and logos of other parties remained unaffected by the
restriction, adding that the party should be allowed the same freedoms as
other officially registered parties.
The party said the logo and seal was permitted in the media only when the
dispute between the NDF and NLD arose. The Monitor denied the claim.

“Why should the logo recognised and permitted by the [election] commission
be banned? No, the censor board permitted our journal and other journals
to cover the news and its logo,” Monitor editor-in-chief Myat Khaing told
Mizzima. Last month’s issue of the journal was allowed to cover NDF news
and use its logo and bamboo hat.

Censor board section head Yu Yu Win said: “I think this logo might also
have appeared in other journals. We permit these logos if they are
officially recognised by the [electoral] commission. I can say only this.”

The dispute of using this logo arose when the NDF applied for party
registration with the electoral commission, which permitted use of the
logo. The commission however failed to communicate its approval to the
censor board, a source close to the censor said.

Similarly, Snapshot journal was barred from running an interview with NDF
party chairman Dr. Than Nyein two months ago, a source close to the
journal said.

“It seems the authorities are building more hurdles 
 for our election
campaign as the polling date draws nearer,” Khin Maung Swe said.

The NDF will field about 100 candidates in the election, which is to be
held on November 7.

____________________________________

August 21, Mizzima News
Political prisoner denied surgery for 1½ years - Phanida

Chiang Mai  – Political prisoner Myo Win Wai, who voluntarily worked to
collect the dead after Cyclone Nargis struck, has needed surgery for 1½
years for a serious medical condition but authorities continue to deny him
care, his father said.

Myo Win Wai, 25, had been diagnosed as requiring surgery for severe
haemorrhoids in March last year but authorities ignored his condition and
sent him far from his parents’ home in Rangoon to Khantee Prison in the
northwestern Burmese division of Sagaing, his father Tin Hla, who returned
home on Tuesday, said.

Authorities allowed Tin Hla and Khin Win Kyi, his mother, who live in
Shwepyitha Township, to meet Myo Win Wai at Khantee Prison on August 10.

“He said that he could not eat anything because of the haemorrhoids. At
the time, he said he hadn’t used his bowels for five days 
 he couldn’t
even drink water. His words made us cry”, Tin Hla told Mizzima.

Myo Win Wai told them his fellow inmates were also suffering from very
poor health.

“Some have suffered severe malaria. One 
 Nyi Pu is a paraplegic. His
medical record was not filed, so he didn’t know what medicines he should
take. My son’s condition is so serious that I don’t have the heart to hear
more,” Tin Hla said.

His family had sent an appeal letter to the authorities of Khantee Prison
and the Ministry of Home Affairs seeking appropriate medical care for
their son.

Meanwhile, the prison doctor had also informed prison authorities that Myo
Win Wai needed an operation but the prison authorities replied that they
had already reported the matter to their superiors.

On August 12, his parents complained to investigatory panels such as the
Special Branch police and Sa-Ah-Pha (a special military detective team)
but they gave the same answer as the Khantee authorities.

Myo Win Wai was arrested by Special Branch police at 11 p.m. on September
in 2008 for voluntary Nargis relief work with prominent comedian Zarganar.

He was given five years in prison under the Immigration Act’s section 13 (1).

Before he was sentenced, he had also fought against labour- and
child-rights violations, his father said.

Myo Win Wai’s fellow inmates including Than Zaw Myint and Pea Pyoke, aka
Win Myint, were suffering from severe malaria, Tin Hla said

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

August 23, Democracy Voice of Burma
Asia’s middle class swells, Burma left behind - Francis Wade

Asia’s middle class “is rapidly increasing its size”, according to an
Asian Development Bank (ADB) report that analysts have criticised for
omitting the issue of mass economic stagnation in Burma.

An annual report published by the Bank includes a chapter on ‘The Rise of
Asia’s Middle Class’, which claims that poverty reduction and economic
growth across the continent over the past two decades has pushed more
households into the middle class.

It defines middle class “as those consuming between US$2 and US$20 per
day”, and adds that the middle class population had risen from a fifth of
Asia’s total in 1990 to 56 percent in 2008.  “Through its sheer size and
dynamism, [the rising middle class] will present a huge opportunity for
the region and for the world,” it said.

Asia is the world’s largest and most populous continent, and its
traditional boundaries stretch from Egypt to Japan, and China to
Indonesia. But within this huge landmass, home to more than four million
people – around 60 percent of the world’s total population – is Burma,
which according to Australia-based economist, Sean Turnell, “doesn’t fit
in [to the report’s findings] at all”.

“This is all based around the narrative that somehow business and economic
openings will generate a middle class and space for activity, and demand
of more property rights,” he told DVB.

“But if you look at Burma it doesn’t follow the standard Southeast Asia
package – it doesn’t have the export-oriented manufacturing firms that
were the recipients of aid budgets in South Korea and Thailand and Hong
Kong, etc.”

Burma remains one of Asia’s poorest countries, with average annual
salaries at little more than US$200 per person. The CIA World Factbook
ranks Burma 174 out of 191 countries in GDP per capita – aside from
Afghanistan, which ranks at 185, it is the only country outside of Africa
to feature in the bottom 21.

Around Burma, however, a number of neighbouring economies have swelled,
making the pariah’s condition all the more stark. China is recording the
world’s fourth fastest economic growth rates, while four Southeast Asian
countries – South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong – were awarded
the title of ‘tiger economies’ after maintaining exceptionally high growth
rates and rapid industrialisation between the early 1960s and 1990s.

India’s economy is also boasting growth rates of more than seven percent,
and is hungrily eyeing Burma’s lucrative gas sector to feed its swelling
population. But despite substantial energy reserves in Burma, the country
is still crippled by cronyism and corruption that has seen multi-billion
dollar foreign investments disappear into overseas accounts or the
military, an apparent waste given that Burma has no external enemies.

“What we’re really dealing with [in Burma] is overt criminal enterprises,
such as drugs trade and firms whose whole raison d’etre depends on
rent-seeking,” said Turnell. “[These companies are] about getting the
import concessions against the regime’s restrictions, not about getting
special access to exports.”

Burmese civilians are acutely distrustful of the banking sector, which is
famed for money laundering enterprises and cash deposits from the
country’s sizeable drugs export market, and instead tend to horde money
and gold. The issue of land rights is also highly contentious, with the
army frequently appropriating farmland and property left at the mercy of
corrupt local officials.

“The whole issue of property rights is massive, and you need [these
rights] – no one is going to invest in productive enterprise in Burma when
you face the situation that your productive assets could at anytime be
taken over by the local authorities or the regional [military] commander
or whatever, or if the rules suddenly change,” Turnell said.

The elections slated for 7 November appear set to cement military rule and
the status quo in Burma, with the military apparently eyeing a long future
after selling off swathes of previously state-owned enterprise to its
close friends.

“Privatisation enshrines the present status quo,” added Turnell. “It’s the
people with power and connections who’ve benefitted, and we’ve not seen a
parcelling out of Burma’s profitable assets to people outside of the
system.”

____________________________________

August 23, Xinhua General News Service
Two major Indonesian banks to open offices in Myanmar

Two major Indonesian banks are planning to open offices in Myanmar to help
promote bilateral trade relations between Indonesia and Myanmar, the local
Flower News quoted the Indonesian Embassy as reporting Monday.

The report did not name the banks intending to make the move.

Entrepreneurs from Myanmar and Indonesia have been seeking bilateral
economic and trade cooperation with an Indonesian economic delegation
having met with businessmen from the Union of Myanmar Federation of
Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Yangon in February this year to
discuss further prospects for such cooperation.

The Indonesian entrepreneurs were made up of those from various sectors
such as foodstuff, textile, construction materials, furniture, handicraft,
mines, medicine and medical equipment, cosmetic, airline and lubricant,

As part of their efforts to boost bilateral economic and trade
cooperation, Myanmar and Indonesia have sought direct trade link, direct
banking transaction and direct Yangon-Jakarta air link.

So far, the two countries are trading through Malaysia, carrying out
banking transaction through Singapore and connecting without direct air
link.

Indonesia has established the first direct sea trade route with Myanmar
operating between Jakarta and Yangon in a bid to broaden its network in
the Southeast Asian region. The route enables Myanmar export goods to be
shipped directly to Indonesia without requiring to transit through
intervening ports.

Direct trade link between Bandung and Yangon is also being sought.

Indonesia is Myanmar's fourth largest trading partner among members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after Thailand, Singapore
and Malaysia, having a bilateral trade with Myanmar standing 178.8 million
U.S. dollars in the fiscal year of 2009-10 which ended in March.
Indonesia's exports to Myanmar amounted to 140.8 million dollars, while
its imports from Myanmar were valued at 38 million dollars, according to
Myanmar official statistics.

____________________________________
ASEAN

August 23, The Nation (Thailand)
Human Rights: Asean versus universal standards

Early this month, the UN special envoy for Burma (also known as Myanmar),
Tomas Ojea Quintana wrote a letter to the chairman, Do Ngoc Son, of the
Asean Intergovern- mental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), asking for a
meeting "to exchange views" on their respective organisations and
activities. The request was quickly turned down. Instead, he met with
representatives from Thailand and Indonesia. In Jakarta, Asean permanent
representatives including Burma also attended the meeting, which was
described as useful and insightful.

Views were varied within Asean whether AICHR should meet with Ojea
Quintana at this point. Like it or not with its establishment in October
2009, AICHR has automatically become the focus point of all activities
related to human rights issues in Asean. Both Thailand and Indonesia
thought that AICHR should have the opportunity to discuss issues related
to human rights, especially those related to Asean, with Ojea Quintana who
can bring in the much needed international perspectives. Both countries
believed that various aspects of human rights issues raised by the UN
envoy would impact on Asean in the future.

Earlier, the UN special envoy called for the establishment of a commission
of inquiry (COI) into crimes against humanity committed by the Burmese
junta leaders, citing the "the gross and systematic nature of human rights
violations in Myanmar over a period of many years." Given the lack of
accountability for those abuses, he suggested the UN initiate a specific
fact- finding mandate to investigate the possibility of international
crimes.

It was a big blow to the reputation of Asean. For nearly 13 years since
Burma's admission, Asean has not been able to use peer pressure to improve
the human rights condition there. In fact, the gross and systematic abuses
have continued unabated. Worse, this issue has not been picked up by any
Asean member even though the political situation in Burma was generally
discussed. It is understandable, as all members have dismal records on
human rights. Only four Asean countries (Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia,
the Philippines) have established national human rights commissions that
allow such sensitive issues to be discussed widely in the media and
public.

Human rights activists in these countries have already challenged their
governments to end the culture of impunity and investigate specific cases
of human rights violations. In Thailand, a special commission was recently
set up to investigate the deaths of 90 persons killed during the April-May
political crisis. Human rights and grass-roots leaders and activists
joined the commission. Last month, President Aquino created a truth
commission to probe rights abuses, including the massacre in Maquindanao
last November.

Until now there has not been any reaction from the Asean countries, even
though all are members of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). Asean has
different views on the political situation and rights conditions inside
Burma. But nearly all do not perceive the situation as warranting an
international inquiry team. Deep down, they fear that it would set a
precedence for future UN-sanctioned fact-finding teams to be dispatched to
their respective countries. To them, it is an act of interference.

During the drafting process of terms of reference to set up AICHR, several
progressive ideas including fact-findings, annual reports and regional
rights' monitoring were raised and subsequently dismissed. Again, only
Thailand and Indonesia backed such an approach that would go beyond the
promotion to protection.

Indeed, the COI can further divide Asean, as Bangkok and Jakarta might
want to support such an international effort as a goodwill political
gesture for universal norms. The Philippines, under the new President,
Benigno "Noy" Aquino, has already pledged strongly to uphold principles of
human rights and end all impunity inside the country. Such guarantees
would certainly improve Manila's human rights commitment within the Asean
context.

Since Ojea Quintana proposed the COI creation, the US has backed the call
together with Australia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the UK. More
countries would be expected in the future. With the US in such a position,
it could also strain the overall Asean-US relations which have surged
positively in the past few months.

However, it would be interesting to watch if the European Union can take a
common position on the commission of inquiry. In case, the EU has a common
position, it would further increase the international pressure on Asean.

In the upcoming 12 months, AICHR members have to complete the Declaration
of Asean Human Rights, the first of its kind in the region. It will be
another uphill task. At least seven members still object to the
participatory and consultative process, which was proposed by Thailand,
Indonesia and the Philippines. In this case, representatives of civil
society organisations (CSO) would be considered as stakeholders.

Consultations between the Asean decision makers and CSO representatives
began in earnest in Kuala Lumpur at the 11th Asean Summit in 2005. The
momentum, which was gradually built, led to a series of meetings in the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand between the Asean and CSO leaders over
the past five years.

Last year at the Cha-am summit in October, some Asean leaders boycotted
the meeting over the choices of CSO representatives and topics of
discussion. The current chair of Asean, Vietnam, opposed the previous
format, known as interface, deployed by Thailand. Hanoi preferred a
low-key meeting solely among Asean-based CSO at a different location and
time.

As long as the AICHR members continue to block each other's initiatives to
genuinely protect the human rights in Asean, the effort to transform the
Asean Community into a people-oriented organisation would be a pipe dream.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

Aug. 21, Kyodo News
Myanmar prodded on poll, Suu Kyi


The government has urged Myanmar to release democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi and other political prisoners and conduct its general election in an
open, free and fair manner, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Friday.

The minister told a news conference that the government conveyed Thursday
its concern over the Nov. 7 poll, the country's first so-called free
election in two decades, through Myanmar's ambassador to Japan.

"If Myanmar holds the general election without releasing political
prisoners, including Ms. Suu Kyi, it would not be a free, fair and open
election that the international community has called for and thus would be
regrettable," Okada said.

He called on the junta to swiftly hold a substantive dialogue with Suu Kyi
and conduct the general election by including all the parties involved.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/rss/nn20100821b4.html

____________________________________

August 23, Irrawaddy
Burma-Timor Leste forge closer ties - Simon Roughneen

Bangkok — Burma Foreign Minister Nyan Win concluded a three-day goodwill
visit to Timor Leste on Sunday, after being met by protestors at Dili's
international airport on Friday.

According to a Timorese journalist who requested that his name not be
used, a small group of mainly university students clashed with police at
Presidente Nicolau Lobato Airport on Friday.

Juvinal Diaz, who attended the demonstration, said that although the rally
was peaceful, police seized banners and placards protesting the visit.
Nyan Win was unable to leave the airport for more than an hour while the
demonstration took place.

The visit comes as Timor Leste, the official name for the country also
known as East Timor, continues its quest for membership in the Association
for Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Dili needs agreement from all current
Asean member-states before it can join.

Speaking on Friday, Timor Leste President Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta said, "We
want to increase our relations," adding that "this is in accordance with
Timor-Leste policy, which aims to improve relations with neighboring
countries."

Timorese Foreign Minister Zacarias da Costa will visit Burma soon,
according to Ramos-Horta, to foster commercial ties between the two
countries.

Timor-Leste is highly import-dependent, with little more than a
subsistence, non-oil economy. Timor's energy revenues are paid into a
national petroleum fund, aimed at ensuring responsible and sustainable
spending and retaining sufficient cash after offshore oil and gas reserves
are depleted. While the current government has been criticized for
over-spending from the reserves, the system is in marked contrast to the
opaque natural resource economics in Burma, which exports most its oil and
gas.

As seen by the airport demonstration, not everybody is happy with Dili's
attempts to form a closer relationship with the military government in
Naypyidaw.

Zoya Phan,the international coordinator at Burma Campaign UK, told The
Irrawaddy that she believes Nyan Win's visit to Burma is part of the
junta's campaign to gain recognition for the upcoming Nov. 7 elections,
which have been dismissed for their restrictive campaign measures.

She said, “East Timor should reject this fake election and pressure him
[Nyan Win] to enter into genuine negotiations with democracy forces and
ethnic groups."

Timor-Leste is a former Portuguese colony which was invaded by Indonesia
shortly after the fall of the military dictatorship in Lisbon in 1974,
which brought about Portugal's rapid withdrawal from its colonies. An
estimated 200,000 Timorese, out of a population of around 700,000, died
during the occupation, which lasted until 1999. The country's
post-independence Constitution says that Timor-Leste should show
solidarity with other oppressed people's around the world.

In the past, Ramos-Horta has vociferously condemned the policies of the
Burmese junta. Ramos-Horta shared the Nobel Peace prize with Bishop Carlos
Belo in 1996, five years after Burma's jailed pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi won the same award.

During Nyan Win's weekend visit, Ramos-Horta said that a national dialogue
toward reconciliation in Burma should be implemented, and that Aung San
Suu Kyi should be freed to participate. The statements echo remarks he
made in February, when welcoming the new Burmese ambassador.

Asean membership would require Timor-Leste to accede to various economic
and free trade agreements, though not necessarily immediately. However,
some membership provisions could adversely affect Dili's scope to develop
its non-oil economy, according to Shona Hawkes of La'o Hamutuk of the
Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis.

Nyan Win's Dili trip came directly after an official visit by Singapore's
Foreign Minister George Yeo, who encouraged Singaporean businessmen to
visit Timor-Leste. He was reported in Singaporean media as saying, "We
want Timor Leste to do well, to show that other small countries facing
difficult circumstances can also succeed."

However, Yeo reportedly poured cold water on Dili's Asean membership bid,
which may mean ambitions to join the bloc by 2012 will not be realized.
Shona Hawkes told The Irrawaddy that although Timor-Leste has made a start
on its Asean membership, apparently some member-states have concerns that
Dili lacks the resources to attend and contribute to the bloc's 800-plus
meetings per year.

Nonetheless, Dili will host Asean Regional Forum gatherings in November
and December, with Thailand supporting the staging of the 5th ARF Experts
and Eminent Persons Meeting.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 23, Irrawaddy
Election results will be predictable - Ba Kaung

Burma's election results, to some degree, will be predictable by Sept. 10,
when the Election Commission formally approves political party candidates
who will seek parliamentary seats in the election.

The latest data suggests that of the 1,187 seats in the national and
regional parliaments, opposition parties will be able to contest less than
500 seats, because of budget, time and other constraints.

On the other hand, the junta's largest proxy parties, the Union Solidarity
and Development Party (USDP) and the National Unity Party (NUP), are now
prepared to contest in all seats nationwide and will automatically win in
the uncontested seats under the election laws.

“There will be no ballot box in those areas where there is a single
candidate for the USDP,” said Than Min Soe, the spokesperson for the Union
Democratic Party (UDP). “We'll know the results on Sept. 10.”

With the candidate registration deadline expiring on Monday, three
pro-democracy political parties in Rangoon—the National Democratic Force
(NDF), the Democratic Party (Myanmar) and the Union Democratic Party
(UDP)—have so far drawn up a combined list of 230 candidates. Both the NDF
and Democratic Party (Myanmar) now claim to have 100 candidates, while the
UDP has 30.

Despite its list of 30 candidates, the UDP might field only three
candidates if the regime does not respond by Wednesday to its recent
request for clarification on how the 2008 Constitution would function
following the election.

“Without being clear about that process, it is pointless to compete for
many seats in the election,” said a UDP spokesperson, adding that its
decision to field only three candidates would be to prevent the party from
being abolished according to the election laws.

With a list of 100 candidates, the NDF leaders, who are former members of
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party (NLD), are still
waiting for the response of the EC for its request to postpone the
candidate registration deadline so that it can field more candidates,
according to party chairman Dr. Than Nyein.

“The election commission has not responded to our request yet,” he said.
He also said there's a growing possibility that the junta's largest proxy
party, the USDP, could end up with a sweeping victory nationwide.

Asked if he regretted his decision to run in the election, Than Nyein
said: “Not at all. We will face whatever challenges lie ahead.”

Currently, many opposition political parties are worried about the
candidate registration process. The chairman of the Democratic Party
(Myanmar), Thu Wai, said that a candidate who seeks to represent a
particular constituency must live in the constituency.

“I live in Shwepyithar Township, but because I wish to run in Pazundaung
Township, I have to change my address so that I can register myself as a
candidate for that area,” he said.

The residency restriction was not included either in the election laws or
the latest rules announced by the election commission.

Most areas in which the Rangoon-based pro-democracy parties will not seek
to compete are in ethnic areas. There is little hope that local ethnic
parties not aligned with the government  will be able to field many
candidates to compete against the USDP, due to financial and other
constraints.

Potentially the largest ethnic party, the Shan National Democratic Party
(SNDP), will compete for 150 seats while the Rakhine National Development
Party (RNDP) will contest in 15 townships in Arakan State, where the
election commission designated a total of 17 constituencies. This week,
RNDP leaders complained that members of the party have been harassed by
local authorities this month.

“My sister and brother were questioned by the local police although they
are not involved in politics,” said Khine Pyi Soe, the secretary of the
RNDP.

A number of ethnic parties will not challenge the USDP candidates because
they were organized by either retired regime military or civilian
officials, including the Kayin Peoples Party led by Saw Htun Aung Myint, a
former navy colonel; the Chin Progressive Party (CPP) led by Hlung Kyae,
also a former police colonel; and the Kachin Party led by Kya Hting Nan, a
former organizer of the Union Solidarity and Development Association
(USDA) in Myitkyina.

On Monday, state-run newspapers reported that the regime Prime Minister
Thein Sein, who leads the USDP, asked voters to “prevent any destructive
acts so the election will meet with success.”

The remark followed the official announcement by NLD officials last week
that they would boycott the election. Ethnic leaders who were elected in
the 1990 election, but who decided not to run in the election this year,
also said they would conduct a campaign to inform local people of their
legal right not to vote.

“Starting next month, I will go back to Chin State to explain that to our
people,” said Chin Sian Thang, the chairman of Zomi National Congress, a
Chin political party which contested in the 1990 elections.

Forty-two political parties have been approved by the Election Commission
to compete in the Nov. 7 election.

In a press conference on Sunday, the chairman of the Democratic Party, Thu
Wai, said: “By creating obstacles to other political parties before the
election, it won't be necessary to cheat or rig votes in the election
because the USDP now has the upper hand. Thus the voting itself could be
free and fair."

____________________________________

August 23, Democratic Voice of Burma
Militaries, men and a machismo mindset - Gayatri Lakshmibai

As Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein travels around Burma trying to garner support for
the Democratic Party (DP), she is met with admiration and respect. The
62-year-old admits that she owes much of this adulation to her father and
former deputy prime minister, the late Kyaw Nyein.

“They [the people of Burma] worship him and appreciate his doings. I am
happy to know that they have accepted my father and are helping me because
I am his daughter,” Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein tells DVB, agreeing that it would
have been a much tougher task reaching where she is today had she lacked
the political background.

A look at the candidature for the upcoming elections reveals that most
women candidates either have a rich political background or support of an
influential male member in their favour. Along with Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein,
some of the prominent women contesting elections this year are former
Prime Minister U Nu’s daughter May Than Than Nu; Nay Ye Ba Swe, the
daughter of former Prime Minister during the rule of the Anti-Fascist
People’s Freedom League (AFPFL), U Ba Swe, and the daughter and wife of
Modern Party chairperson U Tun Aung Kyaw, Yi Yi San.

It was at the previous elections in 1990 that the world witnessed the rise
of an iconic leader in Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s first prominent woman
politician. She won the hearts of the common Burmese people (as well as
the elections) but was denied power by the junta. However, Suu Kyi’ rise
to popularity is also largely attributed to her father and revolutionary
leader General Aung San, who won Burma freedom from British colonialism.

“Suu Kyi’s case is not that of an ordinary Burmese woman. She has the rich
legacy of her father behind her. She is an extremely capable woman, but so
are many others in Burma. It’s sad that only the likes of Daw Suu Kyi get
the chance to exhibit their abilities,” Tin Tin Nyo, general secretary of
Burma Women’s Union (BWU), says.

While it is difficult to obtain precise figures, a rough estimate suggests
that less than one percent of the representatives for this year’s
elections are women. And it might come as a rude awakening to feminists
that there isn’t one women’s political organisation in the country.

Women’s organisations within Burma, like the Myanmar Maternity (MM) and
the Myanmar Women’ Affairs Federation (MWAF), are headed by wives of the
generals or military officials at high posts. This again stresses the need
for male backing in order to be part of any organisation, in this case a
proxy for the military.

Most women activists who work at the grassroots level function from
Burmese border areas of Thailand, India, China and Bangladesh. They cannot
aspire to a career in politics as the laws put forth by the State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC) prohibit persons in exile from
participating.

The 2008 constitution has already put women at a disadvantage – 25 percent
of the seats are reserved for the military in both the People’s parliament
and the Nationalities Parliament. Given that all members of the military
are male, the assigned quarter of the parliament will see no
representation for women.

The candidates’ registration fee for this election is 500,000 kyat
($US500). It is unreasonable to imagine that many women in this low-income
society would be able to raise the required amount. Well-educated women
are respected and do stand a fair chance to be successful leaders, but the
very fact that many girls do not have access to basic education holds them
back from pursuing bigger – in this case, political – ambitions ahead.

“According to our historical analysis, Burmese women were engaged in
politics in the uprisings during the British era and the democratic period
that followed. It was after General Ne Win’s coup [in 1962] that their
activities were suppressed. Then on, women’s rights have received a major
setback,” Tin Tin Nyo added.

As Christina Fink suggests in her book, Living Silence, during the
democratic struggle of the late 1980s the decision to participate in
political activities was particularly difficult for young women, given the
social stigma that clung on. Single women were barred from going out alone
to attend meetings or staying out at night. If they did, they were tagged
as being ‘bad’ girls. These cultural norms are still prevalent in the
current-day Burmese society, making political engagement doubly difficult
for women in comparison to men.

“Being a woman politician in Burma means meeting with a lot of obstacles.
There are a lot of male chauvinists here. Burmese women are normally
assigned roles of mothers, daughters or wives, while the men are seen as
leaders,” Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein remarks. It therefore makes the job of
convincing the conservative masses of their leadership skills more
difficult for the ‘ordinary’ Burmese women politicians.

The status of women in Burma is arguably one of the worst in the world.
For long, the regime has used systematic rape and other acts of sexual
violence against women as a weapon to achieve its ends. Is it then rather
early in the day to question the absence of independent women in politics
when the people in power are frowned upon for having committed some of the
worst human rights abuses against women in recent history?

____________________________________

August 21, Washington Post
Is Burma on the verge of transformation? - David I. Steinberg

The United States decided this week to support the creation of a United
Nations commission of inquiry into the Burmese military regime's crimes
against humanity and war crimes. That human rights violations have
occurred is clear, and many have noted that the Burmese junta's
restrictions on its upcoming elections make it all but certain the
generals will retain power. The real dilemma is whether it is better to
express moral outrage at these offenses or to hold off, presuming the
possibility of eventual change under a new government.

The options for nation states to express moral outrage are well
established: sanctions, war crimes trials, embargoes. These are also
tactics designed to achieve certain ends: liberalization, increased human
rights, regime change or other indicators of progress. The key question
for U.S. officials ahead of Burma's Nov. 7 elections is: Will actions such
as imposing new sanctions or endorsing a commission of inquiry improve the
lot of the Burmese? Will they help further U.S. strategic and humanitarian
objectives in that society and region under a revised government?

The Burmese constitution all but guarantees that its military will remain
in command after the elections; by law, 25 percent of seats are reserved
for the military. The voting for national and local legislatures will
occur before opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is to be released from
house arrest, and many in her now-defunct National League for Democracy
have pledged not to campaign in the biased elections. Further, the
generals have legal immunity from in-country prosecution for all acts
committed in official capacities.

Despite all this, it is likely that some members of the opposition -- in
modest numbers -- will be among those seated in the central and local
legislatures next year -- marking the first time opposition voices would
be legal in Burma since 1962.

It seems likely that political prisoners will be freed around the time of
the elections so that they cannot "interfere" with that controlled
process. There have also been indications that badly needed economic
reforms could be instituted by the next Burmese administration and that
civilians could play significant roles in the government. Essentially, it
is possible that in Burma in the near future, we may see the
transformation of a "soft authoritarian" state into one that is more
pluralistic, including with some legal opposition legislators. In Burmese
military lingo, it may be a "discipline-flourishing democracy" -- but not
a democracy unencumbered by deleterious adjectival modifications.

The plight of the Burmese people has long distressed many. But imposing
additional sanctions on Burma's regime or forming still more commissions
will only salve our consciences. Neither will help the Burmese people,
persuade the government to loosen its grip on the population, or even
assist the United States in meeting its strategic or humanitarian
objectives. In fact, such moves would hinder negotiations and relations
with a new government that, even if far from a model for governance, would
probably give the Burmese more political voice and freedom than they have
had in half a century. If our concerns are for the well-being of the
people and U.S. national interests in the region, then we might well wait
for the elections and whatever government comes into power. Then will be
the time to judge whether there has been a step forward and how to achieve
our goals.

David I. Steinberg, a professor of Asian studies at Georgetown
University's School of Foreign Service, is the author of "Burma/Myanmar:
What Everyone Needs to Know."