BurmaNet News, December 28, 2010 - January 3, 2011

[Editor]

December 28, 2010 – January 3, 2011 Issue #4111


INSIDE BURMA
Telegraph (UK): Aung San Suu Kyi calls for Burma 'national reconciliation'
Mizzima: Local pro-democracy groups call for release of political prisoners
Irrawaddy: NDF leaders meet with Suu Kyi, no policy discussed

ON THE BORDER
AFP: UNHCR concerned over forced return of Myanmar displaced

BUSINESS / TRADE
UPI: Fishing, farming declines in Myanmar
DPA: Chinese cars make inroads in Myanmar's market
Myanmar Times: Job opportunities beckon in expanding banking sector
Myanmar Times: Traders at first Sino-Myanmar expo left with heavy burden

HEALTH
IPS: Aid dependence may hurt successes in HIV, AIDS

REGIONAL
Mizzima: Burmese migrant workers stage labour rights protest

INTERNATIONAL
VOA: US urges Burma to free political prisoners ahead of Independence Day
Irish Times: Martin reaffirms Ireland's support for Burma's pro-democracy
groups

OPINION / OTHER
Time: Aung San Suu Kyi: Burma's First Lady of freedom – Hannah Beech
Montreal Gazette (Canada): The Lady is a champ – Norman Webster
Irrawaddy: Burma 2011: Asian friends will fill junta pockets – William Boot
IHT: End sanctions on Myanmar – Philip Bowring
New Light of Myanmar: Spirit of cherishing independence and honouring
results – Khaing Myo Nilar Aung




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

December 31, Telegraph (UK)
Aung San Suu Kyi calls for Burma 'national reconciliation'

In a New Year's message, she asked the people of Burma "to struggle
together with new strengths, new force and new words in the auspicious new
year", in the message released by her National League for Democracy (NLD)
party.

"We must struggle by establishing people's political and social networks
to get national reconciliation as well as a truly united spirit," she
added.

The 65-year-old was released from more than seven years' house arrest on
November 13, days after Burma's widely criticised first election in 20
years, in which the junta-backed party has claimed overwhelming victory.

Ms Suu Kyi was locked up for the poll, which her party boycotted. This led
to a split in the opposition movement, with some NLD members leaving to
form a new party to contest the election.

On Thursday the United States called again on Burma to free political
prisoners and engage in dialogue to promote democracy, as the military-led
country prepares for its 63rd independence anniversary on January 4.

____________________________________

January 3, Mizzima News
Local pro-democracy groups call for release of political prisoners – Aung
Myat Soe

Chiang Mai - Eleven local pro-democracy organisations released a joint
statement in Burma today calling for the immediate and unconditional
release of more than 2,200 political prisoners.

Continued detention of activists was considered a crime, the statement said.

“The unconditional release of political prisoners would lead to national
reconciliation and the removal of sanctions against Burma”.

On the eve of Independence Day commemorating 63 years of independence from
British rule, “only the junta and their business cronies could enjoy
independence”, the statement read.

A spokesperson for the groups, Zarni, said he wanted to see the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to meet with prisoners’
families and to more effectively provide assistance.

ICRC delegates have not visited detainees in Burma since 2006 when it
scaled down it activities due to government restrictions.

According to the ICRC website today, authorities in Burma “have not
permitted the organization to continue this activity according to its
standard procedures applied worldwide”.

The statement also urged the exile Burmese community to use new ways to
urge the international community to press from freedom of political
prisoners and to donate to a NLD charitable organisation established to
support political prisoners.

According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners (Burma) there are 2,189 political prisoners in Burma- 255 are
monks, 282 are students and 399 are NLD members.

The statement was issued by the All Burma Monks Alliance, 88 Generation
Students, All Burma Federation of Student Unions, the Arakanese Student
Organisation, Rakkha Ray of Light, Rangoon Division Pro-democracy Student
Organisation, 2007 Generation Student Union, Student Union (High Schools),
Midland Student Organisation, All Burma Young People Union and the Saffron
Generation.

____________________________________

December 30, Irrawaddy
NDF leaders meet with Suu Kyi, no policy discussed

Three key leaders of the National Democratic Front (NDF), a breakaway
party of the National League for Democracy (NLD), met Burma's
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi privately on Thursday at the
residence of NLD Chairman Tin Oo, according to NDF leaders.

“Daw Suu warmly welcomed us and we recalled our past memories while
working together with her in the NLD, as we haven't met each other for a
long time,” said Khin Maung Swe, the founding leader of the NDF. “We
didn't discuss political matters at all, but talked about our families and
other social matters.”

This is the first time Suu Kyi has met with the leaders of the NDF since
she was released from house arrest on Nov. 13. The NDF founders broke away
from the NLD after disagreeing with the NLD's decision earlier this year
not to re-register the party under the new political party registration
law to contest the election.

Asked about the possibility of a future meeting focusing on the two
party's political cooperation, Khin Maung Swe said: “At this moment, we
will not make such a decision, but we told her that we wanted to meet her
in the future and she agreed to it.”

“As the two parties have already disagreed with each other on registering
the party and contesting the election, a political discussion will not
happen between us without both sides showing the desire to negotiate.”

Khin Maung Swe said that to achieve national reconciliation peacefully,
the NDF hopes to work with Suu Kyi because after her release she expressed
her willingness to cooperate with the 37 new political parties.

But he made clear that the term “cooperation” does not mean the reunion of
the NLD and NDF. Rather, it will be the cooperation in the sense of
working toward the same goal.

After the NDF leaders broke away from the NLD earlier this year and formed
a new party to contest the election, the NDF fielded more than 160
candidates in the Nov. 7 election, but only won 16 seats in the national
and regional parliaments.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

December 28, Agence France Presse
UNHCR concerned over forced return of Myanmar displaced

The UN refugee agency on Tuesday raised concerns over Thailand’s move to
forcibly return a group of displaced Burmese nationals on Christmas day,
saying that conditions were not met for safe returns.

“The UN refugee agency is concerned over the circumstances of the return
of some 166 Myanmar [Burmese] nationals seeking temporary protection from
Thailand on 25 December,” it said in a statement.

Thai authorities had expelled a group of displaced people from Burma –
including 50 women and over 70 children – to their home country, even
though the group had told the UNHCR that they were not ready to return due
to security concerns.

“UNHCR appeals to the Royal Thai Government that returns should take place
on a strictly voluntary basis, and only when conditions are in place to
return in safety and dignity,” stressed the office of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees.

“These conditions were not met on 25 December,” it noted. “In the past few
weeks, UNHCR had already expressed its concern to the Royal Thai
Government over the hasty manner in which some returns took place, where
some persons returned home only to have to flee again when fighting
resumed shortly afterwards,” it added.

Among the recently returned group, many had fled their villages on more
than one occasion since November due to clashes in the region.

In early November, about 20,000 people fled Burma into Thailand to escape
fighting between government troops and ethnic rebels.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

December 28, United Press International
Fishing, farming declines in Myanmar

Sittwe, Myanmar -- Farmers and fisherman in Myanmar could fall into a debt
spiral because they aren't getting help they need after an October
cyclone, a food official said.

Farming and fishing make up the bulk of the income for people in western
Myanmar. Up to 60 percent of those residents rely on farming and at least
10 percent rely on fishing for their incomes.

Cyclone Giri hit the area in October, destroying some 30,000 hectares of
paddy fields. Fishermen were hit when the cyclone wrecked more than 700
fishing boats and 1,200 sets of fishing gear, creating problems for around
7,500 households.

Cyclone Nargis in 2008 left 2 million people and killed 140,000 residents.
The areas of Myanmar hit by Giri, meanwhile, have received less than half
of the $53 million they need to recover from the disaster.

Tesfai Ghermazien, an emergency coordinator for the United Nations' Food
and Agriculture Organization, told the U.N. humanitarian news agency IRIN
that aid needs to come to cyclone-affected areas sooner than later.

"They (farmers and fishermen) may fall into a spiraling level of
indebtedness unless they are assisted in full, and in a timely manner," he
was quoted as saying.
____________________________________

January 3, Deustche Presse Agentur
Chinese cars make inroads in Myanmar's market

Yangon – Min Min yawned as he gazed at the compound of his second-hand
cars dealership in Yangon.

'I come here every day as usual but go back home without a single kyat in
sales,' Min Min, 45, said.

Myanmar's market for second-hand cars shifted into low gear last year due
to an influx of new Chinese vehicles imported in bits by Chinese-Myanmar
joint ventures and assembled locally.

Chinese models are now cutting into what was once one of the world's most
lucrative markets for Japan's used-car exports.

Myanmar's domestic vehicle market has been dominated by imported
second-hand Japanese models for more than three decades.

With the country under military rule since 1962, automobile
import licenses were only given to ministries, military-owned corporations
such as Myanmar Economic Holdings and Myanmar Economic Corporation, and
business tycoons close to the ruling generals.

These monopolies pushed second-hand car prices in Myanmar to among the
world's highest.

Typically, a 20-year-old Japanese saloon sold for about 30 million kyats
(30,000 dollars) in the golden years of the used car business.

Things turned in 2009, when the government allowed joint ventures between
Myanmar and Chinese companies to be set up to import dismantled
automobiles for assembly in Myanmar.

Last year these locally assembled Chinese models started to hit the market
in a big way.

'We used to sell a 1988 Toyota Sprinter for 45 million kyats in 2008. Now,
it's hard to sell it for even 17 million kyats,' one Yangon second-hand
car dealer said. 'Chinese cars are now dominating the market because of
their cheaper prices.'

'Before Chinese cars came into the market, we sold Japanese-made High Ace
cars at 60 million kyats,' the dealer told the German Press Agency dpa.
Equivalent Chinese models were now available for half that, he said, 'so
we need to cut down our price to 55 million kyats.'

Even prices for Chinese cars are still steep in the country where where
the minium wage is less than 50 dollars a month.

The newest Chinese sports utility vehicles, for instance, sell for 50,000
dollars. Even so, the new competition has been welcomed by those few who
can afford cars.

'I just bought this new Chinese car with Japanese technology at a very
reasonable price,' said Aung Thaw, a businessman in his thirties. 'If I
wanted a similar car two years ago, I could only buy quite an old Japanese
one for the same amount of money.'

Some privately owned companies such as Ramma and SSS have also started
selling new Chinese models at Yangon trade fairs.

Before 2009, the ruling junta only allowed local companies to establish
car assembly plants in the country's 18 industry zones.

These cars, assembled without Chinese help, were of poor quality, industry
sources said. Some manufacturers cheated by importing whole cars from
neighbouring Thailand and China and selling them as locally assembled, the
sources added.

With the new regulations allowing some international joint ventures, there
are at least five plants assembling Chinese brand cars.

Some local firms are also preparing establishing joint ventures with
Japanese automobile firms, sources said.

'I saw some Japanese joint-venture cars in the market selling at a price
of between 30 to 40 millions kyats,' Min Min said. 'It will change the
trend of local car market again,' he added. 'Maybe I should change my
job.'

____________________________________

January 3 - 9, Myanmar Times
Job opportunities beckon in expanding banking sector – Ye Linn Htut

EXPANSION and development of the banking sector is likely open up major
new job opportunities for young and experienced staff alike, industry
experts are predicting.

There are four government banks and 19 private banks – including four that
opened their doors for the first time in August – operating throughout the
country. All are on the lookout for well-trained and experienced staff, as
well as new workers prepared to undergo training, sources say.

While many people want to find employment in the banking sector,
competition for suitably educated workers is fierce. An official from
Ayeyarwady Bank, one of the new private institutions, said many of the
best graduates prefer to start their own businesses or go abroad for work.

“The four newly formed private banks should aim for a mix of experienced
and entry-level workers, maybe at the ratio of 70:30 or 60:40. They have
to be university graduates,” the bank manager said.

Established banks are also expanding, with a senior official from CB Bank
telling The Myanmar Times his organisation planned to open branches in
Thingangyun, South Okkalapa and North Okkalapa townships in the coming
year.

“Although we have only 80 vacancies at these branches we have received
more than 800 applicants. We have a kind of mass production education
system, with a focus on quantity rather than quality, so we’ll have to
look at them very carefully. We need quality people for our banks – that’s
why we also offer our own training programs,” he said.

Most new workers at CB Bank, which employees about 1000 people, are
university graduates aged under 25, he said.

“Front office staff must be matriculants and aged under 20,” he said,
adding that new staff have to take a basic six-week training course, and
senior bank staff have to study foreign banking systems.

He said expansion in the banking sector would provide a welcome boost for
the economy, particularly given the high level of unemployment in Yangon.

“The more the banks expand, the more job opportunities will be created.”

Officials from local job placement agencies said bank jobs were highly
sought after.

“Recently, many job opportunities have arisen in the banking sector. New
branches will be opening soon, so there will be many more jobs. Our
company provides applicants for selection by the banks. We find that bank
jobs are of high interest,” U Tin Tun Kyaw, a director of Device Services
Employment, told The Myanmar Times.

“They want experienced people for senior positions and they also train new
workers. There are many vacancies for entry level positions.”

Asia Green Development Bank, another of the newcomers, has already opened
branches in Nay Pyi Taw as well as Kamaryut and Latha townships in Yangon.
A spokesperson said the company was looking to expand into other cities.

“We’ve been training new staff since we opened in order to overcome the
scarcity of skilled workers. Now we have more than 300 trained staff. We
need a large workforce for our future branches, so we’ve already begun
recruitment planning,” the official said.

Those working in industries that provide support to the banking sector are
also likely to benefit. Officials from private banks are looking forward
to bank policy reform under the new government and have started consulting
with and collecting information from local and foreign technology
companies.

“We will need many technicians and professional staff if our banking
systems integrate into international networks. At that time, those who are
studying online banking systems, economics and fiscal subjects overseas
should share their knowledge, and better opportunities will be waiting
here for them,” said U Aung Kyaw San, an education consultant from Crown
Education.

– Translated by Yamon Phu Thit
____________________________________

January 3 - 9, Myanmar Times
Traders at first Sino-Myanmar expo left with heavy burden – Juliet Shwe Gaung

CHINESE companies that exhibited their products in Myanmar’s first-ever
trade expo devoted to China-made goods were able to meet potential
customers and pave the way for future sales. But some were unhappy that
they could not sell their wares.

The expo, which attracted more than 100 Chinese companies, took place at
Tatmadaw Hall on U Wisara Road in Yangon from December 15 to 18. On show
in the 2700-square-metre exhibition space were transport and agricultural
equipment, hardware goods and household products.

Participating companies included Shanghai Longen Power Equipment, truck
maker Dong Feng and the Shandong Shifeng Group, which exhibited
agricultural machinery. They are seeking to further expand trade between
the two countries, which reached US$3.427 billion in the first 10 months
of 2010, a 54 percent increase over the same period in 2009.

Whatever the long-term results of the expo, some companies felt a chance
had been missed.

“The organisers didn’t let us sell with tax. We hoped we could sell our
samples, but they insisted I had to send my equipment back,” said Mr Simon
Li, business manager of Shanghai Longen, which exhibited Chinese-made
generators.

But Mr Li also saw the positives and said he had made many contacts and
attracted the interest of potential buyers. “We are very happy about [that
aspect],” he said.

Dong Feng exhibited several vehicles, including a DFSK light truck, two
town cars and five motor cycles. As they were unlicenced, however, all
have to be sent back to China.

“We hoped to sell the vehicles in Myanmar. But because we didn’t get a
licence, we have to send them back,” said Ko Nay Lin of Dong Feng.

YTO International, which exhibited tractors, said they understood that the
aim of the expo was to encourage communication between buyers and sellers.

Shandong Shifeng Group, which showed tractors and diesel engines, also
said it was satisfied, as the company has local dealers for its products.

The expo was organised by China’s Trade Development Bureau of the Ministry
of Commerce and the Department of Commerce of Yunn an Province, and
supported by the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and
Industry.

____________________________________
HEALTH

December 28, Inter Press Service
Aid dependence may hurt successes in HIV, AIDS – Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK — Thanks to a healthy cocktail of foreign aid and a pragmatic
condom policy, one of Southeast Asia’s poorest countries is well on course
to meeting an international target aimed at reversing the spread of HIV
and AIDS.

But even as Cambodia’s basks in praises for its achievement—completing one
of the eight UN backed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015—it is
facing a steady trickle of troubling questions about a possible reversal
of the kingdom’s success.

Cambodia’s continued dependence on foreign donor assistance is not the
best prescription for sustaining the country’s "remarkable history in
driving down HIV infections", warns a new report, co-authored by Cambodian
public health experts, released in December.

"Future success is not guaranteed and the government needs to focus
increasingly on wise prevention tactics and assume more of the financing
of its AIDS programme," reveals the statement accompanying the Dec. 21
report, ‘The Long-Run Costs and Financing of HIV/AIDS in Cambodia’.

The Cambodian government’s initial response to the report has been
conciliatory. "We welcome this in-depth and forward-looking report for our
country," says Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bunheng. "Cambodia has a long
history of fighting HIV/AIDS head-on, with effective prevention
strategies."

The report, which has the backing of the Results for Development Institute
(R4D), a Washington DC-based think tank, argues that a gradual increase in
a funding role by the Cambodian government would help prevent a worse-case
scenario of the virus infecting four times more people in 2031 than has
been anticipated.

In a best case scenario, with proper funding, Cambodia could reduce
infections to 1,000 people a year in 2031, reveals the report, but warns
that if the country’s AIDS efforts "stall and current coverage of key
services declines, especially in carefully targeted prevention, the number
of infections could climb to 3,800 a year in 2031."

Cash-strapped Cambodia’s recognition as a success story can be seen in its
two-decade achievement since HIV/AIDS was first reported in 1991. By 2000,
this country, struggling to rise from nearly 20 years of civil war and the
impact of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, was reporting 15,000 new HIV
cases a year.

In 2000, when world leaders announced the eight time-bound development
targets, the MDGs, at a UN summit in New York, the prevalence rate among
adults in Cambodia was close to two percent. Yet by 2009, it had dropped
to 0.7 percent.

Besides the call to roll back the spread of HIV in the developing world,
the MDGs also targeted countries like Cambodia, where a third of its
nearly 15 million population live below the poverty line, to slash the
number of the poor, ensure universal primary education and reduce child
mortality.

Cambodia’s achievements have been built around a highly publicized 100
percent condom use campaign for sex workers since 1997. Consequently, HIV
rates among sex workers have gone from over a 40 percent prevalence rate
in 1996 to 14 percent by 2006, according to a national survey.

At the same time, the country has taken strides to provide life-prolonging
anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) for people living with HIV. Currently, 40,000
people with HIV are on the anti-AIDS drug therapy, a number that accounts
for over 85 percent of those who need ARVs. A decade ago, only 71 people
were on this once costly treatment.

"The issue here is a question of long-term sustainability and
predictability," says Tony Lisle, Cambodia country coordinator for the
Joint UN Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS). "In the medium and short term, the
Cambodian government can’t be expected to meet overall costs."

"We need cost-effective, high-impact, low-cost interventions that avert
new infections," Lisle said in a telephone interview from Phnom Penh.
"Donors need to ensure that as donor resources decline, the government
share of resources increases as Cambodia’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
increases."

According to Lisle, Cambodia will need US $500 million for its HIV/AIDS
programme between 2011 and 2015. "The government already has 263 million
dollars in the pipeline."

International donors fund close to 90 percent of the country’s HIV
programme, whose resources have ballooned from 21 million dollars in 2001
to nearly 52 million dollars by 2008.

Such assistance, including substantial grants from the Global Fund to
Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, has been a lifeline in helping
Cambodia develop since the 1991 peace accords in the country. In June,
international donors pledged 1.1 billion dollars in aid for 2010, up from
the 950 million dollars in 2009.

To avoid a second wave of HIV infections, more funds should go toward the
populations with the most risky behaviour, ranging from sex workers, men
who have sex with men (MSM), and injecting drug users, says Ly Pisey, a
member of Social Action for Change, a women’s activist group based in
Phnom Penh.

But she cautions against the emphasis international donors put on
targeting only a select slice of Cambodian women at risk of HIV and AIDS.
"This policy has seen discrimination, since it has just focused on
brothel-based sex workers, while sexually transmitted infections and HIV
are issues of everyone, including clients and housewives," Ly said in an
interview.

Likewise, the Cambodian government’s continued dependence on international
aid for a substantial number of its development programmes reveals that
Phnom Penh is far from ready to shoulder more funding for HIV programmes,
she added. "Without political will, this will never be possible, where
Cambodia could walk or run on its own."

____________________________________
REGIONAL

January 3, Mizzima News
Burmese migrant workers stage labour rights protest – Aung Myat Soe

Chiang Mai - More than 300 Burmese migrant workers protested against
labour rights violations today in Bangkok.

Burmese employees of the SYK Autopart Import-Export Co. Ltd in Thakarm
Road, Bangkhunthian, successfully pressed the company to meet six key
demands.

The demands included the right to paid national holidays, the right to
medical leave, and the right to obtain temporary passports and work
permits, as well as for the installation of CCTV cameras in the workplace
so hours of work could be properly recorded.

The workers protested in company uniforms.

“We wrote our demands in Thai and delivered them to management”, Ko Soe, a
protest organiser told Mizzima.

The demonstration started this morning at 8 a.m. By 11 a.m. ten migrant
worker delegates had reached an agreement with company representatives in
the presence of local police.

Prior to today’s protest, workers had to give at least 30 days advance
notice of resignation.

After today’s’ negotiation, they are now required to give only 15 days
prior notice.

In addition, workers now have the right to complain about their salary and
conditions, and the right to have a pre-employment ‘security deposit’
collected by the company of 1,000 Baht reimbursed upon leaving the
company.

Ko Soe explained that “Some (employees) have worked for the company for
more than three years. Despite knowing our labour rights were being
violated, we didn’t dare to complain”.

"But since December 29, we have campaigned to secure our rights”, he stated.

Ko Soe added, “We have all got passports and visas. I encouraged workers
by saying that the police must have a valid reason to arrest us”.

S.Y.K Autopart Import-Export Company Limited manufactures motorcycle
helmets, spare parts, and accessories, including the popular Index Helmet
range. It employs around 500 people including more than 300 Burmese
migrant workers.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

December 30, Voice of America
US urges Burma to free political prisoners ahead of Independence Day

The United States is calling on Burma's military rulers to free all
political prisoners and engage in dialogue with opposition groups as the
country prepares to mark its 63rd independence anniversary.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner issued a statement Thursday saying
the Burmese government must take action to meet the aspirations of its
diverse peoples and improve relations with the Obama administration. He
also congratulated the people of Burma ahead of their independence day on
January 4.

The Burmese military released opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from
years of house arrest last month, but only after holding a rare general
election denounced by Western nations and opposition groups as a sham.
Rights groups also say the Burmese military continues to detain more than
2,100 political prisoners.

Toner reiterated U.S. calls for the release of those prisoners and said
the Burmese military must engage in an "inclusive and meaningful dialogue"
with all citizens in pursuit of "genuine national reconciliation."

He said the United States is "unwavering" in its support of an
independent, peaceful, prosperous and democratic Burma. He also said
Washington looks forward to the day when the Burmese people will succeed
in "peaceful efforts" to freely exercise what he called "their universal
human rights."

____________________________________

December 30, Irish Times
Martin reaffirms Ireland's support for Burma's pro-democracy groups – Mary
Fitzgerald

Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has restated Ireland’s support
for the struggle of pro-democracy groups inside Burma during a telephone
conversation with recently released Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi.

“We wanted to articulate our delight at her release and convey our respect
for the iconic nature of her position now in terms of democracy,” Mr
Martin said last night. “She sounded relaxed and in good form. She came
across as strong and very clear-minded.”

During the 25-minute conversation, which had been arranged through UN
channels, Mr Martin praised the Nobel laureate’s peaceful campaign for
democratic reform.

“She was very anxious that we would continue to support that aspect of her
work,” he said. “She was anxious to develop closer links with Ireland,
particularly on the diplomatic side, in terms of getting easier mechanisms
for contact.”

He assured Ms Suu Kyi of the importance both Ireland and the EU attach to
her continued freedom and personal safety following her years of arbitrary
detention by the Burmese junta.

“She wanted to convey her deep thanks and appreciation to the people of
Ireland for their support,” Mr Martin said.

During the conversation, Ms Suu Kyi made reference to the Burmese being
referred to as “the Irish of the east” during colonial times.

Mr Martin told her of the Northern Ireland peace process. “She was anxious
for good reading material on that,” he said.

Ms Suu Kyi was awarded the freedom of Dublin City in 2000. The Minister
said the subject of a possible visit to Ireland was not broached in a
“substantive” way during the phone call.

“We would be delighted to invite her to Ireland but obviously that would
depend on her own schedule,” he added.

They also discussed recent events in Burma including the deeply flawed
parliamentary elections which took place in November.

Mr Martin stressed the need for all political prisoners to be released as
the first step in a process of political dialogue involving all groups in
Burma.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

December 29, Time
Aung San Suu Kyi: Burma's First Lady of freedom – Hannah Beech

Rangoon – (Cover Story) The special branch had chased us across the city
for hours, through the haunted, betel-nut-stained streets of old Rangoon,
past street-side tailors hunched over ancient sewing machines and open-air
bookstalls selling worm-eaten copies of Orwell and Kipling. Unable to
shake the latest batch of state security men following us by foot, we
jumped into a wheezing taxi of mid-20th century vintage. The young
driver's eyes widened at the foreigners who hurled themselves in the back
and ordered the car to move — fast. As we lurched into motion, he showed
us where he stood by reaching into his shirt pocket and pulling out a
laminated picture. It was, of course, of the Lady.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the 65-year-old Burmese Nobel Peace Prize laureate who
was released from house arrest on Nov. 13, was not in the taxi with my two
colleagues and me. But she is always carried in the hearts — and her image
in the pockets, lockets and secret hiding places — of millions of Burmese.
Among the most oppressed and impoverished people on the planet, they draw
sustenance from this graceful woman who, armed only with the principle of
nonviolent resistance, dares to stand up to the generals who have
controlled Burma for nearly five decades. For 15 of the past 21 years, the
military regime kept her locked up. But if the generals wished for Suu Kyi
to fade into obscurity, they failed. Continued confinement turned her into
the world's most famous political prisoner. Emerging from her most recent
stint of seven years in detention, she is just as determined to fight for
the civil liberties of Burma's 50 million people. "What we are calling for
is revolutionary change through peaceful means," she told me when we
recently met in Rangoon. "I'm not afraid to say it, and I'm not afraid to
ask for all the help I can get."

The extent to which the junta has gone to try to foil the Lady, as Suu Kyi
is fondly and universally known in Burma, is remarkable. For refusing to
participate in a rigged election in November that the junta's proxy party
won, Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was
stripped of its political rights. The NLD overwhelmingly won at the polls
in 1990, which presumably would have made Suu Kyi the nation's Prime
Minister. But the junta ignored the people's verdict then, and a new
constitution contains clauses specifically designed to keep her from ever
serving as Burma's leader.

Since 1962, Burma's battle-hardened generals have faced down communist
insurgents, ethnic armies, even the Western governments that impose
economic sanctions on the regime. But they still act as if there is no
greater enemy than this slight woman with flowers in her hair. Their fear
of Suu Kyi is not entirely misplaced. "We think our leader is the ideal
woman, not just for Burma but for the whole world," says Aye Aye Nyein, a
teacher and member of the NLD's youth wing. "We Burmese live in a prison.
She teaches us how to fight for our freedom." And the public's desire for
freedom, of course, is why security agents were hunting us, snapping
pictures with telephoto lenses fit for Hollywood paparazzi. Earlier that
day, a total of at least a dozen special-branch officers trailed us,
calling in our movements on their cell phones.

It took the taxi driver only a couple of minutes to figure out we had a
tail. Pointing back at a car practically on our bumper, he grinned and
gunned the engine. For more than half an hour, our high-speed chase wound
through the streets of Burma's moldering former capital, past the
carcasses of Victorian-era government buildings abandoned when the junta
mysteriously moved the seat of power to a remote redoubt five years ago.
We circumnavigated the massive golden spire of Shwedagon pagoda, Burma's
holiest site, and careened by the hulk of Insein prison, where Suu Kyi was
once jailed and where some of the country's 2,200 political prisoners
still languish.

Dusk was falling. Screeching through an open-air market, the taxi finally
shook our pursuers. Gratefully, we bid our driver goodbye. He reached into
his pocket again, offering me Suu Kyi's picture as a gift. I was touched,
but it was his talisman to cherish. I could leave Burma. He needed the
Lady to keep him safe.

An Unending Struggle

Her carriage is regal, her English accent impeccable. The blossoms she
customarily wears in her hair never seem to wilt, even as everything else
droops in Burma's sullen heat. In the NLD office, with its intermittent
electricity and maps of mildew spread across concrete walls, Suu Kyi
floats like some otherworldly presence, calm and cool as others are
flushed and frenetic. Ever since she was released in mid-November, Suu
Kyi's days have been divided and subdivided into one-hour or 15-minute
increments, during which she has met a dizzying array of people: foreign
diplomats, AIDS patients, NGO directors, local economists, U.N. officials
and the families of political prisoners. She even chatted by phone in
December with former First Lady Laura Bush, who had championed the Burmese
cause.

But even as the world watches Burma with renewed interest in the wake of
Suu Kyi's release, she has not yet met the people with whom she most wants
to talk. The regime has ignored her repeated offers for national
reconciliation dialogue. Since releasing her, the junta has dealt with Suu
Kyi by acting as if she didn't exist, expunging mentions of her from the
local press and hoping that, despite her busy calendar and the huge crowds
that gather wherever she goes, she will somehow dwindle into irrelevance.
"I wish I could have tea with them every Saturday, a friendly tea," Suu
Kyi says of the generals, who refused to allow her dying husband one last
visit to Burma in 1999. And if they turn down a nice cup of tea? "We could
always try coffee," she says wryly.

Far from being a simple morality tale of good vs. evil, the Lady against
the generals, what happens in Burma carries global significance. Jammed
between Asia's two emerging powers, China and India, Burma is
strategically sensitive, a critical piece in the new Great Game of global
politics. This is no totalitarian backwater like North Korea. Even though
many Western governments have imposed sanctions on Burma's military regime
for its atrocious human-rights record, a new competition is unfolding in
this crossroads nation: regional powers are scrambling for access to
Burma's plentiful natural gas, timber and minerals. Already,
resource-strapped China is building oil and gas pipelines across Burma to
create another vital artery to feed its economic engine. Beijing's cozy
ties with Burma have spooked democratic India, which has exchanged earlier
condemnation of the junta for trade missions — a stance that earned
President Barack Obama's public disapproval when he visited India in
November. For Burma's top brass — who have at their disposal a
400,000-strong military corps and a record of institutionalized rape,
torture and forced labor — democratic reform would mean not only ceding
political supremacy but also surrendering the opportunity to siphon wealth
from ever growing state coffers.

Unlike South Africa's apartheid government when Nelson Mandela was
released from prison, Burma's dictatorship is not in its death throes. If
anything, because of burgeoning foreign investment in Burma, especially
over the past five years, the junta is even more entrenched than when Suu
Kyi was last free, in 2003. Two previous attempts at popular protest have
ended with the crackle of gunfire and the silence of a cowed populace. The
most recent tragedy came in 2007 when soldiers ended weeks of monk-led
protests by mowing down dozens of unarmed civilians.

The other foiled democracy movement was in 1988, when Suu Kyi found
herself literally thrust on the political stage. The daughter of
assassinated independence hero Aung San, she spent much of her early life
overseas in India, the U.S., Japan, Bhutan and England. In the 1980s she
was content to focus on academic research and serve as the mother of two
sons and the wife of a British academic at Oxford. On picnics in the
English countryside, Suu Kyi wore shorts and drank soda; she gave little
hint of the democracy icon she would become.

In 1988 the dutiful Asian daughter went home to care for her ill mother.
That Rangoon summer grew into Burma's version of a Prague spring. The
generals' mismanagement had turned what was once one of Asia's
breadbaskets into an economic basket case, and students, monks and workers
gathered by the hundreds of thousands to call for the regime's downfall.
The army fired on the protesters, some of whom tried to fight back. As the
child of the revered general who had vanquished the colonial British, Suu
Kyi thought she might have the authority to prevent further clashes. In
front of half a million people, she made her first public address, mixing
Buddhist values with Gandhian principles of nonviolent resistance. Less
than a month after Suu Kyi's plea for peace, the army unleashed another
crackdown, killing hundreds. Two years later, the electoral victory of the
NLD, the party she helped found, was disregarded. It was as if time
stopped in Burma.

Multiple Fronts

Today, despite Suu Kyi's release and the influx of foreign investment that
has brought the occasional Hummer and day spa to Rangoon, Burma is still a
country preserved in amber. Tropical totalitarianism is deceptive. In
North Korea, the broad, desolate avenues and drably dressed citizens make
for a perfect tableau of authoritarianism. Burma's sprays of
bougainvillea, its gilded pagodas and the sway of schoolgirls dressed in
the sarongs called longyis all create a false sense of contentment. But
life in Burma is not easy. Roughly 40% of the national budget is spent on
the army, while just around 1% each is reserved for health and education.
The new capital in Naypyidaw, which means "abode of the kings," was built
with billions of dollars, even as nearly a third of Burmese live below the
poverty line. For farmers, a hand-to-mouth existence is made worse by
routine land seizures and orders to work without pay for the military.
Even in Rangoon, power outages are as common as junta informants; both
leave the populace in the dark. In a sign of just how removed the generals
are from their subjects, confidential U.S. embassy cables released by
WikiLeaks refer to the junta lavishing money on a nuclear program with
alleged help from North Korea, while junta supremo Than Shwe pondered
spending $1 billion on Manchester United at the behest of his
soccer-loving grandson.

Although Suu Kyi's moral imprimatur helped bring Western sanctions against
the regime, the fact that many ordinary Burmese also feel their effects
hasn't escaped her. "I am ready to reconsider my support of sanctions if
it's for the benefit of all of us," she told me with surprising vehemence,
countering critics who think her too unyielding. "I'm not afraid to
consider change." Her openness will surely ignite further debate in
Washington, where there is a growing recognition that sanctions on Burma,
despite their moral appeal, have not worked.

But the most immediate revolution is needed within Suu Kyi's party. Ever
since the unfair outcome of the 1990 elections, the NLD has been stuck in
a time warp, endlessly arguing over arcane policy and political theory
even as many of its leaders get grayer and more stooped. There is a
strange parallel between Burma's geriatric opposition leaders, known as
the Uncles, and the junta's clutch of aged generals. In a 2008 cable
released by WikiLeaks, an American diplomat in Rangoon bemoaned, "The way
the Uncles run the NLD indicates the party is not the last great hope for
democracy and Burma." Since then, a leadership reshuffle has reinvigorated
the party to a certain extent, and Suu Kyi's release has galvanized a new
generation of political youth. But it's no wonder that a younger NLD
faction called the National Democratic Force defied the NLD's (and Suu
Kyi's) call for an electoral boycott and contested the November polls. Suu
Kyi says she's not worried about a possible split in the opposition. "We
are all fighting for democracy," she says. "Our goals are the same."

Suu Kyi, a woman who first used a cell phone on the day of her release,
says she's committed to nurturing a new generation of technologically
savvy political youth. "The advantage is they're very electronic. They can
communicate with the world," she says, referring to the NLD youth wing's
members who use Facebook to debate politics when there's enough
electricity to power computers. "Everything goes on the Internet. Did you
know that?" The equalizing power of the digital revolution ties in nicely
with the philosophy that has inspired Suu Kyi, that of Czech dissident and
fellow Peace Prize laureate Vaclav Havel, who wrote of "the power of the
powerless." "My very top priority is for people to understand that they
have the power to change things themselves," she says. "Then we can do it
together. Then we'll be home and dry."

A Heavy Burden

It's a lot to ask of one woman: rejuvenate her banned party, persuade the
generals to talk, make the cause of Burma a global priority, minister to
the sick, comfort the families of political prisoners. Serving as an icon
of democracy is hard enough, without having to deal with the nitty-gritty
of everyday political life. Add to that the real worry that Suu Kyi may be
operating on borrowed time. "Our people are in and out of prison all the
time," she says. "All I have to say is, 'Is so-and-so in or out?' and they
know exactly what I mean."

For now, she is out. But there's little doubt that if the junta sees in
her any realistic challenge to its authority, she will be sent in again on
whatever spurious charge the military can concoct. "I want to do as much
as I can while I'm free," she says. "I don't want to tire myself out, but
we never know how much time we have."

Beyond the possibility of rearrest, Suu Kyi's safety is an even more
fundamental concern. The army has shown it is quite prepared both to lock
her up and to endanger her life. On three occasions, Suu Kyi and her
supporters have been attacked by mysterious thugs, with resulting
fatalities. "She is like her father in that she has no qualms about losing
her life," says Win Htein, an NLD elder who was released in July after 14
years in jail. Suu Kyi gasps when I ask her whether she would consider
wearing a bulletproof vest. "I wouldn't dream of it," she says. "Then it
would look like I'm trying to protect myself from the people who support
me."

Suu Kyi may cherish her interactions with ordinary Burmese, but there is a
distant quality to her, a sense that she lives most comfortably in her
head, not among the crowds. Part of her remove is born of circumstance.
She speaks proudly of being her father's favorite child, yet he was
assassinated by political rivals when she was just 2. For so much of her
recent life, Suu Kyi has been sequestered from normal human contact; noble
ideas and fine words have kept her company. While under house arrest, she
obsessively read books ranging from biographies to spy thrillers. "People
think that I had nothing to do [while in detention]," she says. "But I
spent five or six hours listening to the radio every day. If you're under
house arrest and you miss one item, there's no one there to tell you about
it, so I listened very carefully." Even her taste in classical music
speaks to her sense of discipline and composure. Mozart, she says, makes
her happy, which is all well and good. But she prefers Bach. "He makes me
calm," she says. "I need calm in my life."

Right now, Suu Kyi is in the eye of a storm, a place of deceptive
tranquility. Rangoon is a city of whispers, and while the people I met
there used different words — a honeymoon, a window, a reprieve — their
hushed intent was the same: this, they felt, was the calm before the
crackdown. The November elections were part of what the generals call a
transition to a "discipline-flourishing democracy." One thing is certain:
when the fig leaf of civilian government arrives in 2011, there will be no
place in it for the Lady.

Still, for all her years of imprisonment and whatever travails may come,
Suu Kyi considers herself lucky. It's not because of the people's
adoration of her but because of their respect — a value she believes stems
from a generosity of spirit. "In my life, I have been showered with
kindness," she says. "More than love, I value kindness. Love comes and
goes, but kindness remains." When her son Kim was in Rangoon to see her
for the first time in a decade, his kindness came in the form of a gift, a
puppy to keep her company. "He's my guard dog," she jokes, even though the
tiny mutt hasn't shown much bark or bite. "He has an active tail and lets
me know when someone is coming. That should be enough, don't you think? A
little wag of the tail?"
____________________________________

December 31, Montreal Gazette (Canada)
The Lady is a champ – Norman Webster

Suu Kyi will prevail because her cause is just and she is on the right
side of history

Now where were we? Ah yes. It's coming back. Nearly a year ago, in this
very space, your columnist took his leave. Left hanging was a threat to
return occasionally a la Douglas MacArthur, trudging through the surf to
reclaim islands from the Japanese. Let's make our own return to Burma and
the unfolding drama in that rundown, terrorized basket case whose leaders
spend their idle hours on the links and give even golf a bad name.

Adding a special kick is that this is a good-news story (so far), one of
the happiest political developments in years. Aung San Suu Kyi,
courageous, beautiful, eloquent, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize,
authentic leader of her people, known to one and all simply as "the Lady,"
has at last been freed from house arrest, which she endured for most of
the last 22 years. Clearly she will be at the centre of any deal with the
blockheaded generals who still claim the right to rule.

Their latest ploy was a carefully fixed election this year that excluded
the Lady. The previous election, in 1990, was a disaster for the regime.
Opposition forces won a huge majority -392 of the 485 seats -a development
handled by ignoring the results completely and keeping the Lady under
wraps.

She will not be an easy mark in negotiations. Last week's photo of Suu
Kyi, 65, almost desperately clutching her adult son at the airport after
years of separation, brings a lump to the throat -but also gives a hint of
what lies beneath the surface of this extraordinary woman. For years she
had no contact with her two sons, both living abroad, or with
grandchildren she had never seen. In 1999 she remained, anguished, shut up
in Rangoon, while her husband died of cancer in England.

The regime offered to let her fly to his side, but she refused, knowing
the generals would never let her return. This beauty with the ever-present
flower in her hair is also an Iron Lady, with depths of discipline and
sacrifice most of us can only guess at.

Since her release she has made no quick lunge for power that would bring
millions into the streets and probably get thousands of them murdered.
Burma's soldiers shot to kill in an uprising in 1988, pointing the way to
slaughter a year later in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. They could do it
again.

Aung San Suu Kyi will aim to establish links with the newer and younger
officers who must soon assume power from the crusty, corrupt seniors led
by a brute named Than Shwe.

She carries one priceless card into political battle - namely, that she is
the flesh-and-blood child of Aung San, the young officer who founded the
Burmese army and was working on a deal for independence from Britain when
he was assassinated in 1947. Since then, in the popular imagination Aung
San has become a combination of George Washington and JFK -father of his
country, cut down in his prime, "second only to Buddha," as a Burmese
murmured to me in Rangoon.

Suu Kyi (pronounced "soo chee"), only 2 when her father was murdered, even
looks like him, right down to the large, distinctive ears. Reverence for
the family is such that she is the only one in the land whose health the
junta has to worry about. That must spoil the short putts at the country
club.

When my wife and I visited Burma in 1997, we secured an exclusive
interview with the Lady with just a phone call. Of course it helped to
have the right number (passed on by the foreign correspondents' old boys
club).

The timing was fortuitous. We seemed to be the last to speak with her
before she was once again isolated, under house arrest, confined to her
family's peeling villa at 54 University Ave., on the shores of a small
suburban lake in Rangoon. When we passed the check post on the way out,
security guards were blocking an infuriated Danish ambassador who insisted
he had an appointment. We grabbed our passports and skedaddled.

Our terrified taxi driver had parked around the corner, out of sight.
Later, rushing us to the airport, he turned and asked: "You saw Aung San
Suu Kyi? Was she strong?"

Yes, I said, she was strong. He brightened noticeably.

I rifled through my notes, looking for two statements. The first conjured
the image of a frozen lake, which seemed bizarre in the sweltering heat of
Rangoon. Because of repression, the Lady had said, everything might seem
frozen -"but when the sun comes out and the ice melts, you find there was
a lot of life all along."

She was confident that, in the end, things would come out right. "We will
prevail because our cause is right, because our cause is just. ... History
is on our side. Time is on our side."

Magnificent. For the first time in years, I'm starting to believe it.

Norman Webster is a former editor of The Gazette.

____________________________________

December 30, Irrawaddy
Burma 2011: Asian friends will fill junta pockets – William Boot

Bangkok — The New Year seems likely to bring more foreign trade, more
tourists and more lopsided development for Burma, with much of the
financial benefits filling the bank accounts of junta leaders and their
business cronies.

These are the predictions of a number of expert observers who have been
looking into their crystal balls at what 2011 offers the military run
country.

The first quarter of 2011 will see continuing hesitation from both the
United States and the European Union on the future of economic sanctions
following the November elections and freeing from house arrest of Aung San
Suu Kyi, while Asian neighbors will step up a business-as-usual policy.

China and Thailand will remain the biggest foreign investors, with an
intensification of gas, oil and hydroelectric dam projects.

Probably the biggest single new business development will be the start of
a major port-industrial complex in and around Tavoy (Dawei) on Burma’s
deep southeast coast. The Thai-led multibillion dollar project will likely
see additional investment commitments from South Korean and Japanese
firms.

“The new political facade of an elected parliament and the privatization
of some state-owned enterprises to military-friendly business tycoons will
bring a veneer of change for the better, but the wealth will remain
largely in the same hands,” said a trade official at a Western embassy in
Bangkok, speaking on condition of anonymity.

This view is supported by long-time Burma analyst Sean Turnell, a
professor of economics at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia and
editor of Burma Economics Watch.

“There will be the same old carve up of the gas revenues, and other
‘rents’ to be distributed to the regime and its cronies, whatever the
political hats they may be wearing these days,” Turnell predicted for The
Irrawaddy.

“I expect more Chinese dominance of the economy, some upswing in tourism,
but overall, and in the absence of great change, more slippage of Burma
into the economic backwater it has become this past 50 years,” he said.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) January assessment of Burma in
2011 is: “Recent political developments are not expected to have any
immediate impact on the economy.”

The latest EIU report predicts that the new government is likely to
continue to run a substantial fiscal deficit in 2011-12 and maintain a
highly overvalued official exchange rate, with the central bank too ready
to print money to finance the government deficit.

“Although it is possible that technocrats may be appointed to important
positions in a new cabinet, there is unlikely to be any immediate
improvement” in government, said the EIU.

While policy toward the Burmese regime in Washington, most European
capitals and Australia will remain primarily hostile, the Naypyidaw
government will get the support of “important allies” in Asia, notably
China, India and Asean, said the EIU assessment.

China will continue with its construction of oil and gas pipelines from
the Bay of Bengal into its southwest Yunnan province, as well as
completion of a deep-draft port on Burma’s central coast specifically to
transship crude oil from Africa and the Middle East.

Thailand’s state-owned PTTEP oil and gas explorer will invest further in
its major new gas find at Block M-9 in the Gulf of Martaban, assessed as
holding at least 50 billion cubic meters. Most of the gas will be piped to
Thailand when production starts after 2013.

Thai state funds will also be invested in a new 160 kilometer road planned
to begin in the first half of 2011, connecting Thailand’s border town of
Kanchanaburi with the Burmese coast town of Tavoy.

The Thai construction giant Italian-Thai Development Company reached an
agreement in November with the state Myanmar Port Authority to build a
large port at Tavoy. Thai, Japanese, Chinese and South Korean firms have
expressed interest in developing an industrial estate there with refining,
petrochemicals manufacture and steel making backed by a 600 megawatt power
station.

“Tavoy could become a major development in the coming years if Thailand
can maintain good relations with the Burmese authorities, but I doubt if
much will happen in 2011 beyond work on the connecting road,” forecast
Collin Reynolds, an energy industries consultant in Bangkok.

Turnell thinks there is a possibility of discontent in 2011 among some
senior army officers following the political-economic carve up connected
with the November elections.

“One issue will be the potential discontent within the ruling clique: the
'new' military officers without the revenues supplied to their
predecessors by the now privatized assets and enterprises. And on the flip
side the disappointed former officers now without their uniforms, in
parliament or elsewhere, but who were not compensated for their loss of
the economic privileges an officer's cap bestowed.”
____________________________________

January 1, International Herald Tribune
End sanctions on Myanmar – Philip Bowring

Yangon — It is time the West ended it sanctions against Myanmar, whether
or not the opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Burmese exile groups
agree. This is not to imply that the recent elections were anything other
than rigged, or deny that the regime remains ruthless, corrupt and
incompetent. But sanctions are neither in the interests of the West nor of
the majority of Burmese for whom livelihood issues are the dominant
concern.

Short of an attempt at a people power revolution, which most likely would
be greeted by the military with the same brutality as in 1988 and 2007, a
strategy of persistence and patience is the only way forward.

It is clear that sanctions have not only failed to achieve their aims,
they could well have made the situation worse by increasing the
anti-Western paranoia of the military leader Than Shwe, providing the
regime with a useful enemy, and increasing the influence of neighboring
states, notably China, which have scant regard for democracy or are driven
entirely by commercial interests.

The failure of sanctions has underscored the decline of Western influence
in this region. Travel sanctions against the families of Burmese generals
have deprived them of Western education and contacts. Trade sanctions,
which may have had some initial impact, are now easily avoided. The lack
of foreign investment — other than in resources — is more the result of
economic mismanagement than of sanctions.

There are a number of additional reasons that sanctions should be ended
now. Cracks are appearing in the authoritarian structure. The elections,
however fraudulent, gave an opportunity for opposition voices to be heard.
The boycott by Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy may
have made sense. But it is clear that respect for her courage and
principles is tempered by widespread criticism of her stubbornness and
apparent concern more for constitutional issues than social and economic
ones. That she would easily win a free and fair election is barely
relevant to the actual situation here.

The new constitution, which takes effect next year, devolves very little
power away from the executive to the legislative branch. But at least
there may be some debate and slightly more transparency. Optimists also
believe that once some generals take off their uniforms and become
ministers they will be freer to make policies than they are in the current
system, under which almost nothing happens without approval by the 10
generals in charge. Civil society organizations have also emerged partly
as a result of government failings at the time of the 2008 Nargis cyclone
catastrophe.

Optimists see positive developments in the inclusion of some businessmen
in the legislative assemblies . Although they are seen as regime proxies —
no substantial business can exist without connections to the generals —
some of them understand why the current system is incapable of generating
wealth for the people. Economic reforms like ending a multi-tier exchange
rate and making private investment less subject to official whims, are a
possibility.

Reform would be promoted if institutions like the World Bank and the Asian
Development Bank were able to lend here. This country currently lacks even
an official government budget. The proceeds of booming gas and other
resource exports have gone into building the extravagant new capital,
Naypyidaw, and into the dozens of gaudy mansions that have sprouted in the
posher suburbs of Yangon while the densely populated downtown
deteriorates.

Involvement by international organizations might also help divert money
from dams designed to sell power to China to irrigation and
electrification for the nation’s rural majority. The Burmese could also
use help combating malnutrition, in a country that was once the world’s
largest rice exporter.

It is important to try to engage now with the less obstinate members of
the ruling elite. The regime is gaining added confidence from the prospect
of additional revenue from new offshore gas developments. Meanwhile, Than
Shwe is 77 and a succession of some sort is likely within a decade. There
is at least the chance that the sons and daughters of generals, and
middle-ranking officers, see their own survival and prosperity linked to a
gradual shift to civilian rule and a more open market economy.

It is hard for those who claim to carry the flag of Burmese nationalism
not to know just how far their country has fallen behind not just Thailand
but now China, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Do not imagine that engagement will be anything other than a slow and
frustrating process. Significant progress on the constitutional front is
unlikely until social and economic issues have been addressed. But Myanmar
is just as capable of fundamental reform as were Indonesia and Vietnam.

Engagement does not mean keeping quiet about human rights abuses. The more
contact Myanmar has with the outside world — the more businessmen,
academics, artists, politicians, journalists and tourists who visit — the
stronger will be the impetus for change.

____________________________________

January 2, New Light of Myanmar
Spirit of cherishing independence and honouring results – Khaing Myo Nilar
Aung

Ward off colonialist tricks with patriotism

Myanmar people have got a lot of experiences of elections. In the colonial
days, ministers were selected by the governor responsible to the British
government. At that time, Myanmar national ministers were hardly appointed
as members of parliament, and the majority of MPs were Englishmen, Chinese
merchants, Indian merchants and mixed-race persons. The British government
appointed handpicked members to the liking of the governor in holding
elections of a legislative council made up of 14 or 15 MPs. The right to
stand for election and the right to vote were based on the rates of income
taxes.

After the consultant council to the governor led by General Aung San was
formed, a constituent hluttaw was held in April, 1947. At that time,
independence struggles were in full swing. The people, who believed that
the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) led by General Aung San
was capable enough of helping the nation regain independence, all voted
for AFPFI, candidates. AFPFL won all seats, except seven seats won by
Communist candidates. There were not any forms of rigging nor violence in
the elections.

Independence was regained after the demise of the general. In the
post-independence period, AFPFL split into many factions. In 1950, Red
Social members broke away from the Socialist Party, the hard-core party of
AFPFL. And Communists and Ba-Ka-Tha members turned back on the AFPFL.
Pyithu Yebaw Party collapsed into two groups: White Yebaw and Yellow
Yebaw. In 1958, AFPFL (remaining Socialist Party members) split into
Swe-Nyein or Stable AFPFL and Nu-Tin or Clean AFPFL.

In the post-independence period, the armed insurrection was ablaze the
whole nation. The AFPFL government was not capable of coping with the
issue, due to its members' rivalry for power. So, there was a sharp
decrease in the public support for AFPFL. However, power-craving AFPFL
leaders were claiming that the party would continue to win public support
for 40 years. They kept pocket forces (Pyusawhti force, defence force,
militia force, servicemen force and special police force) and came to
arrest, torture and kill opposition members. They breached all possible
forms of rigging in the elections. The elections held in 1952, 1956 and
1960 were rigged with a wide variety of cases such as a nine-man murder in
Minhla, a massacre in Sitatmg-aing Village, Myeik, murders in some
townships, and a six-man murder in Ngazun. Such cases were featured in
announcements issued and publications published by Opposition Pa-Ma-Nya-Ta
(Red Social); tribunal records, the book "To Fair Multiparty Democracy
General Elections" by Chairman of the Election Commission Saya Che, and
the book "A Fist to Mt. Myinmo" by Yebaw Ilia Myo.

Armed insurgents made armed threats that residents of the villages in the
black regions and brown regions which were under the influence of
insurgents) would have to vote for the candidates of Opposition (left-wing
Communists and Red Social) Pa-Ma-Nya-Ta in the elections. Similar cases
took place in the elections in May 1990.

The people were disappointed with AFPFL, from which many groups had been
broken away and whose members were vying with one another for power. So,
Opposition won 48 seats. It was the ruling AFPFL that violated all
possible breaches with its motto "Whatever results come out, we must win
in the elections". So, AFPFL could extend its rule, winning the 1952
elections and the 1956 elections. The people considered that what
Opposition Pa-Ma-Nya-Ta members would pay was just lip-service. So, they
cast votes for the ruling party. That was why Opposition branded the AFPFL
government the one-party dictator government.

The elections in February 1960 were merely a two-horse race: Stable AFPFL
and Clean AFPFL. Opposition Pa-Ma-Nya-Ta dreamt that it would win a
landslide voctory in the forthcoming elections because the people were
weary of AFPFL. Before 1960 elections, there were 119 MPs of Swe-Nyein
(Stable AFPFL) led by U Ba Swe and U Kyaw Nyein, 83 MPs of Nu-Tin (Clean
AFPFL) led by U Nu and Thakhin Tin and 44 MPs of Opposition Pa-Ma-Nya-Ta.

BCP (Burma Communist Party) insurgents squeezed villages to vote for
Pa-Ma-Nya-Ta in the 1960 elections. Stable AFPFL used pocket forces
especially special police force formed with Pyusawhti militias to make
threats to Opposition members. About 10 battalion commanders in favour of
Stable AFPFL rigged the elections. U Nu's Clean AFPFL canvassed for votes
with the incentive that they would prescribe Buddhism as the official
religion if they won in the elections. Stable AFPFL-back newspapers such
as Ahtauktaw, Pyi Kyaw, Mandaing and Deedok, and Clean AFPFL-back
newspapers such as Bama Khit, Pyidaungsu and Ohwai stated news with
political bias, thus violating the press ethic. On 19 December 1959, the
caretaker government of General Ne Win dissolved the parliament, and held
pyithu hluttaw elections on 6 February, and chamber of nationalities
elections on 29 February 1960.

At the conference of battalion commanders held in Meiktila on 9 November
1959, the-then Commander-in-Chief General Ne Win delivered a speech,
saying that the Tatmadaw would have to be neutral in the elections; that
he issued an order on 11 the previous month to make sure that the upcoming
elections would be fair; and that the country would go hungry if the
Tatmadaw did not follow military codes of conduct. In that way, he
reminded military commanders not to meddle in the elections in order that
the elections would be fair. Again at Yangon conference of the security
council on 21 December, he ordered that all servicemen and civil servants
concerned would be neutral.

The great majority of the people were Buddhists, so they voted for U Nu's
Clean AFPFL in the elections held in February 1960. The party won 159
seats; Stable AFPFL, 42 seats; and Pa-Ma-Nya-Ta, nil despite the
participation of its 135 candidates. Leader of Stable AFPFL (Pa-Hta-Sa) U
Nu became Prime Minister. A complaint was lodged with sound evidences
against some Socialist Party member military commanders who rigged the
elections in favour of Stable AFPFL. General Ne Win took action against
and fired about 10 commanders led by MajGen Maung Maung and Brig-Gen Aung
Shwe. In the period of elections, six Clean AFPFL candidates were
assassinated in Ngazun, which was later known as the Ngazun six-man
murder.

In the time of the Myanmar Socialist Programme Party from 1974 to 1988,
the nation saw elections four times. In those elections, in a
constituency, a voter has to put his vote into the white ballot box if he
favoured or into the black ballot box if he did not favour the only
candidate nominated by the one-party government. At that time, Socialism
was popular among the people. In some constituencies, some objection
voters were found in black ballot boxes. There were no rigging cases nor
violence in the elections.

On 27 May 1990, the Tatmadaw government held multiparty democracy general
elections. It did not interfere in the elections at all. It practised the
ballot paper system in place of the ballot card system in order that the
elections could not be rigged. Voters cast votes in polling booths freely
and put them into the ballot boxes. When the voting hours were over, the
cast votes were counted before candidates in the polling stations.
Election results were recorded in front of many witnesses and were
submitted to respective commissions at higher level. By contrast, in the
time of the AFPFL government, ballot boxes were stored for many days in
the offices of district commissioners concerned, and only then, were the
votes counted.

However, in the run-up to the 1990 elections, BBC, VOA and All India Radio
aired fabricated broadcasts in order that the party they oppose would not
win victory. Armed insurgents also made armed threats. And diplomats also
tried to meddle in the elections.

Election breaches were stated in publications. Losers and opposition
members complained breaches of elections. After the elections, objection
notes were heard in line with the law, which were featured in tribunal
records.

In the referendum held in May 2008 for the State Constitution (2008), a
transparent suffrage was exercised, which won recognition of the diplomats
who visited polling stations. As soon as a polling station was opened,
voters were invited to check the ballot boxes in the station. Then, the
empty ballot boxes were set in clearly visible sites. A voter had to show
his Citizenship Scrutiny Card to draw a ballot paper, enter a polling
booth and put a tick, fold the paper in half and put it into a ballot box
in front of many others. When polling hours were over, latecomers were
invited and votes were counted before them. Then, results were recorded
and the lists were put into bags and returning officers put their
signatures on the bags, and they were submitted to higher commissions.

The multiparty democracy general elections were held freely and fairly on
7 November 2010. Diplomats, representatives from UN agencies, and local
and foreign journalists observed and applauded the voting processes. Many
countries including the ASEAN chairman and the Chinese government praised
the process.

Many persons from neo-colonialist countries and local pessimists who
claimed that the ruling government was not a legitimate government as it
was not a democratically-elected one persuaded the people to oppose as
well as dissuaded the people from casting votes in the elections, instead
of welcoming the elections in which the people could vote for the
candidates they favoured. The elections were organized in line with the
Election Law and Rules based on the 2008 State Constitution.

In every polling station, voters could cast votes freely and put them into
the ballot boxes in visible sites. When polling stations were opened,
ballot boxes were examined in front of voters. When polling stations were
closed, ballot boxes were opened and votes were counted in front of the
representatives of the candidates. Diplomats and journalists were given
opportunity to observe the voting processes.

The 2008 State Constitution was formulated by the National Convention,
based on the principles laid down by the representatives of the 10 legal
parties, representatives of seat-winning political parties, workers,
peasants, civil servants, intellectuals and intelligentsia, and
representatives of national races from the four corners of the nation.
Altogether 98.12 percent of eligible voters cast their votes and the
constitution was approved with the support of 92.98 percent of the voters.

The 2010 elections were held in 325 of the 330 Pyithu Hluttaw
constituencies, accounting for 98.48 percent, in all the 168 Amyotha
Hluttaw constituencies; 661 of the 673 Region or State (including
nationalities) hluttaw constituencies, accounting for 98.22 percent. Of
over 29 million eligible voters, over 22 million (77.26%) cast votes for
Pyithu Hluttaw; over 22 million (76.78%), for Amyotha Hluttaw; and 21.8
million (76.62%), for Region/State Hluttaws. The validity of votes for the
three Hluttaws accounted for about 93 percent each. Despite being urged
not to cast votes in the elections, the people were dutiful for
democratization.

Under the ultimatum of the so-called general secretary, a certain party
claimed that it did not recognize, and opposed and objected to the State
Constitution and the elections held in line with the constitution on 7
November 2010. It indicates that it flagrantly disregarded the public
opinion of over 25 million people who participated in the referendum, and
that of about 22 million who participated in the elections. In reality,
they are anti-democracy elements because they consider that any
constitution, elections and public opinion are not legitimate so long as
they come to power.

Certain foreign radio stations including DVB and RFA founded with huge
funds for dissidents claimed before, during and after the elections that
elections were not free and fair. Neo-colonialists and their minions
underestimated the people of Myanmar. The people remain united with the
spirit of cherishing independence and nationalistic fervour in times of
emergency in the national interests.

The media foretold that votes in advance would be the decisive factor in
the election. A vote in advance is the right bestowed in line with the law
for the people who are abroad or in the nation on duty, who are away from
the constituency concerned, who are in hospitals, bed-ridden people, the
disabled and older persons. The election results of the Union Election
Commission show that there are many votes for representatives of other
parties and for independent candidates.

The results of the 2010 elections are the fruits of democracy or the
democratic right of the people to transform the nation from the rule of
the Tatmadaw that is taking State duties unavoidably to the democratic
government system. The previous elections were free from rigging and
violence. So, the State Constituency will come into force soon. The Union
will perpetuate with sovereignty and independence. Therefore, that is a
good sign of perpetuation of independence.