Nov. 28 2010 - 12:21 am
Freedom of speech for members of parliament in Burma will be restricted under laws that dictate the functioning of the newly elected government. The curbs announced on Friday in an official gazette also set a two-year prison term for any protest staged within the parliament compound, according to the Associated Press.
The laws, signed by junta chief Senior-General Than Shwe, stipulate that parliamentarians will be allowed freedom of expression unless their speeches endanger national security, the unity of the country or violate the Constitution. They also provide a two-year prison term for those who stage protests in the parliament compound or physically assault a lawmaker on its premises.
In contrast, Burma’s media – especially daily news, analyses, articles, commentaries and interviews - have also been put under serious scrutiny since the incumbent junta seized power. However along with the country's notoriously heavy censorship, the local independent media have been effective to some extent in reporting ahead of the 7 November 2010 election, according to some private news journal editors. But, the climate of press freedom is always unstable and insecure.
On 13 November, Human Rights Watch said that this month's elections were not credible, with access to Burma largely closed to observers, and reports - particularly from ethnic areas - of serious voting irregularities, such as questionable "advance voting ballots" submitted to shore up support for the military-backed parties.
Recently released official results from the elections point to an overwhelming victory by the military-formed party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), with more than 90 percent of the national upper house seats and 85 percent of the national level lower house seats.
During the polls, the junta blocked freedom of speech and freedom of the press since the junta-backed party breaks its own laws and commits vote rigging.
Then, at least 10 Burmese journals have been suspended for paying too much attention to the release of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, on 13 November.
They have been suspended for one to three weeks under the directives of the junta’s authorities in the capital Naypyidaw after the military-supervised Press Scrutiny Board gave them permission to print Suu Kyi's photo and an undersized article about her release. Any further reporting about the Lady is now forbidden until further notice. It is a harsh warning for the people in the media realm.
Moreover, because of the massive filtering of websites and the frequent drastic Internet slowdowns at times of unrest, Burma is already one of the 12 countries that Reporters Without Borders has branded "Enemies of the Internet." Burma's Internet law, called the Electronic Act, is one of the most repressive in the world. The junta regards netizens as its enemies. To the junta, freedom of expression and freedom of press are out of the question.
So, the latest Than Shwe laws, targeting the fresh parliamentarians, will not allow them freedom of expression if their speeches endanger national security, the unity of the country or violate the Constitution which protects military hegemony. It will make clearer to the politicians who want to find political space in the militarized-parliaments. Than Shwe’s latest law warns that the military will not tolerate anyone who challenges for real political change via the parliament of military-run Burma.
Source: http://www.asiancorrespondent.com/uzinlinn/burma%E2%80%99s-junta-warns-opposition-parliamentarians-not-to-find-political-space
Freedom of speech for members of parliament in Burma will be restricted under laws that dictate the functioning of the newly elected government. The curbs announced on Friday in an official gazette also set a two-year prison term for any protest staged within the parliament compound, according to the Associated Press.
The laws, signed by junta chief Senior-General Than Shwe, stipulate that parliamentarians will be allowed freedom of expression unless their speeches endanger national security, the unity of the country or violate the Constitution. They also provide a two-year prison term for those who stage protests in the parliament compound or physically assault a lawmaker on its premises.
In contrast, Burma’s media – especially daily news, analyses, articles, commentaries and interviews - have also been put under serious scrutiny since the incumbent junta seized power. However along with the country's notoriously heavy censorship, the local independent media have been effective to some extent in reporting ahead of the 7 November 2010 election, according to some private news journal editors. But, the climate of press freedom is always unstable and insecure.
On 13 November, Human Rights Watch said that this month's elections were not credible, with access to Burma largely closed to observers, and reports - particularly from ethnic areas - of serious voting irregularities, such as questionable "advance voting ballots" submitted to shore up support for the military-backed parties.
Recently released official results from the elections point to an overwhelming victory by the military-formed party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), with more than 90 percent of the national upper house seats and 85 percent of the national level lower house seats.
During the polls, the junta blocked freedom of speech and freedom of the press since the junta-backed party breaks its own laws and commits vote rigging.
Then, at least 10 Burmese journals have been suspended for paying too much attention to the release of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, on 13 November.
They have been suspended for one to three weeks under the directives of the junta’s authorities in the capital Naypyidaw after the military-supervised Press Scrutiny Board gave them permission to print Suu Kyi's photo and an undersized article about her release. Any further reporting about the Lady is now forbidden until further notice. It is a harsh warning for the people in the media realm.
Moreover, because of the massive filtering of websites and the frequent drastic Internet slowdowns at times of unrest, Burma is already one of the 12 countries that Reporters Without Borders has branded "Enemies of the Internet." Burma's Internet law, called the Electronic Act, is one of the most repressive in the world. The junta regards netizens as its enemies. To the junta, freedom of expression and freedom of press are out of the question.
So, the latest Than Shwe laws, targeting the fresh parliamentarians, will not allow them freedom of expression if their speeches endanger national security, the unity of the country or violate the Constitution which protects military hegemony. It will make clearer to the politicians who want to find political space in the militarized-parliaments. Than Shwe’s latest law warns that the military will not tolerate anyone who challenges for real political change via the parliament of military-run Burma.
Source: http://www.asiancorrespondent.com/uzinlinn/burma%E2%80%99s-junta-warns-opposition-parliamentarians-not-to-find-political-space
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