Saturday, 05 November, 2011
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Burma Eases Limits on Party Membership
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Saturday, November 5, 2011
RANGOON --- Burma's president has signed a revised law on political parties in an apparent attempt to encourage Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy to accept the political system and reregister as a party.
President Thein Sein signed the amendments to the Political Party Registration Law on Friday as senior US diplomats were ending a visit to encourage his government to push forward with democratic reforms. A UN envoy has also been visiting.
If the National League for Democracy reregisters as a legal party, it could join upcoming but still unscheduled by-elections that would be the first electoral test of its popularity in more than two decades.
Bringing Suu Kyi's party back into the fold would also give the government greater legitimacy at home and abroad.
The group was delisted as a political party last year after it refused to register for November 2010 elections, saying they were being held under undemocratic conditions.
The amendments of the party law signed by Thein Sein alter three areas of the law to accommodate Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy.
The law, originally enacted in March last year by the previous military junta, prohibited anyone who has been convicted of a crime from being a member of a political party. Suu Kyi had been convicted on a trumped-up charge, and would have had to leave the party she helped found. The clause has now been dropped, clearing the way for former political prisoners to engage in politics.
Another article was amended to say that registered parties shall "respect and abide" by the constitution rather than "safeguard" it. The change was evidently made to accommodate criticisms of the charter by Suu Kyi's group without making them illegal.
The third amendment says that any party that registers after the general election must run candidates in at least three constituencies in by-elections to remain legally registered. The original law said a party had to stand at least three candidates in the general election, which would have been an impediment to Suu Kyi's party, since it boycotted the 2010 polls.
"Now that the law has been passed, we will hold a meeting to decide whether or not we will register," the spokesman of Suu Kyi's group, Nyan Win, told The Associated Press. Nyan Win said the amendments were in line with the group's wishes.
The junta that ruled Burma, also known as Myanmar, until handing over power to the current elected military-backed government in March this year enacted a constitution and other laws with provisions aimed at limiting Suu Kyi's political activities, fearing her influence. Her party overwhelming won a 1990 general election, but the army refused to had over power, instead repressing Suu Kyi and other democracy activists.
The US and other Western countries imposed political and economic sanctions against the junta for its failure to hand over power and its poor human rights record.
The elections last November gave an army-backed party a huge majority in Parliament, and the constitution contains provisions that ensure the continued domination of the armed forces.
However, Thein Sein, who was the junta's prime minister, has instituted a series of small reforms to encourage political reconciliation, including an easing of censorship and the opening of a dialogue with Suu Kyi.
At the same time, the Obama administration has sought to engage the government, shifting away from the previous US policy of shunning it.
US special envoy to Burma Derek Mitchell told reporters in Rangoon on Friday that Thein Sein's government has taken positive steps and that Washington views the release of political prisoners and bringing the National League for Democracy into the political system as necessary reforms.
"We are thinking very actively about how we can support reform by our actions as we see the government taking those concrete steps," he said. He said the US "would love to respond in kind" and was consulting closely with the government.
The US could gradually ease its sanctions against Myanmar and allow aid from multilateral lending institutions such as the World Bank, over which it has exercised a veto.
Vijay Nambiar, a special adviser to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, also concluded a visit Friday and added his voice to those encouraging further reforms.
"An important purpose of my visit was to directly relay to the Myanmar leadership and other stakeholders the secretary-general's encouragement of the important steps taken in recent months to advance the reform agenda led by President Thein Sein, as well as the significant efforts made by all concerned to advance national dialogue and reconciliation," he said in a statement.
"At this juncture, it is of crucial importance, for Myanmar's regional and global standing, to maintain the positive momentum that these initiatives have generated." http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22394
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channelnewsasia.com
US, UN hopeful on visits to Myanmar
Posted: 05 November 2011 1004 hrs
YANGON: Senior US and UN officials said they were encouraged by nascent reforms in Myanmar, with Washington saying it will look at new incentives to spur change including the expansion of microfinance.
In a first, Myanmar allowed in the US assistant secretary of state handling human rights, Mike Posner, who said he voiced concern about the treatment of ethnic minorities and political prisoners but also saw signs of progress.
"There are some encouraging steps and signs. We need to go forward in a way that recognizes what's been done and what's being done that is positive, and build on that," Posner said at the US embassy on Friday.
Vijay Nambiar, special advisor to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, also said the UN was encouraged by the "significant efforts" under nominally civilian President Thein Sein to bring reconciliation in the divided country.
"If sustained, these and other efforts offer a historic opportunity to set the country on a course than can fulfill the promises made to the people of Myanmar," Nambiar said in a statement after meeting with top government members and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Posner accompanied US special envoy to Myanmar Derek Mitchell, who paid his third visit since September to the country previously known as Burma, where earlier this year the military nominally handed power to civilians.
Mitchell said that President Barack Obama's administration, which launched an engagement drive with Myanmar in 2009, was ready to respond to concrete progress, although an end to sanctions would need to come from the US Congress.
"There's a natural inclination in Washington toward pressure. We need to start thinking about how we respond to reform, as we see it happen. And we can support reform, get behind it and encourage further reform," Mitchell said.
Mitchell said he spoke with Aung San Suu Kyi about expanding microfinance -- small loans offered to farmers and other low-income people to help them build livelihoods.
The US Agency for International Development already has a program but wants to expand it to ethnic minority areas of the country, Mitchell said.
The envoy said that the United States had also used travel as an incentive, noting that the administration invited Myanmar's foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, to Washington in September.
Myanmar recently defied China by freezing work on an unpopular dam in a border area. The government also announced a prisoner amnesty, although critics say the step is symbolic as few high-profile inmates were freed.
"We welcome the release last month of more than 200 political prisoners, but continue to strongly urge that the remaining political prisoners be released immediately and unconditionally," Posner said.
Posner raised specific cases of prisoners and understood that Myanmar is considering their release, although there were no clear promises, Mitchell said.
"There was no concrete sense of a release or release date of any sort in the conversation. There is clearly a discussion going on internally about it, though," Mitchell said.
Amnesty International said that Myanmar is believed to be depriving some 15 political prisoners of drinking water, with eight held in cells designed for dogs without beds, mats or windows.
The human rights group also expressed fears about the serious illness of U Gambira, a prominent Buddhist monk held in solitary confinement in northern Myanmar's Kale prison for his role in anti-government protests in 2007.
- AFP/cc http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1163604/1/.html
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New Kerala.com
Sustaining initiatives set Myanmar on a new course: UN
New York, Nov 5 : The United Nations envoy for Myanmar on Friday called on the authorities to keep up the momentum of recent initiatives to strengthen national unity and advance dialogue and reconciliation, stressing the historic opportunity they have to set the country on a new path.
This was the third visit since last years election for Special Adviser Vijay Nambiar and the second since the establishment of a new Government seven months ago. It also comes amid the ongoing dialogue between the Government and pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and the release last month of a significant number of detainees.
At this juncture, it is of crucial importance, for Myanmars regional and global standing, to maintain the positive momentum that these initiatives have generated, Nambiar, who is also UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moons Chief of Staff, said in a statement issued in Yangon at the end of his five-day visit.
He said the UN strongly encourages the continuation of such efforts as well as the reform agenda led by President Thein Sein as the best way to strengthen domestic and international confidence in Myanmars commitment to a reform process that is incremental, systematic and sustainable.
In particular, we encourage all concerned to build on the steps taken thus far through an inclusive and broad-based political process to strengthen national unity, said the envoy.
The release of the remaining political prisoners as part of the recent amnesty process and the enactment of the proposed amendments to the political party registration law are steps that can and should be taken as a matter of priority. Continuous dialogue is also needed to bring about peace and development in border areas.
If sustained, these and other efforts offer a historic opportunity to set the country on a course that can fulfil the promises made to the people of Myanmar, he stressed.
During his visit, Nambiar met with a number of Government officials in Naypyitaw, including Vice-President U Tin Aung Myint Oo, as well as with the Union Peacemaking Group and with the Union Election Commission.
In Mandalay and in Pathein, he was received by the Chief Ministers of Mandalay region and Irrawaddy region, respectively, and in Yangon, he met with Suu Kyi at her residence. He also met with representatives of several political parties and with civil society groups, as well as with the National Human Rights Commission.
Nambiar also participated earlier this week in the first Green Economy Green Growth conference, which he said showed that it is now possible for a wide range of actors to come together to openly discuss common concerns.
It is an indicator of the direction in which Myanmar must continue to move if its democratic transition process is to succeed and if the country is to contribute to the global agenda by effectively addressing such concerns at home, he stated.
He told the gathering of business leaders, academics, government officials, civil society groups and private citizens that in Myanmar, as elsewhere, green growth is an integral part of efforts to protect the environment while creating decent jobs, reducing poverty and inequality, and achieving globally agreed development targets.
As Myanmar opens up to a changing world, the green growth agenda can help drive the advancement of sustainable development: it is good business good politics and good for society, he stated.
The Special Adviser also addressed a ceremony on Thursday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the swearing-in of U Thant, a great son of Myanmar who served as the third Secretary-General of the UN.
It is for the Government and people of Myanmar to maximize opportunities and to lead the changes they want to see for their country, said Nambiar. We in the United Nations wish and want Myanmar to succeed. But it has to be a success that is inclusive and includes all elements in the country to the extent that we can help facilitate the efforts which are essentially nationally owned.
--IBNS http://www.newkerala.com/news/2011/worldnews-100981.html
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More armed group in Myanmar signs peace agreement
Updated: 2011-11-05 13:39(Xinhua)
YANGON - One more Kayin ethnic armed group, the Kaloh Htoo Baw armed group, has signed an initial peace agreement with the peace-making group of the Kayin state government to pave way for talks with the central government, according to official media Saturday.
The Kaloh Htoo Baw armed group was former Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army (DKBA).
The five-point peace agreement was endorsed in Hpa-an of the state Thursday by U Saw Mu Shay, deputy leader of the Kaloh Htoo Baw armed group, and Colonel Aung Lwin, Minister of Security and Border Affairs of Kayin State Government and leader of the Kayin State Peace-Making Group, after discussion were held between them, said the New Light of Myanmar.
The five-point peace agreement covers ceasefire in Kayin state as of November 6, temporary settlement of Kaloh Htoo Baw armed group at the environs of Sonseemyaing, opening of temporary liaison office of the armed group at Myawaddy for further talks during the ceasefire, bilateral coordination be made in advance for traveling carrying arms beyond the areas except the areas under bilateral agreement during the ceasefire, and holding further talks on peace and stability in the region, development, settlement and livelihood of armed group members and ensuring eternal peace between central-level peace making group and senior level peace making persons of Kaloh Htoo Baw armed group, led by Major-General Saw Lar Pwe at a place and time acceptable to both sides.
Myanmar's central government had initiated first peace agreements with two armed groups based in Wa Special Region-2 and Mongla Special Region-4 respectively in early October.
The government, in its peace efforts, issued an announcement on August 18, calling on anti-government ethnic armed groups to come for peace talks to end internal armed insurrection and build internal peace in the country.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2011-11/05/content_14043380.htm
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Is Burma breaking out of China's embrace?
By Eric Baculinao,
NBC News Beijing Bureau Chief
BEIJING-Burma has caught its giant neighbor China off-guard recently by very publicly distancing itself from its political and economic patron in several ways.
First came the move to halt the construction of the Chinese-supported $3.6 billion Myitsone hydro-electric project, a gigantic dam that would have inundated an area the size of Singapore.
Burmese President Thein Seins decision to stop the project seemed intended to mollify domestic opposition, but it was a direct hit at Chinese interests and came not too long after he forged a strategic partnership with Beijing in the wake of his controversial election early this year.
While Burmas decision was praised by U.S. Senator John McCain, who called the pariah states move bold and responsible, the head of the Chinese company behind the damn deal said he was totally astonished by Burmas decision.
Lu Qizhou, President of China Power Investment Corporation, also hinted at legal action after investing huge amount of money in the giant hydroelectric project. Meanwhile, a Chinese government spokesman urged protection for the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.
Sein recently followed through with another surprise a mass amnesty for thousands of prisoners that reportedly included a few hundred political detainees. One analyst dubbed this move and other initiatives The Burma Spring.
The reasons behind these uncharacteristically independent stances is unclear -- Burma's government has presided over one of the worlds most oppressive and isolated regimes -- but the brutal death of Moammar Gadhafi last month is surely a cautionary tale to dictatorships around the world, Burmas included.
Not too surprised
While some involved in the Chinese dam project were angry and shocked at Burmas decision, a Chinese scholar who closely follows Burmese affairs declared that he was not too surprised by Burmas recent distancing.
The academic who works for a think-tank in the province of Yunnan that borders Burma a province that would have been a beneficiary of increased electricity from the project spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity due to sensitive diplomatic issues involved.
The dam project has been under a lot of pressure for some time, there was significant opposition from NGOs, and it was even a target of a bombing attack last year, so Burmas decision was not too sudden, the Burma specialist said.
He attributed Burmas decision to its desire to improve its domestic and international image, ease Americas sanctions and strengthen its bid for the chairmanship of the ASEAN in 2014, referring to the regional grouping of Southeast Asian Nations.
Its too early to tell whether the more strategic Trans-Burma oil and gas pipelines project will be the next target, but Burma is still very much in flux, the Chinese expert said.
Not a setback for China?
However, Burmas decision does not mean a setback or retrogression of relations with China, there is no reason to be extra-sensitive about this, the academic added.
Jim Della-Giacoma of the International Crisis Group agrees. The Southeast Asia Project Director, Della-Giacoma helped author a report in September that proved prescient for broadly anticipating Burmas recent reform initiatives.
While the dam decision was a dramatic gesture and it should be a wake-up call for China, it would be going too far at this stage to describe it as a failure of Chinese policy, he told NBC News.
The economic ties between the two countries are still significant and we would expect them to continue to be so, Della-Giacoma said.
A more significant indicator of a change its foreign policy would be the interactions between the U.S. and Myanmar or Myanmar and the EU, he added, using Burmas official name.
Western support for reform?
There are signs that recent moves by Burmas leadership are leading towards greater openness and independence from China, Della-Giacoma said.
The methodical way these reforms have been set up in recent years by putting in place the constitution, the elected legislatures and new government makes it more difficult to reverse course, he said. They have changed the way the country is being governed and produced a more collective leadership that is less susceptible to the capricious whim of one individual.
But Della-Giacoma cautioned Western powers against moving the goal posts by imposing new conditions on Burmas government , adding that no political change is walk in straight line.
In other words, severe economic sanctions imposed by the West may need to be lifted in order to hasten more reform.
With reform underway, lifting restrictions and sanctions can add momentum and encourage more, but holding them in place will see the Wests influence wane, he said.
http://behindthewall.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/04/8636377-is-burma-breaking-out-of-chinas-embrace
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Burma clears the way for Suu Kyi's return to politics
RANGOON, BURMA - Nov 05 2011 12:29
Burma's president has approved changes to a law on political parties, paving the way for democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party to re-register, state media said on Saturday.
The revisions to the political party registration law appear to be the latest effort by the military-dominated regime to reach out to opponents, amid tentative signs of change in the repressive state.
A key amendment endorsed by President Thein Sein on Friday removed the condition that all parties must agree to "preserve" the country's 2008 constitution, the state-run Myanmar Ahlin newspaper said.
The wording has now been changed to "respect and obey", it said, a small difference in nuance but one that would allow Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party to criticise or suggest changes to the Constitution.
The revised law also removed a contentious clause that said prisoners could not be party members.
NLD spokesperson Nyan Win said the party welcomed the changes but he refused to be drawn on whether it meant it would re-register and contest a by-election expected around the end of the year.
"We like the amended law as it amended the facts that should be amended," he said..
"We will discuss and negotiate what to do and how to continue on Monday when the office opens."
Ready to work
The NLD boycotted Burma's historic elections last year, largely because of rules that would have forced it to expel imprisoned members -- including leader Suu Kyi who was still under house arrest at the time.
As a result it was delisted as a political party by the regime.
Burma's new nominally civilian government said in September it was ready to work with Suu Kyi and her party if they officially re-entered the political arena.
In response, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, freed from detention last November after seven years of house arrest, said she would discuss the issue of re-registering with senior party members based on political developments.
The amendments to the party registration law came hot on the heels of high-profile visits to Burma this week by senior officials from the United Nations and the United States, who said they were encouraged by nascent reforms in the country.
A recent prisoner amnesty by the new government, however, failed to free most key dissidents, disappointing those who had hoped the country would release all its roughly 2 000 political detainees. -- AFP
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NOVEMBER 5, 2011.
Yangon's Many Faces of Change
Once Banned, Now-Ubiquitous Image of Suu Kyi Brings Whiff of 'Real' Reform to Myanmar.Article Video Interactive Graphics Comments By WSJ Staff Reporters :The Wall Street Journal
In a sign of tentative new freedoms in Myanmar, street merchants in Yangon now sell images of Aung San Suu Kyi along with that of her father, independence leader Gen. Aung San.
.YANGON, MyanmarThere is no more obvious sign that the door is cracking open in this repressive Southeast Asian nation than the sight of Aung San Suu Kyi's face everywhere.
Hawkers weave through idling traffic offering cheap color posters, pamphlets and magazines featuring Myanmar's most famous dissident, which was until a few months ago essentially banned. Street sellers along the commercial capital's main drag pin up dozens of versions of her image, Photoshopped to appear alongside that of her father, independence leader Aung San.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's leading opposition figure, talks about how recent government reforms are the most significant in two decades, but it's not yet time for the U.S. to lift economic sanctions.
.At an art gallery in a crumbling colonial structure, artists have painted her image into their latest works.
"We paint her because we can," said one of the artists.
This country, also known as Burma, is still far from being an open and free society in the sense commonly understood in the West. Reforms in recent months have allowed more public debate and expanded rights for workers, but the government still holds hundreds of political prisoners and continues to restrict discussion of some sensitive topics.
'In the reform process, let's say we have lovers.'
Read a transcript of the WSJ interview with Nay Zin Latt, one of three political advisers to Myanmar President Thein Sein.
.Skeptics of the governmentand there are still many, especially Myanmar citizens in exilesay authorities aren't serious about long-term reform, and are merely trying to fool Western leaders to end long-running economic sanctions.
But for some dissidents living in Yangona dilapidated city of 1980s-era cars and crumbling tea housesthere is a sense that this time reform may be for real, and not another of many false starts over five decades of authoritarian rule.
A visit to Ms. Suu Kyi's headquarters found a bustling scene of volunteers and workers selling party memorabilia and chatting about the changes. Loudspeakers played Burmese versions of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" and Bachman Turner Overdrive's "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet." At the entrance facing the street was a red and black sign of Ms. Suu Kyi in the style of the iconic Che Guevara photo.
.A government ally, presidential adviser Nay Zin Latt, said in an interview that it is only in recent months that he has been allowed to engage with the foreign press. He called such openness a "yardstick" of the government's commitment to reform. He compared the reform process to a couple falling in love and growing closer and closer. "We are getting ready for the wedding," he said.
After a 2010 election deemed fraudulent by the West, Myanmar's new military-backed government has unblocked the BBC, YouTube and other websites and has begun to allow small protests. Authorities have also welcomed the return of exiled dissidents.
Civil-society organizations say relations with the government are the best they have been in years, if not decades, and small businesses, too, are excited. It now takes two days instead of a month to get a license to import or export goods. An export tax has been suspended for six months and many expect that to be extended. To further encourage foreign investment, the government has floated a proposal to extend the limit on foreigners leasing property to 60 years from 30.
The government has even moved in at least one sector to dismantle a monopoly on palm-oil imports that many saw as symbol of the worst of the country's cronyism. Within weeks, the price of edible oil dropped 30%, easing food costs for poor families.
"We have received a lot of promises that didn't come true" in the past, said Ye Min Aung, secretary-general of the Myanmar Rice Industry Association, which has pushed to loosen rules on exporting the country's mainstay rice crop. This time, "Myanmar is changingthis is for real."
There are still some ominous reminders of the past. Across the street from Ms. Suu Kyi's headquarters, a well-dressed man sat inside a thatched hut observing the scene, taking notes on the people who came and went, though it wasn't possible to confirm what his purpose was.
Nightly television newscasts continue to broadcast clumsy government propaganda, including long paeans to the country's new parliament, with sweeping shots of somber lawmakers in white robes and yellow hats, while a speaker manages the elaborate affair from a golden chair. The video plays on a repeating loop.
Nay Zin Latt, an adviser to Myanmar's president, discusses recent political and economic reforms in his country, the government's relationship with China, and why he believes it is time for the U.S. to ease economic sanctions.
.The information vacuum remains, despite the looser media reins, so that ordinary citizens still aren't really sure who is in charge. Thein Sein, a former military commander, assumed the post of president earlier this year, but it is unclear what has happened to the country's former paramount leader, Sen. Gen. Than Shwe.
He is supposed to have retired, but some say he still pulls the strings from behind the scenes. Others think he is in China or Dubai, too afraid he might be prosecuted as the country opens up. One Yangon resident said he had it on good authority that Mr. Than Shwe is suffering from brain cancer. Another said he spends his time meditating at a monastery, where he kneels before Buddhist monks.
Government officials have said Mr. Thein Sein is fully in charge and intent on continuing with reform.
Either way, the changes are coming so rapidly that some residents now say their biggest fear is that the opening will go too farand trigger a backlash from hard-liners in the government who fear losing control.
"It's going so fastmaybe too fast," said Win Myo Thu, the managing director of a local economic-development organization known as Ecodev who has also worked on environmental campaigns. He compared what he is seeing in Myanmar now to installing an updated version of Windows on an old computer that doesn't have enough capacity to run it.
As for Ms. Suu Kyi, who has met several times with top officials to negotiate reforms, she describes Mr. Thein Sein, as "very straightforward. He struck me as an honest, open kind of person."
Sitting ramrod straight in her traditional Burmese outfit, a long skirt and high-cut blouse in matching shades of green, during a recent interview, she reflected on the new mood of her countrymen, saying they "aren't as frightened as they used to be."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204505304577003600676458934.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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November 04, 2011
US Envoys See 'Encouraging Steps, Signs' in Burma
David Gollust | State Department
.Senior U.S. State Department officials who visited Burma this week say they had constructive meetings with leaders of the new civilian government and the Burmese military. They say the United States is prepared to reciprocate for Burmese reform steps by easing restrictions on the reclusive East Asian country.
The three-day visit by State Department human rights chief Michael Posner and special envoy for Burma, Derek Mitchell, was the latest step in an accelerating U.S.-Burmese dialogue, and both said they are encouraged by reform steps by the new nominally-civilian government.
The United States was skeptical that the new government, which took power in late March after decades of military rule, would bring meaningful change.
However Mitchell and Posner, in comments to reporters Friday at the U.S. embassy in Rangoon, also disclosed here, said reform moves by the new authorities appear to reflect the beginning of a transition that the United States welcomes.
Among other things, the Burmese government has released about 200 political prisoners, and advanced an election law that would legalize opposition parties including Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyis formerly-banned National League for Democracy.
Posner and Mitchell met with a range of senior Burmese government officials including the countrys military chief of staff in the new capital Nay Pyi Taw, and went on to Rangoon to meet Aung San Suu Kyi and other political and human rights activists.
Briefing reporters here, State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Posner pressed authorities to free all the countrys estimated 1,800 remaining political prisoners, and that the assistant secretary of state for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor raised specific cases.
All political prisoners should be released. There was some lack of transparency at least, in our view, in terms of who has already been released and who remains in custody," said Nuland. "So this was Assistant Secretary Posners first trip to Burma, and it was his chance to actually sit down with them and get a better sense of who has been released, to talk to them about first of all the general principle that they should all be released, but also talk about additional particular cases of concern.
Posner and Mitchell said the United States is loosening travel restrictions, allowing Burmese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin to visit Washington earlier this month.
They said the Obama administration also is considering expanding small agricultural and micro-finance aid programs, but that a further easing of relations will depend on what Mitchell termed concrete changes by the Burmese.
He said if there is evidence of genuine reform, the United States will be partners in that effort, though noting that the lifting of key sanctions, including a law barring U.S. support for international loans to Burma, would require action by the U.S. Congress.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/east-pacific/US-Envoys-See-Encouraging-Steps-Signs-in-Burma-133280458.html
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Burma: New Political Prisoner Release Likely
Written by: RFA, November 5, 2011
Burma is expected to release at least 600 political prisoners in the coming days, government and opposition sources said, less than a month after freeing several hundred as part of an amnesty program by President Thein Seins nominally civilian government.
A top government official, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to discuss the planned release, told RFA in an interview Thursday that the release would likely come next week.
I expect the release date will be Nov. 10, which is the important Buddhist Full Moon holiday, he said.
[Democracy movement] student leaders Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, and Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) leader Kun Htun Oo are on the list. The list of those to be released has been submitted to the National Defense and Security Council by the president, the source said.
Another official, also speaking anonymously, said he believed the release would benefit national reconciliation.
Thein Seins government, which took power in March after winning historic national elections in November last year, says that only 600 political prisoners remain in jail after he granted amnesty to several hundred in early October.
The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), led by 66-year-old Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, claims that 700 political prisoners are yet to be freed. Suu Kyi and Burmese Labor Minister Aung Kyi have met several times to discuss the political prisoner situation.
Tin Oo, vice chairman of the NLD, told RFA that the two sides had been making significant progress in resolving their differences, indicating that releases were expected the coming week.
The path towards discussion and resolution is opening. It is also due to involvement by the international community, especially the U.S., that we are working together to end the isolation of military, Tin Oo said Thursday.
Sanctions loom
While the Burmas new reform-minded government and the countrys most prominent opposition group are working together closer than ever, Naypyidaw and the international community still remain fairly far apart.
Since coming to power, Thein Seins government has enacted a series of reforms, including calling for peace with ethnic minority groups and easing media controls.
But some Western countries remain skeptical of the extent of Burmas reforms. The United States has said it supports Burmas reforms but wants to see more before considering lifting sanctions on the country.
A second release of political prisoners would go a long way towards getting Washington and Naypyidaw to see eye-to-eye.
But human rights groupsincluding Amnesty International and Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma)insist there are still close to 2,000 political prisoners in jail.
U.S. special envoy to Burma Derek Mitchell is visiting the country for the third time since September and told reporters in Rangoon on Friday that Washington has viewed Thein Seins reforms favorably.
However, he said, the U.S. believes reforms must include the release of political prisoners and the inclusion of the NLD into the political system.
We are thinking very actively about how we can support reform by our actions as we see the government taking those concrete steps, he said.
Mitchell said the Washington would love to respond in kind and was in close contact with Naypyidaw.
Obstacles remain
The envoys visit comes amidst reports that fifteen political prisoners on a hunger strike in Burmas Insein Prison have been denied drinking water for a week while some have been placed in six meter square dog cells as punishment.
The treatment could result in prison authorities being responsible for the rapid deaths of the hunger strikers due to dehydration, Amnesty International said in a statement issued Friday.
The 15 prisoners started their hunger strike on Oct. 26 to protest the lack of reductions in their sentences, after reductions were granted to common criminals in last months amnesty.
On November 1, two of the hunger strikers were reportedly hospitalized.
Meanwhile, President Thein Sein signed a revised law on political parties on Friday in an apparent bid to encourage the NLD to accept the political system and reregister as a party.
If Aung San Suu Kyis NLD reregisters as a legal party, it could join upcoming but still unscheduled by-elections which would be the first electoral test of its popularity in more than two decades.
Reported by RFAs Burmese service. Translated by Khin May Zaw. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
http://www.eurasiareview.com/05112011-burma-new-political-prisoner-release-%e2%80%98likely%e2%80%99/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eurasiareview%2FVsnE+%28Eurasia+Review%29
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Law amending three sections of Political Party Registration Law approved
Friday, 04 November 2011 22:16 Myo Thant
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Burma's state-run TV announced on Friday that President Thein Sein has signed a law that amends three key areas of the Political Party Registration Law.
Burmese President Thein Sein in traditional dress. He signed a law amending the Political Party Registration Law, which is seen as paving the way for the NLD to register as a political party. Photo: Mizzima
Burmese President Thein Sein in traditional dress. He signed a law amending the Political Party Registration Law, which is seen as paving the way for the NLD to register as a political party. Photo: Mizzima
Both houses of the Burmese Parliament had previously approved the amendments.
There was a change in the wording that all political parties must "protect" the country's Constitution. It was amended to "respect" the Constitution.
The new law cancelled two clauses: a clause that restricted serving prisoners from being a member of a political party and a clause that said a political party needs to contest in at least three parliamentary seats in an election.
Last week, Mizzima reported that political observers said the amendments were designed to pave the way for the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), to re-register as a political party. The NLD decided not to re-register to run in the 2010 election, saying there were elements in the 2008 Constitution that were not democratic.
Recently. Aung San Suu Kyi, the general-secretary of the National League for Democracy, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that her party would consider re-registration after studying the amended registration law.
?"This depends very much on the regulations with regard to the registration of political parties. Once that [bill] has passed, then we will be able to decide whether or not we will reregister," she told the newspaper.
Both Aung San Suu Kyi and NLD party Vice Chairman Tin Oo were under house when the former military regime announced the election and party registration law.
There have been intense debates within the National League for Democracy, which would have had to oust many of its members who were imprisoned, if it wanted to re-register as a party. The decision not to re-register led to some top party leaders breaking away from the NLD to form a new political party, the National Democratic Force, which won 16 parliamentary seats in the 2010 November election.
The NLD is expected to meet within days to consider re-registering as a political party. http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/6152-law-amending-three-sections-of-political-party-registration-law-approved.html
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Burma Eases Limits on Party Membership
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Saturday, November 5, 2011
RANGOON --- Burma's president has signed a revised law on political parties in an apparent attempt to encourage Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy to accept the political system and reregister as a party.
President Thein Sein signed the amendments to the Political Party Registration Law on Friday as senior US diplomats were ending a visit to encourage his government to push forward with democratic reforms. A UN envoy has also been visiting.
If the National League for Democracy reregisters as a legal party, it could join upcoming but still unscheduled by-elections that would be the first electoral test of its popularity in more than two decades.
Bringing Suu Kyi's party back into the fold would also give the government greater legitimacy at home and abroad.
The group was delisted as a political party last year after it refused to register for November 2010 elections, saying they were being held under undemocratic conditions.
The amendments of the party law signed by Thein Sein alter three areas of the law to accommodate Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy.
The law, originally enacted in March last year by the previous military junta, prohibited anyone who has been convicted of a crime from being a member of a political party. Suu Kyi had been convicted on a trumped-up charge, and would have had to leave the party she helped found. The clause has now been dropped, clearing the way for former political prisoners to engage in politics.
Another article was amended to say that registered parties shall "respect and abide" by the constitution rather than "safeguard" it. The change was evidently made to accommodate criticisms of the charter by Suu Kyi's group without making them illegal.
The third amendment says that any party that registers after the general election must run candidates in at least three constituencies in by-elections to remain legally registered. The original law said a party had to stand at least three candidates in the general election, which would have been an impediment to Suu Kyi's party, since it boycotted the 2010 polls.
"Now that the law has been passed, we will hold a meeting to decide whether or not we will register," the spokesman of Suu Kyi's group, Nyan Win, told The Associated Press. Nyan Win said the amendments were in line with the group's wishes.
The junta that ruled Burma, also known as Myanmar, until handing over power to the current elected military-backed government in March this year enacted a constitution and other laws with provisions aimed at limiting Suu Kyi's political activities, fearing her influence. Her party overwhelming won a 1990 general election, but the army refused to had over power, instead repressing Suu Kyi and other democracy activists.
The US and other Western countries imposed political and economic sanctions against the junta for its failure to hand over power and its poor human rights record.
The elections last November gave an army-backed party a huge majority in Parliament, and the constitution contains provisions that ensure the continued domination of the armed forces.
However, Thein Sein, who was the junta's prime minister, has instituted a series of small reforms to encourage political reconciliation, including an easing of censorship and the opening of a dialogue with Suu Kyi.
At the same time, the Obama administration has sought to engage the government, shifting away from the previous US policy of shunning it.
US special envoy to Burma Derek Mitchell told reporters in Rangoon on Friday that Thein Sein's government has taken positive steps and that Washington views the release of political prisoners and bringing the National League for Democracy into the political system as necessary reforms.
"We are thinking very actively about how we can support reform by our actions as we see the government taking those concrete steps," he said. He said the US "would love to respond in kind" and was consulting closely with the government.
The US could gradually ease its sanctions against Myanmar and allow aid from multilateral lending institutions such as the World Bank, over which it has exercised a veto.
Vijay Nambiar, a special adviser to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, also concluded a visit Friday and added his voice to those encouraging further reforms.
"An important purpose of my visit was to directly relay to the Myanmar leadership and other stakeholders the secretary-general's encouragement of the important steps taken in recent months to advance the reform agenda led by President Thein Sein, as well as the significant efforts made by all concerned to advance national dialogue and reconciliation," he said in a statement.
"At this juncture, it is of crucial importance, for Myanmar's regional and global standing, to maintain the positive momentum that these initiatives have generated." http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22394
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channelnewsasia.com
US, UN hopeful on visits to Myanmar
Posted: 05 November 2011 1004 hrs
YANGON: Senior US and UN officials said they were encouraged by nascent reforms in Myanmar, with Washington saying it will look at new incentives to spur change including the expansion of microfinance.
In a first, Myanmar allowed in the US assistant secretary of state handling human rights, Mike Posner, who said he voiced concern about the treatment of ethnic minorities and political prisoners but also saw signs of progress.
"There are some encouraging steps and signs. We need to go forward in a way that recognizes what's been done and what's being done that is positive, and build on that," Posner said at the US embassy on Friday.
Vijay Nambiar, special advisor to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, also said the UN was encouraged by the "significant efforts" under nominally civilian President Thein Sein to bring reconciliation in the divided country.
"If sustained, these and other efforts offer a historic opportunity to set the country on a course than can fulfill the promises made to the people of Myanmar," Nambiar said in a statement after meeting with top government members and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Posner accompanied US special envoy to Myanmar Derek Mitchell, who paid his third visit since September to the country previously known as Burma, where earlier this year the military nominally handed power to civilians.
Mitchell said that President Barack Obama's administration, which launched an engagement drive with Myanmar in 2009, was ready to respond to concrete progress, although an end to sanctions would need to come from the US Congress.
"There's a natural inclination in Washington toward pressure. We need to start thinking about how we respond to reform, as we see it happen. And we can support reform, get behind it and encourage further reform," Mitchell said.
Mitchell said he spoke with Aung San Suu Kyi about expanding microfinance -- small loans offered to farmers and other low-income people to help them build livelihoods.
The US Agency for International Development already has a program but wants to expand it to ethnic minority areas of the country, Mitchell said.
The envoy said that the United States had also used travel as an incentive, noting that the administration invited Myanmar's foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, to Washington in September.
Myanmar recently defied China by freezing work on an unpopular dam in a border area. The government also announced a prisoner amnesty, although critics say the step is symbolic as few high-profile inmates were freed.
"We welcome the release last month of more than 200 political prisoners, but continue to strongly urge that the remaining political prisoners be released immediately and unconditionally," Posner said.
Posner raised specific cases of prisoners and understood that Myanmar is considering their release, although there were no clear promises, Mitchell said.
"There was no concrete sense of a release or release date of any sort in the conversation. There is clearly a discussion going on internally about it, though," Mitchell said.
Amnesty International said that Myanmar is believed to be depriving some 15 political prisoners of drinking water, with eight held in cells designed for dogs without beds, mats or windows.
The human rights group also expressed fears about the serious illness of U Gambira, a prominent Buddhist monk held in solitary confinement in northern Myanmar's Kale prison for his role in anti-government protests in 2007.
- AFP/cc http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1163604/1/.html
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New Kerala.com
Sustaining initiatives set Myanmar on a new course: UN
New York, Nov 5 : The United Nations envoy for Myanmar on Friday called on the authorities to keep up the momentum of recent initiatives to strengthen national unity and advance dialogue and reconciliation, stressing the historic opportunity they have to set the country on a new path.
This was the third visit since last years election for Special Adviser Vijay Nambiar and the second since the establishment of a new Government seven months ago. It also comes amid the ongoing dialogue between the Government and pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and the release last month of a significant number of detainees.
At this juncture, it is of crucial importance, for Myanmars regional and global standing, to maintain the positive momentum that these initiatives have generated, Nambiar, who is also UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moons Chief of Staff, said in a statement issued in Yangon at the end of his five-day visit.
He said the UN strongly encourages the continuation of such efforts as well as the reform agenda led by President Thein Sein as the best way to strengthen domestic and international confidence in Myanmars commitment to a reform process that is incremental, systematic and sustainable.
In particular, we encourage all concerned to build on the steps taken thus far through an inclusive and broad-based political process to strengthen national unity, said the envoy.
The release of the remaining political prisoners as part of the recent amnesty process and the enactment of the proposed amendments to the political party registration law are steps that can and should be taken as a matter of priority. Continuous dialogue is also needed to bring about peace and development in border areas.
If sustained, these and other efforts offer a historic opportunity to set the country on a course that can fulfil the promises made to the people of Myanmar, he stressed.
During his visit, Nambiar met with a number of Government officials in Naypyitaw, including Vice-President U Tin Aung Myint Oo, as well as with the Union Peacemaking Group and with the Union Election Commission.
In Mandalay and in Pathein, he was received by the Chief Ministers of Mandalay region and Irrawaddy region, respectively, and in Yangon, he met with Suu Kyi at her residence. He also met with representatives of several political parties and with civil society groups, as well as with the National Human Rights Commission.
Nambiar also participated earlier this week in the first Green Economy Green Growth conference, which he said showed that it is now possible for a wide range of actors to come together to openly discuss common concerns.
It is an indicator of the direction in which Myanmar must continue to move if its democratic transition process is to succeed and if the country is to contribute to the global agenda by effectively addressing such concerns at home, he stated.
He told the gathering of business leaders, academics, government officials, civil society groups and private citizens that in Myanmar, as elsewhere, green growth is an integral part of efforts to protect the environment while creating decent jobs, reducing poverty and inequality, and achieving globally agreed development targets.
As Myanmar opens up to a changing world, the green growth agenda can help drive the advancement of sustainable development: it is good business good politics and good for society, he stated.
The Special Adviser also addressed a ceremony on Thursday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the swearing-in of U Thant, a great son of Myanmar who served as the third Secretary-General of the UN.
It is for the Government and people of Myanmar to maximize opportunities and to lead the changes they want to see for their country, said Nambiar. We in the United Nations wish and want Myanmar to succeed. But it has to be a success that is inclusive and includes all elements in the country to the extent that we can help facilitate the efforts which are essentially nationally owned.
--IBNS http://www.newkerala.com/news/2011/worldnews-100981.html
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More armed group in Myanmar signs peace agreement
Updated: 2011-11-05 13:39(Xinhua)
YANGON - One more Kayin ethnic armed group, the Kaloh Htoo Baw armed group, has signed an initial peace agreement with the peace-making group of the Kayin state government to pave way for talks with the central government, according to official media Saturday.
The Kaloh Htoo Baw armed group was former Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army (DKBA).
The five-point peace agreement was endorsed in Hpa-an of the state Thursday by U Saw Mu Shay, deputy leader of the Kaloh Htoo Baw armed group, and Colonel Aung Lwin, Minister of Security and Border Affairs of Kayin State Government and leader of the Kayin State Peace-Making Group, after discussion were held between them, said the New Light of Myanmar.
The five-point peace agreement covers ceasefire in Kayin state as of November 6, temporary settlement of Kaloh Htoo Baw armed group at the environs of Sonseemyaing, opening of temporary liaison office of the armed group at Myawaddy for further talks during the ceasefire, bilateral coordination be made in advance for traveling carrying arms beyond the areas except the areas under bilateral agreement during the ceasefire, and holding further talks on peace and stability in the region, development, settlement and livelihood of armed group members and ensuring eternal peace between central-level peace making group and senior level peace making persons of Kaloh Htoo Baw armed group, led by Major-General Saw Lar Pwe at a place and time acceptable to both sides.
Myanmar's central government had initiated first peace agreements with two armed groups based in Wa Special Region-2 and Mongla Special Region-4 respectively in early October.
The government, in its peace efforts, issued an announcement on August 18, calling on anti-government ethnic armed groups to come for peace talks to end internal armed insurrection and build internal peace in the country.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2011-11/05/content_14043380.htm
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Is Burma breaking out of China's embrace?
By Eric Baculinao,
NBC News Beijing Bureau Chief
BEIJING-Burma has caught its giant neighbor China off-guard recently by very publicly distancing itself from its political and economic patron in several ways.
First came the move to halt the construction of the Chinese-supported $3.6 billion Myitsone hydro-electric project, a gigantic dam that would have inundated an area the size of Singapore.
Burmese President Thein Seins decision to stop the project seemed intended to mollify domestic opposition, but it was a direct hit at Chinese interests and came not too long after he forged a strategic partnership with Beijing in the wake of his controversial election early this year.
While Burmas decision was praised by U.S. Senator John McCain, who called the pariah states move bold and responsible, the head of the Chinese company behind the damn deal said he was totally astonished by Burmas decision.
Lu Qizhou, President of China Power Investment Corporation, also hinted at legal action after investing huge amount of money in the giant hydroelectric project. Meanwhile, a Chinese government spokesman urged protection for the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.
Sein recently followed through with another surprise a mass amnesty for thousands of prisoners that reportedly included a few hundred political detainees. One analyst dubbed this move and other initiatives The Burma Spring.
The reasons behind these uncharacteristically independent stances is unclear -- Burma's government has presided over one of the worlds most oppressive and isolated regimes -- but the brutal death of Moammar Gadhafi last month is surely a cautionary tale to dictatorships around the world, Burmas included.
Not too surprised
While some involved in the Chinese dam project were angry and shocked at Burmas decision, a Chinese scholar who closely follows Burmese affairs declared that he was not too surprised by Burmas recent distancing.
The academic who works for a think-tank in the province of Yunnan that borders Burma a province that would have been a beneficiary of increased electricity from the project spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity due to sensitive diplomatic issues involved.
The dam project has been under a lot of pressure for some time, there was significant opposition from NGOs, and it was even a target of a bombing attack last year, so Burmas decision was not too sudden, the Burma specialist said.
He attributed Burmas decision to its desire to improve its domestic and international image, ease Americas sanctions and strengthen its bid for the chairmanship of the ASEAN in 2014, referring to the regional grouping of Southeast Asian Nations.
Its too early to tell whether the more strategic Trans-Burma oil and gas pipelines project will be the next target, but Burma is still very much in flux, the Chinese expert said.
Not a setback for China?
However, Burmas decision does not mean a setback or retrogression of relations with China, there is no reason to be extra-sensitive about this, the academic added.
Jim Della-Giacoma of the International Crisis Group agrees. The Southeast Asia Project Director, Della-Giacoma helped author a report in September that proved prescient for broadly anticipating Burmas recent reform initiatives.
While the dam decision was a dramatic gesture and it should be a wake-up call for China, it would be going too far at this stage to describe it as a failure of Chinese policy, he told NBC News.
The economic ties between the two countries are still significant and we would expect them to continue to be so, Della-Giacoma said.
A more significant indicator of a change its foreign policy would be the interactions between the U.S. and Myanmar or Myanmar and the EU, he added, using Burmas official name.
Western support for reform?
There are signs that recent moves by Burmas leadership are leading towards greater openness and independence from China, Della-Giacoma said.
The methodical way these reforms have been set up in recent years by putting in place the constitution, the elected legislatures and new government makes it more difficult to reverse course, he said. They have changed the way the country is being governed and produced a more collective leadership that is less susceptible to the capricious whim of one individual.
But Della-Giacoma cautioned Western powers against moving the goal posts by imposing new conditions on Burmas government , adding that no political change is walk in straight line.
In other words, severe economic sanctions imposed by the West may need to be lifted in order to hasten more reform.
With reform underway, lifting restrictions and sanctions can add momentum and encourage more, but holding them in place will see the Wests influence wane, he said.
http://behindthewall.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/04/8636377-is-burma-breaking-out-of-chinas-embrace
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Burma clears the way for Suu Kyi's return to politics
RANGOON, BURMA - Nov 05 2011 12:29
Burma's president has approved changes to a law on political parties, paving the way for democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party to re-register, state media said on Saturday.
The revisions to the political party registration law appear to be the latest effort by the military-dominated regime to reach out to opponents, amid tentative signs of change in the repressive state.
A key amendment endorsed by President Thein Sein on Friday removed the condition that all parties must agree to "preserve" the country's 2008 constitution, the state-run Myanmar Ahlin newspaper said.
The wording has now been changed to "respect and obey", it said, a small difference in nuance but one that would allow Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party to criticise or suggest changes to the Constitution.
The revised law also removed a contentious clause that said prisoners could not be party members.
NLD spokesperson Nyan Win said the party welcomed the changes but he refused to be drawn on whether it meant it would re-register and contest a by-election expected around the end of the year.
"We like the amended law as it amended the facts that should be amended," he said..
"We will discuss and negotiate what to do and how to continue on Monday when the office opens."
Ready to work
The NLD boycotted Burma's historic elections last year, largely because of rules that would have forced it to expel imprisoned members -- including leader Suu Kyi who was still under house arrest at the time.
As a result it was delisted as a political party by the regime.
Burma's new nominally civilian government said in September it was ready to work with Suu Kyi and her party if they officially re-entered the political arena.
In response, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, freed from detention last November after seven years of house arrest, said she would discuss the issue of re-registering with senior party members based on political developments.
The amendments to the party registration law came hot on the heels of high-profile visits to Burma this week by senior officials from the United Nations and the United States, who said they were encouraged by nascent reforms in the country.
A recent prisoner amnesty by the new government, however, failed to free most key dissidents, disappointing those who had hoped the country would release all its roughly 2 000 political detainees. -- AFP
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NOVEMBER 5, 2011.
Yangon's Many Faces of Change
Once Banned, Now-Ubiquitous Image of Suu Kyi Brings Whiff of 'Real' Reform to Myanmar.Article Video Interactive Graphics Comments By WSJ Staff Reporters :The Wall Street Journal
In a sign of tentative new freedoms in Myanmar, street merchants in Yangon now sell images of Aung San Suu Kyi along with that of her father, independence leader Gen. Aung San.
.YANGON, MyanmarThere is no more obvious sign that the door is cracking open in this repressive Southeast Asian nation than the sight of Aung San Suu Kyi's face everywhere.
Hawkers weave through idling traffic offering cheap color posters, pamphlets and magazines featuring Myanmar's most famous dissident, which was until a few months ago essentially banned. Street sellers along the commercial capital's main drag pin up dozens of versions of her image, Photoshopped to appear alongside that of her father, independence leader Aung San.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's leading opposition figure, talks about how recent government reforms are the most significant in two decades, but it's not yet time for the U.S. to lift economic sanctions.
.At an art gallery in a crumbling colonial structure, artists have painted her image into their latest works.
"We paint her because we can," said one of the artists.
This country, also known as Burma, is still far from being an open and free society in the sense commonly understood in the West. Reforms in recent months have allowed more public debate and expanded rights for workers, but the government still holds hundreds of political prisoners and continues to restrict discussion of some sensitive topics.
'In the reform process, let's say we have lovers.'
Read a transcript of the WSJ interview with Nay Zin Latt, one of three political advisers to Myanmar President Thein Sein.
.Skeptics of the governmentand there are still many, especially Myanmar citizens in exilesay authorities aren't serious about long-term reform, and are merely trying to fool Western leaders to end long-running economic sanctions.
But for some dissidents living in Yangona dilapidated city of 1980s-era cars and crumbling tea housesthere is a sense that this time reform may be for real, and not another of many false starts over five decades of authoritarian rule.
A visit to Ms. Suu Kyi's headquarters found a bustling scene of volunteers and workers selling party memorabilia and chatting about the changes. Loudspeakers played Burmese versions of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" and Bachman Turner Overdrive's "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet." At the entrance facing the street was a red and black sign of Ms. Suu Kyi in the style of the iconic Che Guevara photo.
.A government ally, presidential adviser Nay Zin Latt, said in an interview that it is only in recent months that he has been allowed to engage with the foreign press. He called such openness a "yardstick" of the government's commitment to reform. He compared the reform process to a couple falling in love and growing closer and closer. "We are getting ready for the wedding," he said.
After a 2010 election deemed fraudulent by the West, Myanmar's new military-backed government has unblocked the BBC, YouTube and other websites and has begun to allow small protests. Authorities have also welcomed the return of exiled dissidents.
Civil-society organizations say relations with the government are the best they have been in years, if not decades, and small businesses, too, are excited. It now takes two days instead of a month to get a license to import or export goods. An export tax has been suspended for six months and many expect that to be extended. To further encourage foreign investment, the government has floated a proposal to extend the limit on foreigners leasing property to 60 years from 30.
The government has even moved in at least one sector to dismantle a monopoly on palm-oil imports that many saw as symbol of the worst of the country's cronyism. Within weeks, the price of edible oil dropped 30%, easing food costs for poor families.
"We have received a lot of promises that didn't come true" in the past, said Ye Min Aung, secretary-general of the Myanmar Rice Industry Association, which has pushed to loosen rules on exporting the country's mainstay rice crop. This time, "Myanmar is changingthis is for real."
There are still some ominous reminders of the past. Across the street from Ms. Suu Kyi's headquarters, a well-dressed man sat inside a thatched hut observing the scene, taking notes on the people who came and went, though it wasn't possible to confirm what his purpose was.
Nightly television newscasts continue to broadcast clumsy government propaganda, including long paeans to the country's new parliament, with sweeping shots of somber lawmakers in white robes and yellow hats, while a speaker manages the elaborate affair from a golden chair. The video plays on a repeating loop.
Nay Zin Latt, an adviser to Myanmar's president, discusses recent political and economic reforms in his country, the government's relationship with China, and why he believes it is time for the U.S. to ease economic sanctions.
.The information vacuum remains, despite the looser media reins, so that ordinary citizens still aren't really sure who is in charge. Thein Sein, a former military commander, assumed the post of president earlier this year, but it is unclear what has happened to the country's former paramount leader, Sen. Gen. Than Shwe.
He is supposed to have retired, but some say he still pulls the strings from behind the scenes. Others think he is in China or Dubai, too afraid he might be prosecuted as the country opens up. One Yangon resident said he had it on good authority that Mr. Than Shwe is suffering from brain cancer. Another said he spends his time meditating at a monastery, where he kneels before Buddhist monks.
Government officials have said Mr. Thein Sein is fully in charge and intent on continuing with reform.
Either way, the changes are coming so rapidly that some residents now say their biggest fear is that the opening will go too farand trigger a backlash from hard-liners in the government who fear losing control.
"It's going so fastmaybe too fast," said Win Myo Thu, the managing director of a local economic-development organization known as Ecodev who has also worked on environmental campaigns. He compared what he is seeing in Myanmar now to installing an updated version of Windows on an old computer that doesn't have enough capacity to run it.
As for Ms. Suu Kyi, who has met several times with top officials to negotiate reforms, she describes Mr. Thein Sein, as "very straightforward. He struck me as an honest, open kind of person."
Sitting ramrod straight in her traditional Burmese outfit, a long skirt and high-cut blouse in matching shades of green, during a recent interview, she reflected on the new mood of her countrymen, saying they "aren't as frightened as they used to be."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204505304577003600676458934.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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November 04, 2011
US Envoys See 'Encouraging Steps, Signs' in Burma
David Gollust | State Department
.Senior U.S. State Department officials who visited Burma this week say they had constructive meetings with leaders of the new civilian government and the Burmese military. They say the United States is prepared to reciprocate for Burmese reform steps by easing restrictions on the reclusive East Asian country.
The three-day visit by State Department human rights chief Michael Posner and special envoy for Burma, Derek Mitchell, was the latest step in an accelerating U.S.-Burmese dialogue, and both said they are encouraged by reform steps by the new nominally-civilian government.
The United States was skeptical that the new government, which took power in late March after decades of military rule, would bring meaningful change.
However Mitchell and Posner, in comments to reporters Friday at the U.S. embassy in Rangoon, also disclosed here, said reform moves by the new authorities appear to reflect the beginning of a transition that the United States welcomes.
Among other things, the Burmese government has released about 200 political prisoners, and advanced an election law that would legalize opposition parties including Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyis formerly-banned National League for Democracy.
Posner and Mitchell met with a range of senior Burmese government officials including the countrys military chief of staff in the new capital Nay Pyi Taw, and went on to Rangoon to meet Aung San Suu Kyi and other political and human rights activists.
Briefing reporters here, State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Posner pressed authorities to free all the countrys estimated 1,800 remaining political prisoners, and that the assistant secretary of state for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor raised specific cases.
All political prisoners should be released. There was some lack of transparency at least, in our view, in terms of who has already been released and who remains in custody," said Nuland. "So this was Assistant Secretary Posners first trip to Burma, and it was his chance to actually sit down with them and get a better sense of who has been released, to talk to them about first of all the general principle that they should all be released, but also talk about additional particular cases of concern.
Posner and Mitchell said the United States is loosening travel restrictions, allowing Burmese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin to visit Washington earlier this month.
They said the Obama administration also is considering expanding small agricultural and micro-finance aid programs, but that a further easing of relations will depend on what Mitchell termed concrete changes by the Burmese.
He said if there is evidence of genuine reform, the United States will be partners in that effort, though noting that the lifting of key sanctions, including a law barring U.S. support for international loans to Burma, would require action by the U.S. Congress.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/east-pacific/US-Envoys-See-Encouraging-Steps-Signs-in-Burma-133280458.html
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Burma: New Political Prisoner Release Likely
Written by: RFA, November 5, 2011
Burma is expected to release at least 600 political prisoners in the coming days, government and opposition sources said, less than a month after freeing several hundred as part of an amnesty program by President Thein Seins nominally civilian government.
A top government official, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to discuss the planned release, told RFA in an interview Thursday that the release would likely come next week.
I expect the release date will be Nov. 10, which is the important Buddhist Full Moon holiday, he said.
[Democracy movement] student leaders Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, and Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) leader Kun Htun Oo are on the list. The list of those to be released has been submitted to the National Defense and Security Council by the president, the source said.
Another official, also speaking anonymously, said he believed the release would benefit national reconciliation.
Thein Seins government, which took power in March after winning historic national elections in November last year, says that only 600 political prisoners remain in jail after he granted amnesty to several hundred in early October.
The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), led by 66-year-old Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, claims that 700 political prisoners are yet to be freed. Suu Kyi and Burmese Labor Minister Aung Kyi have met several times to discuss the political prisoner situation.
Tin Oo, vice chairman of the NLD, told RFA that the two sides had been making significant progress in resolving their differences, indicating that releases were expected the coming week.
The path towards discussion and resolution is opening. It is also due to involvement by the international community, especially the U.S., that we are working together to end the isolation of military, Tin Oo said Thursday.
Sanctions loom
While the Burmas new reform-minded government and the countrys most prominent opposition group are working together closer than ever, Naypyidaw and the international community still remain fairly far apart.
Since coming to power, Thein Seins government has enacted a series of reforms, including calling for peace with ethnic minority groups and easing media controls.
But some Western countries remain skeptical of the extent of Burmas reforms. The United States has said it supports Burmas reforms but wants to see more before considering lifting sanctions on the country.
A second release of political prisoners would go a long way towards getting Washington and Naypyidaw to see eye-to-eye.
But human rights groupsincluding Amnesty International and Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma)insist there are still close to 2,000 political prisoners in jail.
U.S. special envoy to Burma Derek Mitchell is visiting the country for the third time since September and told reporters in Rangoon on Friday that Washington has viewed Thein Seins reforms favorably.
However, he said, the U.S. believes reforms must include the release of political prisoners and the inclusion of the NLD into the political system.
We are thinking very actively about how we can support reform by our actions as we see the government taking those concrete steps, he said.
Mitchell said the Washington would love to respond in kind and was in close contact with Naypyidaw.
Obstacles remain
The envoys visit comes amidst reports that fifteen political prisoners on a hunger strike in Burmas Insein Prison have been denied drinking water for a week while some have been placed in six meter square dog cells as punishment.
The treatment could result in prison authorities being responsible for the rapid deaths of the hunger strikers due to dehydration, Amnesty International said in a statement issued Friday.
The 15 prisoners started their hunger strike on Oct. 26 to protest the lack of reductions in their sentences, after reductions were granted to common criminals in last months amnesty.
On November 1, two of the hunger strikers were reportedly hospitalized.
Meanwhile, President Thein Sein signed a revised law on political parties on Friday in an apparent bid to encourage the NLD to accept the political system and reregister as a party.
If Aung San Suu Kyis NLD reregisters as a legal party, it could join upcoming but still unscheduled by-elections which would be the first electoral test of its popularity in more than two decades.
Reported by RFAs Burmese service. Translated by Khin May Zaw. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
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Law amending three sections of Political Party Registration Law approved
Friday, 04 November 2011 22:16 Myo Thant
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Burma's state-run TV announced on Friday that President Thein Sein has signed a law that amends three key areas of the Political Party Registration Law.
Burmese President Thein Sein in traditional dress. He signed a law amending the Political Party Registration Law, which is seen as paving the way for the NLD to register as a political party. Photo: Mizzima
Burmese President Thein Sein in traditional dress. He signed a law amending the Political Party Registration Law, which is seen as paving the way for the NLD to register as a political party. Photo: Mizzima
Both houses of the Burmese Parliament had previously approved the amendments.
There was a change in the wording that all political parties must "protect" the country's Constitution. It was amended to "respect" the Constitution.
The new law cancelled two clauses: a clause that restricted serving prisoners from being a member of a political party and a clause that said a political party needs to contest in at least three parliamentary seats in an election.
Last week, Mizzima reported that political observers said the amendments were designed to pave the way for the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), to re-register as a political party. The NLD decided not to re-register to run in the 2010 election, saying there were elements in the 2008 Constitution that were not democratic.
Recently. Aung San Suu Kyi, the general-secretary of the National League for Democracy, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that her party would consider re-registration after studying the amended registration law.
?"This depends very much on the regulations with regard to the registration of political parties. Once that [bill] has passed, then we will be able to decide whether or not we will reregister," she told the newspaper.
Both Aung San Suu Kyi and NLD party Vice Chairman Tin Oo were under house when the former military regime announced the election and party registration law.
There have been intense debates within the National League for Democracy, which would have had to oust many of its members who were imprisoned, if it wanted to re-register as a party. The decision not to re-register led to some top party leaders breaking away from the NLD to form a new political party, the National Democratic Force, which won 16 parliamentary seats in the 2010 November election.
The NLD is expected to meet within days to consider re-registering as a political party. http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/6152-law-amending-three-sections-of-political-party-registration-law-approved.html
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