NLD Divided on Party Registration

After announcements that NLD shall boycott the 2010 elections if the junta does not sit for a dialogue (where events obviously say the Junta is not interested in), comes the news that NLD is divided on registering the party for the 2010 elections. NLD now shows an undivided image and clearly shows something definitely wrong happened somewhere in a political scenario which in the first place shows all the odds for NLD to announce its earlier decision. Here's an interview-report from The Irrawaddy.

On March 29, more than 100 National League for Democracy (NLD) party leaders from across the country will meet at the party's Rangoon headquarters to discuss whether to register the party under the junta's election law. Though Aung San Suu Kyi has publicly said she is against her party registering, the party leadership remains divided. Longtime Suu Kyi supporter Win Tin, 80, who was released in September 2008 after more than 19 years in prison said he would probably retire if the majority decide to register. Khin Maung Swe, 67, a leading party official who spent 14 years in prison supports registration and joining the election even though this means the party must expel Suu Kyi under the junta law. Both spoke to The Irrawaddy on the party's future.

Win Tin
Question: Could you give us three specific reasons why you are for or against party registration?

Answer: If we register the party, we have to expel Daw Suu and other detained party leaders. The details of the party registration laws are not clear about whether Daw Suu could rejoin the party after her release and it would be up to the election commission. The second reason is that if we register the party we have to vow to protect the junta's Constitution, which we have repeatedly said is unacceptable. The third factor is that after registration, we will have to police the “illegal” activities of party members and warn them they will be expelled if they continue those activities. This will guarantee that no one in the party will dare express his ideas at the risk of imprisonment.

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China Comes to Junta's Rescue Again

China has permanent interests over Burma. With its veto power lording over UN's Security Council, China has repeatedly blocked initiatives to make the junta accountable to human rights violations and now, to a move by UK to raise the issue of the regime's electoral laws. Why can't the UN change it's own system if the present UNSC policies are not helping at all in calling for an international call? The UN continues to aid China which continues to aid the junta if it will not reform some of its suppressive laws. Nonetheless, The Irrawaddy writes here:

Beijing has once again come to the defense of Burma's ruling junta, using its permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to block a move by the UK to raise the issue of the regime's recently announced electoral laws.

“A number of council members support the idea of discussing Burma and getting an update on the situation there. It’s the subject of negotiations with the Chinese at the moment, who are always reluctant on these matters,” a Western diplomat told Reuters on Friday.

Following the announcement of new electoral laws on March 8 that ban Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other dissidents from contesting this year's planned election, Burma's ruling generals have faced a fresh wave of international condemnation.

In an effort to apply pressure on the junta to review the laws, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose country is also a permanent member of the UNSC, sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier this week requesting an emergency meeting to discuss the matter.

“Burma has ignored the demands of the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary-General, the US, EU and its neighbors by imposing restrictive and unfair terms on elections,” Brown said on Monday, adding that the UK would seek international support to impose an arms embargo against Burma.

More here in The Irrawaddy

Leaflets distributed in Rangoon condemning 2010 polls

Burmese people say No to 2010 elections! Distributing leaflets to let people be critical to the 2010 elections has made its rounds in Rangoon and other ethnic states of the country. A people's right to information can not be curtailed even in a junta-ruled country. More here in Mizzima.

New Delhi (Mizzima) – In the first signs of blatant dissent towards the 2010 general elections, leaflets were secretly distributed condemning both the polls and the 2008 Constitution in crowded places in Rangoon.

The distribution of leaflets among the people at busy road intersections and bus stops in some townships in Rangoon has come as a surprise.

"These places usually boast advertisement leaflets for tuitions and beauty parlours. People found the portrait of Bogyoke (General) Aung San, independence architect on the top of the leaflet. Two people distributed the leaflets and vanished. Some people tore them after reading, possibly because they were afraid," a man waiting at bus stop in Pansodan township said.pamphlets-2008constitution2

There were similar distributions in Mingala market, Yuzana Plaza and Kyaukmyaung market bus stop in Tamwe Township yesterday morning.

"Young activists have been into such kind of activities since February. Distributing triple folded leaflets cannot be done like selling newspapers and journals so they have to do it in busy places stealthily," Thai based Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB) General Secretary Dr. Naing Aung said.

Similar leaflet distributions were made since last month by young activists in Burma in Arakan State, Mandalay, Sagaing and Pegu Divisions besides Rangoon, he added.

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Junta troops killed in clash by Shan rebels

Ethnic armed groups are angry and bent on fighting injustice of the junta. Its a victory for the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) over the Infantry Battalion 525 and 99 in this story by Saw Yan Naing in The Irrawaddy. As expected to happen, the Shan villagers were at the receiving end of the SPDC soldiers' torturing fit to exact their revenge. Such a lofty sacrifice by a people on the road to freedom for Burma. May the ethnic peoples of Burma and the Burmese fighters for democracy continue to have the strength and power to make Burma free. The story unfolds here in The Irrawaddy.

"About 20 Burmese junta soldiers were killed and eight were injured in an ambush in Nam Zam Township in Shan State by Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) soldiers on Saturday, according to a rebel spokesperson.

Sai Lao Hseng told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that based on a military field report the fighting lasted about 3 hours. Three clashes have occurred in Shan State between Burmese troops and the SSA-S this month, he said.

Soldiers of Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) take part in the military drill in their base near the Burma-Thai border in February. (Photo: Reuters)

He said that after the firefight some local villagers who lived near the battle scene were tortured by regime troops. The army told the villagers that they had failed to report information about the Shan rebels and accused them of providing food to the rebels, according to Sai Lao Hseng.

He said that no Shan soldiers were killed or injured during the fighting. The rebels seized some weapons and ammunition after the fighting, he said.

The government troops were from Infantry Battalion 525 and 99 led by Capt Tin Aung Moe, he said.

Recently, Burmese government troops have regularly patrolled and launched offensives against ethnic rebels in eastern Burma.

Many observers say the Burmese regime may soon launch offensives against ethnic cease-fire groups that have refused to transform their troops into a border guard force under the command of the junta.

According to government military sources, more than 70,000 additional regime troops have been sent to northeastern Shan State where strong ethnic cease-fire groups such as United Wa State Army (UWSA) and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) are based."

"Burma VJ' wins HR film festival awards

Films about dissident journalists in Myanmar and dangerous river pollution in French Guiana won the top prizes at a human rights film festival and forum in Geneva, AFP reports.

Danish director Anders Hogsbro Ostergaard won the Grand Prix offered by the state of Geneva for his film "Burma VJ-Reporting from a closed country".

The film is about journalists who risked their lives to cover a revolt by Buddhist monks against Myanmar's military junta in 2007.

"By honoring the film, the panel of judges intended to support an entire people on the way towards liberty," the organizers said.

Watch this trailer:

Junta Bans Election News

The media in Burma face suppression of writing events as they unfold related to the 2010 elections. Journalists are repressed to write the truth and report the events as they happen with the Press Scrutiny Board censoring their writings. Whatever the people say and think about the 2010 elections is clamped up by a paranoid and control freak Burmese junta. More on this from Irrawaddy:

In the latest sign that this year's vote will be neither free nor fair, Burma's ruling junta has ordered censors to ban reports on new election laws and other controversial election-related issues, according to Rangoon-based journalists.

Street vendors sort newspapers reporting on new election laws in Rangoon.

“Soon after the election laws were announced, we interviewed members of various political parties to get their views on this subject,” said the chief editor of one Rangoon-based journal. “But when we submitted our reports to the censor board, we were told we couldn't publish them.”

Besides the recently announced election laws, the journals are also forbidden to report on the situation of the opposition National League for Democracy, which faces dissolution if it refuses to expel its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

“Except for 'optimistic' news that is identical to what we can find in the state-run newspapers, we are not permitted to write anything about the election,” the editor said.

“There are pro-government parties and opposition parties. We can't say it's fair if the regime only allows us to report on what the pro-government parties are saying,” said a Rangoon-based reporter.

According to sources in Rangoon, a special body has been formed to oversee the work of the Press Scrutiny Board during the election period. The censor board must now submit draft publications to a “special security force” consisting of high-ranking officials, including Lt-Gen Myint Swe, who is close to junta head Sen-Gen Than Shwe.

Most of the private weekly journals in Rangoon, including The Myanmar Times, Biweekly Eleven, Modern and 7 Day News, have had articles pulled by the censor board because they touched on sensitive issues related to the election, sources said.

Source: Irrawaddy

Ethnic Leaders To Boycott Election

By Lawe Weng

Several ethnic leaders who were elected in 1990 election in Burma reaffirmed they will not participate in the election without a review of the 2008 Constitution and the release of all political prisoners, even if the junta disbands their political parties.

The leaders said their political parties will continue to exist if their people wish them to carry on with political activities and they said they will continue to support the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the Shwegondaing Declaration.

The Shwegoindaing Declaration, released by the NLD in April 2009, calls for a review of the controversial Constitution, political dialogue and the unconditional release of all political prisoners, including its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Sai Leik, the spokesperson of Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) told The Irrawaddy, on Thursday: “We will not participate in the election as our leaders have been detained in prison. No matter whether the government recognizes our party or not, our party will exist if our people wish us to carry on with our duties.”

“This election law is biased. It is not based on the people's wishes. If this were a move to real democracy, then Aung San Suu Kyi and the ethnic leaders who were elected by the people should be able to participate,” he said.

Pu Cin Sian Thang, a spokesman for the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), a coalition of 12 ethnic parties that contested and won 67 seats in the 1990 elections, said, “The UNA will not participate at election.”

He said they will hold a meeting with all members this week and discuss how they are going to work together in the future for their party.

In February last year, the UNA issued a statement condemning the Constitution as a means to make Burma's ethnic nationalities subordinate to the Burman majority and because it hands “supreme power” to the military's commander in chief.

Aye Thar Aung, the secretary of the Committee Representing the Peoples' Parliament (CRPP) and the acting chairman of the Arakan League for Democracy said: “Our CRPP principle is to recognize the 1990 election result. Accordingly we will keep to our principle and not join this election.”

“Elections are just part of the democratic process. If there is no political space to practice democracy in this election, there will be no democratic or ethnic rights afterward,” he said.

More here in Irrawaddy