BurmaNet News, May 27, 2004

[Editor]

May 27, 2004, Issue # 2484

"We have been shamed and humiliated in front of the world. We now have a
permanent, unerasable black spot in Myanmar's history."
- NLD chairman Aung Shwe on the National Convention in a May 27th
statement read to mark the 14th anniversary of the 1990 elections


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition marks 1990 election anniversary
Irrawaddy: NLD Marks Election Anniversary
S.H.A.N.: Media asked to be more understanding

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima: India's Northeast: Gateway or Boundary with Burma?

BUSINESS / MONEY
IANS: SBI mulling office in Myanmar after four decades

REGIONAL
AFP: Myanmar PM to discuss constitution talks during visit to Thailand
AFP: Thai police swoop on protestors at Myanmar embassy

INTERNATIONAL
AP: British government says Myanmar's constitutional convention
unrepresentative


INSIDE BURMA
______________________________________
May 27, Agence France Presse
Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition marks 1990 election anniversary

Yangon: Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party marked the anniversary of its
1990 election victory Thursday by demanding Myanmar's junta recognise the
result and saying its refusal to do so had "shamed" the nation.

Some 300 diplomats, supporters and members of the National League for
Democracy (NLD) met at its ramshackle headquarters for a ceremony held as
Aung San Suu Kyi remained under house arrest.

"We have been shamed and humiliated in front of the world. We now have a
permanent, unerasable black spot in Myanmar's history," NLD chairman Aung
Shwe said in a strongly worded statement read to the gathering.

"Those who deny the results of the elections are those who do not want
change or reform," he added. "We know of no other country in the world
where such an event has taken place."

The party won 392 of 485 contested seats in the 1990 elections, considered
free and fair by the international community, but the result was never
recognised by the ruling junta.

Aung Shwe blasted those responsible for the poll results being ignored,
saying they had "turned a blind eye" to the will of Myanmar's people.

"They and their descendants will be condemned by history," he said.

"The NLD in all earnestness declares that the country's political,
economic and social crises can only be solved by calling the parliament
composed of members elected and mandated by the people."

Joining the hundreds who crammed into the NLD office for the solemn
ceremony, in which a minute's silence was observed to honour those who
have died in the fight for democracy, were MPs-elect from the elections.

Outside, a loudspeaker blared pro-democracy songs as military intelligence
lingered in a heavy drizzle, photographing guests as they arrived. Riot
police and soldiers were gathered nearby but did not interfere.

A senior western diplomat at the event said the NLD was the most forceful
it had ever been in demanding recognition of the 1990 results.

"They are saying the results of the elections must not only be recognised,
but must also be implemented. We cannot see now how this is going to
happen. I'm not very hopeful," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The NLD's comments come shortly after the junta launched constitutional
talks despite a boycott called by the opposition.

Over 1,000 delegates -- most handpicked by the government -- are meeting
to establish principles which will form the basis of a new constitution.

The NLD and other opposition groups refused to attend because of the
junta's refusal to relax repressive rules surrounding the forum, or to
release Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest. She was taken into custody a
year ago.

The talks have been dismissed as a sham by Washington and human rights
groups, and Aung Shwe said that while the generals promised to establish a
democratic state, "the fact that the results of the election have not been
honoured shows that true democracy is not the goal."

However, some political party members at the function said the NLD has
shied away from overtly criticising the convention.

"This is the time to be more direct," said Shwe Ohn of the United
Nationalities League for Democracy.

"We feel the present national convention does not reflect the will of the
people, and what we must do is to try and stop it, or rechannel it in the
right direction."

The regime on Thursday refuted criticism that the convention was
unrepresentative without the NLD, saying 98.99 percent of invitees were
attending.

"Any further delay would also delay Myanmar's transition to a
constitutional government and the final goal of installing a multi-party
democratic political system for the country," it said.

The convention originally opened 11 years ago, but the NLD walked out of
the process in late 1995 and the convention collapsed in 1996.

______________________________________

May 27, Irrawaddy
NLD Marks Election Anniversary - Naw Seng

Burma’s biggest opposition party, the National League for Democracy, or
NLD, on Thursday recognized the 14th anniversary of the 1990 election in
which it won a decisive majority but was not permitted to assume power.
Meanwhile, the ruling military government is continuing with its National
Convention to draft a new constitution.

The NLD marked the anniversary at party headquarters at 11am on Thursday
morning. The event was attended by over 400 party members, representatives
from allied ethnic parties, veteran politicians, diplomats from Britain,
the US, Germany, Australia and Japan, and reporters. No diplomats from
ASEAN were present at the ceremony.

The NLD released an eight-page statement during the event. Party secretary
U Lwin, who spoke from Rangoon by telephone, said that the statement did
not include any demands on the military.

When The Irrawaddy asked what the NLD’s plans for the future were, U Lwin
replied: “Doing politics is like waging a war, we don’t [want to] let our
opponent know of our plans.”

The NLD boycotted the National Convention, which started on May 17. Two
NLD leaders— Aung San Suu Kyi and Tin Oo—remain under house arrest. There
is growing disquiet that the party itself appears to be under some form of
self-imposed house arrest.

“Will the NLD be able to survive for another fifteen years?” questioned a
BBC Radio Burmese Service show on May 22. “Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, U Aung
Shwe, U Tin Oo and U Lwin have led the party despite years of repression
by the military. But they are now in their eighties—except Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi... The younger NLD leaders have been put in jail, or harassed and
forced to resign as they have struggled to keep the party a legal
political organization.”

On May 25, U Lwin told the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma: “We
don’t have any salaries. We are elderly people leading [the NLD]. They
should know that elderly and disabled persons like us can’t stay away from
it [politics]. It is already 16 years.

NLD was founded on September 27, 1988 shortly after the military crackdown
on the democracy uprising on September 18, 1988.

______________________________________

May 27, Shan Herald Agency for News
Media asked to be more understanding

Junta getting jittery

Chiding S.H.A.N. for trying to be "too exact", sources inside Burma have
sought out for more understanding from the media outside.

"We know, as you do, that truth is the best policy," said a source from
southern Shan State. "But too much truth disclosed at the wrong time can
be a tricky business for us. So I hope you don't mind if we sometimes
sound a bit vague."

Not divulging the name of the source, as is the usual practice of
self-regulating news agencies, is not enough, sources argue. "Sometime, it
is also necessary to keep the military intelligence in the dark about
where we are established," said one.

Sources however are more uneasy about the radio programmes that attach
"too much importance" on getting "sound bites". "We would like them to
excuse us if we refuse to allow them to record our conversation," said a
source from northern Shan State.

S.H.A.N. lost a valuable volunteer informant last year after a radio news
broadcast his voice expressing his opinion on a certain event. The source
is now serving a three-year imprisonment somewhere in Shan State.

"MI officers voice their annoyance openly every time they hear somebody
inside Burma giving information to a radio programme, be it BBC, VOA, RFA
or DVB," she said. "Now with the National Convention drawing attention
from the whole world, they are getting more edgy. And we certainly don't
want to encourage them to do anything rash just yet."

Meanwhile, a delegate from eastern Shan State, who recently called his
family, was reported to have described the plight of all participants in
the following way:

"We are like prisoners here. We cannot go anywhere. We cannot even discuss
things with delegates from a different group. We eat when they feed us, we
listen when they read their papers and we sleep when they say it's time.
The only thing we're different from those in prison is we eat better."

Burma has been ranked 164th by Paris-based Reporters without Borders (RSF)
out of 166 countries listed. It is ahead of Cuba and North Korea.


ON THE BORDER
_____________________________________

May 27, Mizzima News
India's Northeast: Gateway or Boundary with Burma? - Surajit Khaund

With the globalisation of trade, northeast India has become a focal point
for India and the other Southeast Asian countries. The interesting feature
of the region is it shares over 90% of its borders with other countries
and only two per cent with mainland India. Due to this huge stretch of
international border, the region has been facing several problems for the
last several decades.

The Centre for Northeast India, South and Southeast Asia Studies(CENISEAS)
organised a seminar yesterday in Guwahati, northeast India, to discuss
these issues.

Renaud Egreteau was invited by the CENISEAS of the Omeo Kumar Das
Institute of Social Change and Development to speak on the topic: "India's
Northeast: Gateway or Boundary with Myanmar?"

Egreteau is a doctoral candidate in Political Science at the Institute of
Political Science, Paris, and is currently based at the Centre de Sciences
Humaines at the French Embassy in New Delhi.

Egreteau, after travelling extensively in Burma, Thailand, China and
Bangladesh, said that India needs to open up its northeastern provinces to
its international neighbours through trade and commerce.

He acknowledges, however, that during the last couple years, India has
developed it's relation with India's neighbours to a large extent through
trade to further cement its regional relation.

Tracing India's policy shift towards Burma to the late 1990s, Egreteau
said that the need to tackle issue of the Northeast insurgents camped in
Burma and the growing economic importance of Southeast Asia, forced the
change in the government's mindset. Previously, India had remained cold
towards Burma's military junta while supporting the pro-democracy
movement.

According to Egreteau, Burma is also keen to establish economic links with
India, especially in the Northeast. India, for its part, is trying to use
Burma as a route to reach out to the Southeast Asian tigers. The volume of
trade between the two countries has increased from a mere $87 million in
1990-91 to $500 million last year.

Highlighting the links between Burma (now officially known as Myanmar) and
the region, Egreteau pointed out that the two areas share many cultural
and ethnic similarities.

Moreover, the insurgents of the region have always ignored the political
boundaries and the mountain barriers have not proven to be much of an
obstacle for them.

"The Government of India is aware of the connections that the Northeast
insurgents have established with the Myanmar rebel groups," he said.
Egreteau felt that one of the primary reasons behind India's recent
friendly moves towards Burma (Myanmar) was to deal with this. "Both
governments have narrowed their criticisms of one another," he noted.

Yet another attraction for India in opening up these borders is the
possibility for opening up a sea route from the region to southwestern
Burma circumventing Bangladesh. The region's militant groups have been
using this corridor for long, Egreteau stated.


BUSINESS / MONEY
_____________________________________

May 26, Indo-Asian News Service
SBI mulling office in Myanmar after four decades - Sudeshna Sarkar

Yangon: More than 40 years after it wound up operations in Myanmar, the
State Bank of India (SBI) is mulling resuming operations in the country
once again.

A team of SBI officials was in Yangon early this month to assess whether
the Indian bank can have a representative office here.

The SBI had operations in the agriculturally rich country till a military
government under General Ne Win started nationalising business and
commercial enterprises after coming to power in 1962.

Along with the SBI, other Indian business entities like insurance majors
Life Insurance Corporation of India and Oriental Insurance had to close
operations and make an exit.

During a succession of military regimes since then, Myanmar, formerly
known as Burma, has seen a banking crisis and plummeting of the national
currency, the kyat.

Currently, there are 20 private banks in Myanmar with over 220 branches.
Under the regulations, a foreign bank still cannot operate a branch office
in the country.

However, in view of India's "Look East" policy that stresses the
importance of developing better diplomatic and economic ties with Myanmar,
with which it shares part of its border, SBI is looking at a
representative office in Yangon to facilitate transactions, especially for
bilateral exports and imports.

Indian pharmaceuticals, steel and construction materials form the bulk of
Indian exports while the imports are rice, pulses and timber.

The only other Indian bank to have a Myanmar connection is the Exim Bank
of India through which most of the soft loans to the government from New
Delhi are routed.


REGIONAL
_____________________________________

May 27, Agence France Presse
Myanmar PM to discuss constitution talks during visit to Thailand

Bangkok: Myanmar's Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt will discuss his
country's ongoing constitutional talks during a one-day visit to Thailand
on June 4, a Thai government spokesman said Thursday.

Khin Nyunt will be received in an official welcoming ceremony in Bangkok
before holding closed-door talks with his counterpart Thaksin Shinawatra.

"It is an official, introductory visit as Khin Nyunt is Myanmar's new
prime minister," government spokesman Jakrapob Penkair told AFP.

The powerful general was shifted to the role of premier last August, and
shortly afterwards announced a seven-step "roadmap to democracy" billed as
culminating with "free and fair" elections at an unspecified date.

Khin Nyunt will brief Thaksin on the progress of the constitutional
convention, the first step in the roadmap, which began on May 17. It has
been boycotted by the democratic opposition and decried as a sham by the
United States and international rights groups.

"The purpose of the visit is not to talk about the national convention ...
but the topic will be raised during the talks," Jakrapob said.

Thailand has expressed its disappointment that Myanmar is holding the
talks despite the opposition's boycott, called in part over the detention
of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi who has been detained for the past
year.

Thailand had positioned itself as a key facilitator by hosting
international talks on prospects for democracy in Myanmar, but Yangon
backed out of the latest round of the "Bangkok Process" talks planned for
late April.

Relations between the neighbours are historically strained and flare-ups
along the border are not uncommon -- mostly caused by a flood of
methamphetamines manufactured in Myanmar.

_____________________________________

May 27, Agence France Presse
Thai police swoop on protestors at Myanmar embassy

Bangkok: Thai authorities on Thursday detained 25 Myanmar nationals who
mounted a protest outside Myanmar's embassy against the ongoing detention
of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, police said.

The protest was held on the 14th anniversary of elections which were won
in a landslide by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD)
-- a result never recognised by the junta.

"Eight (ethnic) Mons started the protest in front of the Myanmar embassy
and then another 17 Burmese came to join them," a police spokesman told
AFP. "The protestors came to call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi."

He said nine demonstrators were arrested for being illegal immigrants,
while the others were released after they produced papers showing they
were registered as "persons of concern", or refugees, with the United
Nations.

National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma spokesman Zin Linn
said the demonstrations were part of worldwide protests Thursday aimed at
drawing attention to repression in Myanmar.

"Aung San Suu Kyi is in detention, so the Burmese people around the word
are protesting in front of Burmese embassies," he said, using the
country's former name.

"They are also demonstrating against the national convention which is a
farce, and an attempt to whitewash what is really going on in Burma," he
added.

The convention, which has drawn together more than 1,000 delegates mostly
handpicked by the government, is the first step in the regime's "roadmap
to democracy" which it says will end in free elections.

The process, which was launched on May 17 despite an NLD boycott, has been
dismissed as a sham by Washington and human rights groups.

The opposition refused to attend the convention because of the junta's
refusal to relax repressive rules surrounding the forum, or to release
Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest. She was taken into custody a year ago.


INTERNATIONAL
_____________________________________

May 27, Associated Press
British government says Myanmar's constitutional convention
unrepresentative - Ed Johnson

London: The British government said Thursday that Myanmar's constitutional
convention lacked credibility, but insisted there was still a chance for
the military junta to engage in a process of national reconciliation.

Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien said the military government had
imposed unreasonable restrictions on delegates to the convention and said
the boycott by Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party was justified.

"There is still time for compromise to be reached and for the National
League for Democracy to be part of the process," O'Brien said in an
interview with The Associated Press and other news organizations.

"If the convention is to be meaningful it is essential that delegates are
able to discus key principles such as the role of the military."

Myanmar's military government says the closed-door convention, which
started May 17, aims to propel the country toward democracy and is fully
representative because 98.9 percent of the invited delegates are taking
part.

But several countries, including the United States and some ASEAN
countries, have dismissed it as a sham. Suu Kyi's NLD party refused to
participate because of her continued detention.

The delegates - most of them hand-picked - have been have been told not to
express disloyalty to the state, not to discuss "irrelevant matters," and
not to accept any other country's patronage.

Among the more bizarre restrictions, O'Brien said, was an order to "avoid
having baths at unreasonable hours and not to eat junk food."

O'Brien, who spoke regularly with Suu Kyi before her most recent detention
almost a year ago, said there was still time for compromise.

"Her aim is very much a (Nelson) Mandela approach, which is national
reconciliation rather than some sort of takeover," he said.

"A real convention is still possible. This is a crucial period," he added.

Myanmar, which has been under military rule since 1962, does not have a
constitution. The current group of generals came to power in 1988 after
crushing a pro-democracy movement that saw the rise of Suu Kyi as an
opposition leader.

The junta called elections in 1990 but refused to hand over power after
the NLD won.

It assembled a similar National Convention in 1993, attended by the NLD.
But the convention collapsed in 1995 after the NLD's 86 delegates walked
out, complaining that their views were being ignored by the junta and that
the party was being forced to rubber stamp the military's decision.