BurmaNet News, April 8, 2008

[Editor]

April 8, 2008 Issue # 3439


INSIDE BURMA
The Strait Times via AFP: 'All' Myanmar voters needed to amend charter:
document
DVB: Youth activists urge “No” vote in referendum
DVB: 88 Students’ letter campaign highlights abuses
Mizzima News: Suu Kyi sends floral basket at Ludu Daw Amar's funeral
Irrawaddy: Security tightens around ‘vote no’ campaign
Irrawaddy: Typo or trick? Burma's missing words reveal all

BUSINESS / TRADE
Bangkok Post: Burma fuels Thailand
Mizzima News: Passenger transport halt hits border trade

ASEAN
Global Politician: India-Burma relations gaining momentum of its own

REGIONAL
DVB: Malaysia steps up action against Burmese migrants

INTERNATIONAL
Washington Post: She escaped strife, but embraced those scarred by it
Irrawaddy via Reuters: Reuters wins Pulitzer for Rangoon death picture

OPINION / OTHER
Business Wire: Remarks by the First Lady at Vital Voices awards ceremony
The Morningside Post: A ring too far: Selling China's dictatorship
New Statesman UK: Where next for Burma?
Irrawaddy: When will the opposition deliver?


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 8, The Strait Times via Agence-France Press
'All' Myanmar voters needed to amend charter: document

MYANMAR'S new constitution would require all of the country's eligible
voters to approve important amendments, according to a leaked copy of the
military's proposed basic law seen on Tuesday.
The constitution, which is set to go before voters in a referendum next
month, has not yet been released to the public for review.

But leaked copies of the final document said that key amendments would
need approval 'by all the voters.' Earlier drafts of the text had said
that such amendments would require approval of 'more than half of all the
voters'.

The requirement for universal voter approval would apply to any amendments
affecting the president, the parliament, the courts, or the military's
power to declare a state of emergency.

Other amendments affecting citizen's rights, elections and political
parties could be approved with a 75 per cent majority of parliament,
without need for a referendum.

The need for support from three-quarters of Myanmar's MPs for amendments
would already make it difficult to change the charter without the
military's consent, because serving soldiers would fill 25 percent of the
seats.

Analysts said they doubted the change in wording was accidental, saying
the military appeared intent on keeping its constitution, which guarantees
sweeping powers for the armed forces even after multiparty elections
planned for 2010.

'It is totally weird. It's not a typo,' said Thailand-based analyst Win Min.

'I understand they don't want the constitution to be changed, but the way
they are doing it is unbelievable. I've never seen any constitution like
that in the world.'

The 194-page draft constitution bars pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi
from running in elections, while giving the military broad power to
declare a state of emergency and reimpose direct rule by the generals.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for more than 12 of the
last 18 years, led her National League for Democracy to a landslide
victory in 1990 elections, but the junta never allowed them to take
office.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962, but the current regime
tossed out the constitution when it seized power in 1988 after crushing a
pro-democracy uprising.

At least 3,000 people are believed to have been killed in the crackdown.

____________________________________

April 8, Democratic Voice of Burma
Youth activists urge “No” vote in referendum – Aye Nai and Naw Say Phaw

The campaign for a “No” vote in the May referendum is gaining further
momentum, with two youth groups adding their voices to the calls to oppose
the constitution.

Youth activist group Generation Wave called for students and young people
to take action to express their opposition to the constitution.

A Generation Wave leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
group wanted young people to draw crosses on the walls of their schools
and other public buildings.

“We are urging students and young people to draw crosses on walls to
remind people to vote ‘No’ in the referendum,” he said.

“This campaign is a chance for students and youth to participate in our
movement against the military government.”

The 2007 Generation Students group, representing students from the
University of Marine Technology, Eastern Rangoon University and Thanlyin
Government Technical College, also spoke out against the military regime’s
proposed constitution.

“The people of Burma should use their right to vote and say ‘No’ to save
out country from falling into the wrong hands,” the group said in a
statement.

“Let’s turn the national referendum into a national protest. Let’s make
out way together to the future Burma we all truly wish for.”

One student from eastern Rangoon University said that people needed to
take a stand against the government now for the sake of future
generations.

"We have discussed the upcoming referendum with other students in the
union and they all said they don't want to support the actions of the
military government," he said.

"If our generation fails to take on its responsibility, the younger
generations will suffer. We want to explain these facts to people before
the referendum starts."


____________________________________

April 8, Democratic Voice of Burma
88 Students’ letter campaign highlights abuses – Aye Nai

Letters written to the 88 Generation Students’ Open Heart campaign last
year reflect the wide-ranging abuses by Burmese authorities and illustrate
the need for urgent action, the group said in a report.

The campaign was run by the group last year and encouraged people from all
over the country to document abuses of power and human rights violations
in order to hold the government to account and expose the situation in
Burma to the wider world.

The group originally intended to send all the letters to the ruling State
Peace and Development Council, but decided instead to compile a summary
report on its findings to protect contributors from retaliation by the
authorities.

The report includes 254 sample case studies covering a range of issues
including forced labour, land seizures, unlawful detention and religious
and racial discrimination.

88 Generation Student leader Ko Soe Htun said the report was based on
2,649 letters in total, 54 percent of which related to health, education,
economic and social issues while around another 20 percent were about
politics.

"In the letters, we learn about people's desperate wish for a true
dialogue which they believe can bring an answer to the social and
political woes our country is suffering and also their true will for the
release of political prisoners and national reconciliation," he said.

"Thirteen percent of the letters complained about human right abuses and
eight percent were about corruption charges. There were about 95 letters
in total complaining about forced labour abuses and 67 other letters on
forced seizure of lands."

Soe Htun said the campaign aimed to document abuses by the government in
order to educate and inform the authorities and the outside world.

"The main intention of this Open Heart letter campaign is to prevent
brutal treatment and human right abuses by the authorities in the future
by documenting these individual cases and finding a way to stop this," Soe
Htun said.

"It also aims to educate the authorities, who do not recognise their legal
or moral responsibility for the abuses done to people, so that we can set
them on the right path," he said.

"Also this is to raise awareness in the world of the human rights abuses
and political, social and economic woes Burma is facing."

Soe Htun also praised the bravery of those who had contributed to the
campaign.

"We are also releasing this report to show our respect for the people of
Burma who had the courage to speak out about these abuses of power and
human rights violations by the authorities and also about their political,
social and economic struggles."

____________________________________

April 8, Mizzima News
Suu Kyi sends floral basket at Ludu Daw Amar's funeral – Nem Davies

A group of unidentified persons among the crowd which attended Ludu Daw
Amar's funeral left a floral basket sent by Aung San Suu Kyi last night.

The unknown persons left the floral basket containing over 100 rose buds
at her residence located on 38th Street where her remains were kept at
about 11:30 p.m.

"Yes, it was confirmed that Daw Su sent the floral basket. They were all
red rose buds. I suppose that this was arranged by friends from Mandalay.
I have no idea who brought it. The floral basket sent by Daw Aung San Su
Kyi had a phrase written on the basket," Ludu Daw Amar's son, writer Nyi
Pu Lay, told Mizzima.

There was no confirmation how the Nobel Laureate and leader of the NLD,
Daw Aung San Su Kyi, sent the floral basket as she is under house arrest.
"No one at the funeral saw people who brought it," a source said.

"We sent a floral basket and a floral ring. One was sent by the NLD and
the other by Daw Aung San Su Kyi. What we sent were received. It was
arranged in coordination with the Mandalay NLD. I have no idea who
arranged the basket Daw Aung San Su Kyi sent," NLD spokesperson Nyan Win
said.

With her body at her residence on 38th Street there were more than 1,000
people who paid their tributes to Daw Amar. Among them were people from
the Burmese literary community.

Although about five people were monitoring the events outside her
residence and were taking pictures of people who brought floral rings or
floral baskets no one was disturbed in anyway.

Political activists from Rangoon are travelling to Mandalay in order to
reach the funeral service on time.

Ludu Daw Amar was 92 years old when she died. Wednesday at 10 a.m. her
body will be cremated at Kyar Ni Gan.

____________________________________

April 8, Irrawaddy
Security tightens around ‘vote no’ campaign – Violet Cho

The momentum of the “Vote No” campaign against the military-drafted
constitution is growing and spreading among the public in urban areas.
Meanwhile, the military authorities are tightening security and deploying
more security guards in Burma’s main cities.

The “Vote No” campaign started in earnest last week during the country’s
Armed Forces Day when more than 30 demonstrators sporting T-shirts
declaring “NO” staged a protest in Rangoon urging voters to reject the
constitution in the upcoming referendum.

According to a campaign organizer in Burma’s second city, Mandalay, the
campaign quickly gained support on April 4 after the main opposition
party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), called on voters to cast a
“No” vote in the constitutional referendum next month.

“We have spray-painted “NO” on walls at several locations in the eastern
and southern parts of Mandalay,” the campaign organizer said.

The NLD announced last Wednesday that the military-drafted constitution
broke the basic principles of democracy and failed to give assurances on
democratic values and human rights.

The party, headed by pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, said a “No” vote
was necessary because the proposed constitution had not been written by
elected representatives of the people, but by “hand-picked puppets” of the
regime.

Yesterday, an unknown activist painted “NO” on the entrance sign outside
one of Burma’s biggest hotels, the Mya Yeik Nyo Royal Hotel, which is
owned by Burmese businessman “Zay Ka Bar” Khin Shwe, a close crony of the
military regime in Rangoon.
According to a Rangoon resident, security has been tightening inside
Rangoon in the meantime as police take positions in the city and security
guards dressed in police uniforms are deployed at each corner of Rangoon’s
main streets.

A  Burmese woman who recently traveled from Rangoon to Mon State said
there are more checkpoints on the route compared to any time before.

According to an article last Saturday in state-run The New Light of
Myanmar, there is a possibility of increased “terrorist acts” during the
upcoming water festival and the national referendum.

“Terrorist insurgents are active under the pretext of the democracy
movements not only in underground areas and border regions but also in
above-ground areas and urban areas. They are rising against the government
in disguise, and have become audacious to attack and kill the people,”
declared The New Light of Myanmar.

____________________________________

April 8, Irrawaddy
Typo or trick? Burma's missing words reveal all – Aung Hla Tun

In Burma, the devil really is in the detail.  Close scrutineers of Burma's
new constitution, due to be put to a referendum next month, are wondering
whether the omission of four key words is just a typographical error or a
dastardly trick by the military junta to keep power forever.

In a widely published outline of the charter, Burma's voters were led to
believe that changing the constitution would need approval from 75 percent
of parliament and then a simple majority—"more than half of all eligible
voters"—in a referendum.

A Burmese monk attends a protest in New Delhi April 3. (Photo: Reuters)
However, when the full document leaked out a week ago, many were surprised
to see constitutional tweaks would need approval from "all eligible
voters", a proviso that in reality makes any amendments impossible in a
country of 53 million people.

Whether the omission of "more than half of" is deliberate or accidental is
unclear, especially since Information Minister Kyaw Hsan, in a rare news
conference last month, said the constitution would be open to gradual
improvement after the May referendum.
Some junta opponents who were prepared to swallow the army-drafted
charter, if only because it could be changed later, were alarmed by the
omission and have decided to vote "no" in the plebiscite, whose precise
date is yet to be announced.

"We were surprised to see the discrepancy," said one retired lawyer, who
did not wish to be named.

"All my friends who had said having a constitution would be better than
having no constitution have changed their minds."

The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) of detained Nobel
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is convinced the junta, the latest face of 46
years of military rule, is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the
people.

"It must have been changed purposely," party spokesman Nyan Win, a lawyer
by training, told Reuters.

The constitution, which has not been made public officially, is a key step
in the junta's seven-point "roadmap to democracy" meant to culminate in
multi-party elections in 2010.

It has been widely derided by the opposition and Western governments as a
blueprint for the generals cementing their grip on the power they first
seized in a 1962 coup.

The charter grants the military an automatic 25 percent of seats in
parliament, and gives the commander-in-chief the right to suspend the
constitution at will.

The referendum discrepancy is not the only difference between the full
constitution and the "detailed basic principles" that have appeared in the
state-run media.

Another sentence that appears to have been slipped in at the last minute
is an amnesty clause protecting any members of the State Peace and
Development Council, as the junta calls itself, from future legal action.


____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 8, Bangkok Post
Burma fuels Thailand

Natural gas exports to Thailand alone earned the country $2.7 billion,
accounting for a 2007 trade surplus of $3.1 billion.

In 2007, Burma's total trade hit an historic peak of $8.7 billion, split
into 5.9 billion exports and 2.8 billion in imports, leaving the country
with a trade surplus of $3.1 billion, said the Myanmar Times weekly,
citing government officials.

Burma's exports last year were driven primarily by natural gas, which
earned the impoverished country $2.7 billion, or 45 per cent of its total
exports.

"The major reason why Burma's trade volume is increasing is the massive
contribution form the energy sector - the export of natural gas to
Thailand," said Maung Maung, an economist and researcher from Economic
Studies and Research Institute, the Union of Burma Federation of Chambers
of Commerce and Industries (UMFCCI).

Natural gas exports have risen dramatically since 2002, when Burma first
opened a pipeline to deliver gas from offshore reserves in the Gulf of
Martaban to Thailand.

"As a result, Burma has enjoyed consecutive trade surplus since 2002,"
said Burma's Commerce Minister Brigadier General Tin Naing Thein in a
recent interview.

Besides natural gas, Burma's main export items last year included
agricultural products, amounting to $572 million in earnings, gems and
jewellery to 561 million, and fishery products to 366 million.

The country's main imports were fuel, which cost $471 million, followed by
textiles at $276 million, palm oil at $251 million, machinery parts at
$243 million, and automobiles at $192 million.

Most multilateral lenders such as the World Bank and Asian Development
Bank severed their programmes with Burma in 1988 following a brutal
military crackdown on a pro-democracy movement that left more than 3,000
people dead.

The US forbade its private sector from investing in the country in the
early 1990s, after the ruling junta refused to acknowledge the outcome of
the 1990 general election, and the European Union has placed visa
restrictions on the regime's rulers.

US and EU sanctions were tightened after another crackdown on protesters
in September, when a sudden doubling of fuel prices prompted
demonstrators, led by Buddhist monks, to take to the street on Rangoon.

The latest incident left at least 31 dead, according to the official
media. (dpa)

____________________________________

April 8, Mizzima News
Passenger transport halt hits border trade – Subhaschandra M

The sudden suspension of passenger transport services along India's border
highway has served a body blow to Indo-Burma border trade once again.

Commercial activities on the normally busy border town Moreh, India's
gateway to South Asian countries have also been paralysed. No buyers from
the Indian side turned up at Myanmar's Narphalone market located across
the border.

All the Tata Sumo and Maruti vans plying on the 110-km Imphal-Moreh
highway, along the Indo-Burma road connecting Manipur's border town Moreh
with the rest of India have suspended their normal service since Saturday
following huge monetary demands by over a dozen armed rebels operating in
the region.

As result the busy Moreh and Narphalone markets across the border stand to
lose in terms of crores of rupees as transaction in the border town and
beyond hovers around the Rs. 5 crore mark daily during normal times.

The Moreh Imphal Jeep and Tata Sumo Taxi Service Welfare Association has
been compelled to stop its service to the important border town with
Maruti van operators plying on the same route joining the strike on
Sunday.

"The service provided by Tata Sumos and Maruti vans is important to us as
all the passenger buses have been converted into goods carriers since the
last few years. I prayed for an immediate settlement to resume service,"
Sana, a local trader said.

A meeting of transporters here decided to appeal to vehicle owners
operating in the areas of Nambol, Churachandpur and Mayai Lambi in
Bishnupur, Churachandpur and Imphal west districts to cease their service
in solidarity with the plight of the Society, he added.

Meanwhile, the Joint Action Committee Imphal-Moreh Road Transporters,
Kanglapat said an urgent meeting was held at the committee office wherein
representatives of bus, truck, Tata Sumo and Maruti Van associations
operating on the route were told to stop service with immediate effect for
an indefinite period.


____________________________________
ASEAN

April 8, Global Politician
India-Burma relations gaining momentum of its own – Syed Ali Mujtaba, Ph.D.

The Indo-Burmese relationship is acquiring a positive momentum of its own
despite western rights groups' criticism of Myanmar 's handling of
pro-democracy demonstrations some six months back. India had rolled out
red-carpet for Burmese military junta’s top leadership who were on a five
day visit to India that began from April 4, 2008.

The Burmese delegation was led by the second most senior military leader
and Burmese army’s chief, General Maung Aye. His entourage included the
junta’s number five General, Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo.

General Maung Aye is reputed to be anti-Chinese and has wanted to be the
architect of stronger military and economic ties with India , ever since
New Delhi set up its “Look East” foreign policy in the early 1990s in
order to have close linkages with the Southeast Asian nations.

General Maung Aye held a series of meetings with the Indian leadership and
held talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee followed by a
call on President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He
held extensive discussions with his counterpart, Vice-President Hamid
Ansari, at Hyderabad House in New Delhi , followed by a ceremony to sign
agreements.

“Several agreements were signed in the presence of the Honorable Vice
President Hamid Ansari and H.E. Vice Sen-Gen Maung Aye, including the
agreement and two protocols of the Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport
Project and Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement,” India’s foreign ministry
said in a statement.

The statement by the Indian foreign ministry also said that Maung Aye had
talked with Vice President Ansari over the forthcoming referendum in May
and general elections in 2010 as part of the Burmese junta’s “political
reform” and “national reconciliation” process.

The current situation in Burma came up for discussion in all meetings with
Indian leaders and General Maung Aye briefed on recent initiatives of the
military regime, including its decision to hold a referendum on the new
draft constitution in May and general elections in 2010.

According to a statement of the external affairs ministry, Indian Prime
Minister did note the 'positive steps' of the Burmese government but also
'underlined the need for Myanmar to expedite the process and make it
broad-based to include all sections of society, including Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi and the various ethnic groups in Myanmar'.

Besides political issues, matters of trade also came for discussion and
the two sides discussed ways to increase connectivity and opening more
border points between them. Both agreed to open more border points in
India 's northeastern states connecting Burma to increase bilateral trade.
They talked about intensifying cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector.
India showed its commitment to support Burma ’s IT and telecommunication
sectors.

Both sides also discussed cooperation in security matters on the
India-Burma border, particularly with regard to the northeast insurgent
groups sheltering in Burma . India sought Burmese cooperation in
controlling the insurgent groups which often slip across the border to set
up camps when pursued by Indian police. The Burmese side assured New Delhi
that it will take care of India ’s sensibilities and do its best to rein
the insurgent groups on its soil.

An agreement and two protocols on the Kaladan Multi Modal Transit
Transport project, which will allow sea access to the northeastern states,
were signed. The Kaladan project includes upgrading the Sittwe port and
Kaladan waterway and construction of a road from Setpyitpyin (Kaletwa) to
the India-Myanmar border at a cost of Rs.5.3 billion.

The project is expected to be completed by 2011-12 would connect Kolkatta
port with the Sittwe Port in Burma , a distance of 539 km. From Sittwe
Port to Kaletwa in Burma , the transportation will be done by waterway
along the river Kaladan, a distance of 225km. The Kaladan river is
navigable from its confluence point with the Bay of Bengal near Sittwe up
to Kaletwa. Beyond this the river is not navigable. From Kaletwa to
India-Burma border transportation will be by road border another 62 km by
road. This would provide access to Mizoram and to other north-eastern
States, as well as an outlet to the sea bypassing Bangladesh .

Ahead of the signing of the Multi Modal Transit Transport project Indian
Government had cleared a whopping Rs 535.91-crore as ‘Aid to Myanmar ’
funds.

India and Burma also signed double taxation treaty that aimed checking tax
evasion, and boosting trade and investments between the two neighboring
countries. The Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement will cover taxes on
individual income, company profits, dividends, interest and capital gains.

Hosting a banquet in the honor of the visiting Burmese General, India Vice
President Hamid Ansari termed Burma as a natural bridge between the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

The Indian vice president confirmed India ’s support for the efforts of
the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, and conveyed
that India did not believe that sanctions were helpful and could prove to
be counterproductive. He urged the leaders of the Burmese junta to
expedite political reforms and make these more broad-based to include
imprisoned pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

However, the Burmese military junta, Maung Aye visit was marred by
demonstration in New Delhi organized by Burmese, Indian and Tibetan
activists against the Indian government’s policy on Burma . More than
1,000 people, including 200 Burmese activists, gathered in the
demonstration quite far from the place where the state guests were
staying.

Apart from New Delhi, Maung Aye visited Bangalore to see India’s progress
in space programme and even evinced interest in satellite for Burmese
usage. He also had good tour of economic, scientific, historical and
places of religious interest in India. Amidst tight security he traveled
to Boddhagaya, the site of the Buddha’s enlightenment.

India's intensification of ties with Burma has been partly a result of the
military junta coying up to China, which had rung alarm bells in New
Delhi. However, following Burmese junta's brutal crackdown on peaceful
demonstrations led by Buddhist monks in September 2007, India had put on
hold the sale and transfer of all arms to the Burmese government.

The momentary pause that withheld Indo-Burmese relations seems to be over
and the recent thaw tends to suggests that a new momentum is gaining
ground in Indo-Burmese relationship.

Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai, India. He can be
contacted at syedalimujtaba at yahoo.com


____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 8, Democratic Voice of Burma
Malaysia steps up action against Burmese migrants – Htet Yarzar

Malaysian authorities have stepped up arrests of illegal Burmese migrants
in Kuala Lumpur and other cities, forcing many to go into hiding in jungle
areas.

Refugees with UNHCR documentation and migrant workers with legal permits
have also been arrested in the crackdown.

One Burmese migrant said raids were not being conducted by immigration
officials but by groups of volunteers who have been given powers to arrest
illegal migrants by the government.

“If they take the illegal migrants to the police or immigration they get a
reward of 80 ringgit [US $25],” the migrant said.

“They arrested about 500 migrants in three raids last week, and another
500 more recently.”

He said he was not sure how many had been arrested in total, but that he
believed most were Chin or Burman.

Another migrant said Malaysian employers were now refusing to take on
Burmese migrants due to the increasing number of arrests, leaving the
migrants without a source of income and forcing them into hiding.

“We have to go and hide in the jungle, which causes a lot of problems for
us – we can only sleep late at night, there are lots of mosquitoes and
there is no proper food,” she said.

“Sometimes we have to stay hidden for about two or three days.”

Ko Kyaw Kyaw Win of the Arakan Refugee Affairs Committee said the issue
had been raised by the United Nations and other NGOs, but they were unable
to reach an agreement with the Malaysian authorities.

“The UN said they did not come to any agreement with Malaysian immigration
on this, so they could not provide any protection to the illegal Burmese
migrants,” Kyaw Kyaw Win said.

There are currently around 150,000 illegal Burmese migrants in Malaysia,
most of whom are Arakanese or Chin.


____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 8, Washington Post
She escaped strife, but embraced those scarred by it – Nora Boustany

Charm Tong was born in Burma's conflict-lacerated countryside 26 years
ago. She was 6 when her parents stuffed her into a straw basket strapped
onto a donkey and sent her to join a caravan of villagers snaking its way
through lush jungles to an orphanage inside the Thai border. Their
desperate choice seemed a better option as the country's repressive
military regime moved through some 1,400 farming villages, taking ethnic
Burmese from their lands and forcing them into labor, often after
torturing them.

In that orphanage, Tong learned to read and study English. By the time she
was 16, she was working with refugees and migrant workers who crossed the
2,000-kilometer border between Burma and Thailand. She listened to their
heartbreaking stories, soothing them, counseling them and organizing
women's networks among border villages.

For her leadership, she was one of six honored last night at the Kennedy
Center by Vital Voices Global Partnership, a nonprofit group dedicated to
the empowerment and advancement of women around the world. The hall was
packed with about 500 guests, including ambassadors, donors and A-listers,
among them first lady Laura Bush and actress-activist Angelina Jolie, both
of whom presented awards.

Introducing Tong, Mrs. Bush, who has embraced the cause of Burma's
oppressed as the defining mission of her East Wing legacy, spoke of
incarcerated democracy activist and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and
about the repression of the Burmese, women especially. She described how
unarmed monks protesting a spike in gas prices were beaten, arrested and
killed. Mrs. Bush described Tong's efforts to form the women's action
network as well as her work on the eye-opening 2002 report "License to
Rape," about 600 women who were violated. Tong also has been to a school
for the children of refugees coming from Shan province; Mrs. Bush said the
students call Tong "a candle in the dark."

Mrs. Bush has become this administration's point person on the Burmese
crisis, picking up the phone to express her outrage to U.N. Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon, hosting Burmese democracy activists at the White
House, giving dozens of interviews on the subject and writing her own
op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal marking Suu Kyi's birthday.

Jolie, greatly pregnant and radiant in a flowing taupe gown, stepped onto
the stage to speak glowingly of award recipient Mariane Pearl, the widow
of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl, who was killed in
Pakistan. Her book, "A Mighty Heart," was made into a film in which Jolie
portrayed Mariane Pearl. Last night the actress talked of Pearl's special
gift as a mother and an example in "courage, hope and tolerance."

Also honored were Kakenya Ntaiya, an education advocate from Kenya;
political corruption activist Laura Alonso of Argentina; and human-rights
advocate Khin Ohmar of Burma. United Arab Emirates minister of economy and
foreign trade Sheikha Lubna al-Qasimi, the first female minister in her
Persian Gulf state, was presented the Global Trailblazer Award and
introduced by CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer.

Sen. Hillary Clinton appeared confident and relaxed in a blue pantsuit,
taking time off from her presidential marathon to help host this event, as
she does every year with her Republican counterpart from Texas, Sen. Kay
Bailey Hutchison. The senators had made it to the evening "against all
odds," said Vital Voices co-founder Melanne Verveer, who was Clinton's
chief of staff when she was first lady.

The event grew out of the Vital Voices Democracy Initiative, created in
1997 by Clinton and former secretary of state Madeleine Albright to make
the promotion of women's causes a U.S. foreign policy goal.

In an interview Friday, Tong described her life. After fleeing her home,
she saw her parents briefly, every two or three years; to get to her, they
had to trek for a week or longer along the same tortured and dangerous
routes she took as a child. "I thought they did not love me," she said.
She described the brief encounters with her parents as "happy, tearful and
heartbreaking."

"You arrive from school one day and they are there. The next day you hurry
back from school and they are gone. They would tell me what was happening
and say, 'We cannot give you anything except this opportunity.' "

All she can remember are blurred patches of her childhood, scurrying from
village to village for safety. Her parents bundled her and her younger
sister along with rags, pots and pans as the children fled from the
soldiers, who ransacked huts, killing and sexually assaulting those who
resisted.

"With time I began to understand. Fresh out of junior high I began hearing
about and seeing the scars from all the atrocities," she noted. By the
time some women shuffled across the northern Thai border, they had been
raped six to eight times. "They arrive with nothing," Tong said. "You
never forget their faces. So many women believe it was their fault and ask
us if they had done anything wrong. We were traumatized just listening to
them relive their horrors," she added.

One case that tore up Tong's soul was that of Nag Hla, who was only 17 and
six months pregnant when she escaped from her village of Laikha in 2002.
She had been gang-raped from 10 in the morning until 4 that afternoon,
Tong said, "her husband blindfolded and tied to a tree, close enough so he
could hear" his wife's screams. Hla set off on foot and delivered her
premature infant alone.

Thai government officials estimate that 3 million Burmese have taken up
residence in Thailand over the years. Many who cross from Shan province,
where Tong was born, find there are no refugee camps for them when they
arrive, she said. Instead, they settle together or with Thai families as
stateless, undocumented farmhands. Tong is active in organizing other
women stationed along border passages to teach refugees about reproductive
health.

Tong became a global advocate at 17, when she went to Geneva in a
delegation of seven Burmese to address the U.N. Commission on Human Rights
in 1999. Before an audience that included members of the military regime,
Tong shook as she spoke and broke down tearfully as she testified about
the women she had met along the border.

"I was lucky. I went to school," she says now with measured gratitude. She
began reading a newsletter on human rights violations from Shan province
at an early age. "It game me more answers than I found in school and it
inspired me to do something to help."

____________________________________

April 8, Irrawaddy via Reuters
Reuters wins Pulitzer for Rangoon death picture

A Reuters news agency photographer won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking
news photography on Monday for a picture of a Burmese soldier shooting
dead a Japanese video cameraman during a last September’s demonstrations
in Rangoon.

The news agency’s Adrees Latif won for "his dramatic photograph of the
Japanese videographer, sprawled on the pavement, fatally wounded during a
street demonstration in Myanmar [Burma]," the Pulitzer Prize board said.

The 92nd annual Pulitzer Prizes in journalism, letters, drama and music
were announced at Columbia University in New York City. The Public Service
winner receives a gold medal, while winners in the remaining 20 categories
receive $10,000.

Reuters carried news of the award together with a firsthand account by its
Bangkok senior photographer Adrees Latif of how he took the pictures which
won him a Pulitzer Prize. The pictures were taken in Burma during the
protests in September last year and include the photo of Japanese video
journalist Kenji Nagai being shot.

“Tipped off by protests against soaring fuel prices, I landed in Yangon
[Rangoon] on 23 September, 2007, with some old clothes, a Canon 5D camera,
two fixed lenses and a laptop.

“For the next four days, I went to Shwedagon Pagoda, two-three kilometers
from the center of town and waited for the monks who had been gathering
there daily at noon.

“Since I was at the same pagoda every day, dozens of people, including
monks, asked me who I was and what I was doing. As the ruling military
regime is notoriously secretive, my replies were guarded.

“Barefoot in maroon robes, and ringed by civilians, the monks chanted and
prayed before starting their two-kilometer march to the Sule Pagoda in
downtown Yangon [Rangoon]. Each day their numbers grew, from hundreds to
thousands.

“By 27 September, the city had become packed with troops. Soldiers and
government agents stood at street corners.

“Finding the Shwedagon Pagoda sealed off, I went to the middle of town to
find groups of young people taunting soldiers at Sule.

“Within minutes, the crowd swelled from hundreds to a few thousand. The
soldiers threw barbed wire coils across the roads.

“Knowing that hundreds of people were gunned down in similar circumstances
in a 1988 uprising, I climbed an old crosswalk directly overhead, to get
to one of the few spots offering a clear view.

“Below me, protesters were singing and waving flags; to the side, young
men were thrusting their pelvises at the soldiers.

“At about 1.30 p.m. local time, two dark green, open-top army trucks
approached, followed by dozens more packed with riot police. They were hit
by a barrage of water bottles, fruit and abuse from the crowd.

“I had already locked on my 135mm lens and set my camera shutter speed to
1000, aperture to F/7.1 and ISO at 800. With the camera on manual, I
wanted to stop any movement while offering as much depth-of-field as
possible.

“Two minutes later, the shooting started. My eye caught a person flying
backwards through the air. Instinctively, I started photographing,
capturing four frames of the man on his back.

“The entry point of the bullet is clear in the first frame, with a soldier
in flip flops standing over the man and pointing a rifle. In the second
frame, the man is reaching over to try and film.

“More shots rang out. I flinched before getting off two more frames—one of
the man pointing the camera at the soldier, and one of his face contorted
in pain.

“Beyond him, the crowd scattered before the advancing soldier. The whole
incident, which went on to reverberate around the world, was over in two
seconds.

“I kept low on the bridge, capturing some more images from among a crowd
taking cover. However, with soldiers firing shots and smoke grenades
below, I had to get off the bridge.

“With adrenaline pumping through my body, I put my camera in my bag and
followed the protests for another hour and a half. Feeling the
demonstration had lost its strength, I made my way back to my hotel via
backstreets and along a railway line.

“My initial caption read: “An injured man tries to photograph after police
and military officials fired upon and then charged a crowd of thousands
protesting in Yangon’s city center September 27, 2007.” Initially, I
thought he was merely trampled. I had no idea he was dead.

“Two of the frames showed the man’s face. A few hours later his colleagues
in Japan had identified him as Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai.

“The images dominated front pages across the US and the world. Mourners at
Nagai’s funeral in Japan clutched the picture, which played a role in the
public outrage that prompted Tokyo to scale back aid to the ruling
military junta.”


____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 8, Business Wire
Remarks by the First Lady at Vital Voices awards ceremony

MRS. BUSH: Thank you very much, Senator Hutchison. Tonight, we pay tribute
to the people of Burma -- especially the women, who have inspired the
world with their grace and courage in the face of brutality.

For nearly 20 years, Burma's military regime has crushed peaceful dissent
and jailed thousands of political prisoners. Aung San Suu Kyi, the head of
the democratically-elected National League for Democracy, has spent more
than 12 years under house arrest since 1989.

When a 500 percent spike in regime-controlled gas prices led to protests
last September, the junta responded with a force that shocked the world.
Unarmed monks who led the demonstrations were beaten, arrested, and
killed. Bullets were sprayed into crowds of peaceful protestors, and
thousands were imprisoned under shameful conditions. Arrests and beatings
of peaceful activists continue today, and demonstrators remain
incarcerated.

Tonight we join Vital Voices in honoring the women of Burma for their
courage in the fight for democracy and basic human rights. Aung Sang Suu
Kyi is not alone in her vision. We recognize women like Su Su Nway, a
labor activist jailed for participating in September's "Saffron
Revolution"; Nilar Thein, forced to leave her newborn child to hide from
military persecutors; and the more than 100 brave dissidents still missing
or imprisoned because they chose to raise their voices. We stand with each
of you.

Receiving the award on behalf of the women of Burma is Charm Tong. Charm's
parents put her in an orphanage in Thailand at the age of six to protect
her from violence in the Shan region of Burma. She grew up among refugees
from her homeland. At the age of 17, she stood before the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights to describe the military campaign being carried
out against her people. She spoke unflinchingly of rape and abuse, though
her audience included representatives of the regime she condemned.
She co-founded the Shan Women's Action Network. Their 2002 report --
"License to Rape" -- opened the world's eyes by documenting the rape of
more than 600 women by Burmese troops. She's also established a school for
Shan State youth who have fled Burma but who are denied access to refugee
camps in Thailand. The students call her "a candle in the dark." For her
part, she says, "The regime does not want the world to know what's
happening to the people, but our women's voices will be heard."

A second recipient was unable to be here tonight. Khin Ohmar is one of the
strongest voices against Burma's violent regime. As arrests and crackdowns
on dissidents continue, she felt she must miss tonight's gala to continue
her important work.

For their determination to expose the oppression of the Burmese people and
for courageously raising their "Vital Voices" in defense of democracy,
Vital Voices is proud to honor Charm Tong and the women of Burma.
(Applause.)

____________________________________

April 8, The Morningside Post
A ring too far: Selling China's dictatorship – Tom Lansner

Tom Lansner is adjunct associate professor at Columbia University's School
of International and Public Affairs, specializing in international media
and communications. He covered conflicts in many countries over a decade
as correspondent for the London Observer and other publications. His
three-part e-seminar on war reporting is available at Columbia
Interactive.

News that China’s communist rulers are reaching out to British and
American PR agencies to help defuse global dismay over ongoing repression
in Tibet should be surprising only in that it has taken so long for
Beijing’s senior leadership to buy mercenary marketing skills so clearly
superior to their own. But trying to sell China’s dictatorship as a regime
of reason at home and a good global citizen abroad may be reaching for a
ring too far.

Hill & Knowlton, the American PR mega-firm, already holds a contract to
help communicate “Beijing's Olympic vision.” Yet while promoting this
vision, it also sounds dire warnings to “Corporations with significant
investments in China,” and to “Olympic Sponsors,” about the possible
fallout of their engagement with China. A H&K blog titled “Crisis Musings”
warns: “Such companies should consider ‘worst case’ scenarios and have
plans in place to deal with them.” And of course Hill & Knowlton can help
here, too.

Indeed, Olympic sponsors are already feeling some heat generated by
various groups that are unhappy with human rights throughout China, or
particularly with the treatment of China’s Tibetan, Uighur, or Christian
minorities; others who argue that China’s ties to Sudan’s murderous regime
marks the impending Beijing games as the “Genocide Olympics”; and more who
see the opening of the games on August 8th — the twentieth anniversary of
the bloodily suppressed pro-democracy uprising in Burma — as an
opportunity to denounce China’s firm backing of Burma’s brutal army junta.

It can only be a combination of hubris and naïveté that has to date
prevented China’s leadership from seeking Anglo-American PR counsel. Over
decades, many other dictatorships — and indeed democratic governments and
various opposition movements — have paid amply for the sage advice of
Washington and London insiders on how to shape public perceptions and/or
more directly to influence government officials.

Burma’s ruling generals, for example, took an American PR firm’s
suggestion in 1997 to relaunch themselves as the State Peace and
Development Council, dropping their own rather more draconian formulation
of State Law and Order Restoration Council. The throat-clearing “SLORC” —
its every enunciation evoking something suitably orcish from the Lord of
the Rings — was at a stroke transformed to a more benevolently pater
familias
 at least in name.

Burson-Martseller, whose chief, Mark Penn, was until this week a close
advisor to Hillary Clinton, once boasted about how it could ”counteract
activist-generated health
 safety
 ethical
 and political concerns
” over
such issues as apartheid, food additives, and environmental damage. Penn
was forced out of the Clinton inner circle after cultivating a contract
with the Colombian Government to promote a free trade pact that candidate
Clinton at least nominally opposes. Reaping riches for access is a
bi-partisan game. One of John McCain’s top strategists, Charles Black, has
worked for top-level PR firms serving an assortment of foreign leaders
going back to right-wing efforts to prop the regime of Ferdinand Marcos in
the Philippines in the mid-1980s. Many even more blood-soaked dictators
have found willing U.S. representatives. Essentially, all paying clients
are welcome. One of the most notorious Washington lobbyists was the late
Edward von Kloberg III, whose 2005 suicide has never been attributed to a
late stirring of conscience for his work to prop dictators like Saddam
Hussein, Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania, Liberia’s Samuel Doe, and Mobutu
Sese Seko of [the former] Zaire. The radically flamboyant Kloberg’s
amorality was hilariously exposed in a classic 1992 Spy magazine piece,
"Publicists of the Damned.”

Seeking to spin media coverage of international events is an important
part of this multi-billion dollar industry. In the Unites States, anyone
representing a “foreign principal” to US officials or media is officially
required to register with the Department of Justice under the Foreign
Agent Registration Act. This legislation emerged in the 1930s over
concerns of Americans lobbying in the United States on behalf of Nazi
Germany. The process is now regularized, even if some of the clients
remain nearly as odious.
A very interesting 2007 investigative report from the Center for Public
Integrity drew a remarkable picture of the links of foreign lobbying in
the United States to American military aid.  The Center for Media and
Democracy is a leading group that seeks to identify PR efforts to shape
public perceptions and policies.

Of course, there are many legitimate reasons for “foreign principals” —
governments, businesses, and various other non-state actors —  to wish to
understand the workings of Washington, and to be understood there.
Pro-democracy and human rights advocates do the same, although usually on
far more slender budgets — and I have worked with such groups from
countries in Africa and Asia.

Yet American efforts to shape global opinion and influence other
countries’ policies certainly dwarf foreign efforts to influence US
actions. These have ranged from sophisticated media campaigns to the soft
power of cultural exchanges to quiet coups and outright invasions. There
is today much discussion over US public diplomacy efforts; the USC Center
on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School is an important node for study
and discussion of the issues around public diplomacy.

America has an immense advantage in this competition because of its
[admittedly diminishing] global media dominance. Most important in this is
that most American and Western media operate from a shared cultural
narrative that frames events and delivers news in a manner that usually
(US coverage of America’s own wars is a glaring and disturbing exception)
at minimum implicitly supports values that include religious freedoms and
basic liberties.

It is here that even well-connected spinmasters Hill & Knowlton or
Burson-Martseller would find problems selling as lovely China’s treatment
of Tibet to an already suspicious world, or sanitizing Beijing’s backing
of Burma’s bloody generals, or scrubbing the Chinese-supported ethnic
cleansing in Darfur. Part of their problem is that the Dalai Lama of Tibet
and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, Nobel Peace Prize winners both, have
enormous international stature for their non-violent resistance to
oppression. And Darfur remains the most open sore on the conscience of our
times, one whose pain a few celebrities, including George Clooney and Mia
Farrow, and journalists, like the NY Times Nick Kristof, are striving
mightily to make sure we cannot ignore.

And it is increasingly implausible for anyone to now say, “If we had only
known
.” Faster, cheaper, more effective digital technologies are bringing
real-time images of atrocities in these lands not only to our TV screens,
but to our computers and even our cellphones.

When we can see for ourselves, it is hard for even a most persuasive flack
to convince us that things are not as bad as they sound. A PR firm that
can convey Beijing’s benevolence in Tibet, East Turkestan, Darfur, and/or
Burma will earn its enormous and ill-gained fees, indeed.

____________________________________

April 8, New Statesman UK
Where next for Burma? – Carole Reckinger

Six months ago the world watched a courageous attempt led by Buddhist
monks to replace military dictatorship with democracy. But what's the
situation in Burma today?

In recent days much of the world's attention has been firmly fixed on
Tibet and the plight of the Burmese people seems to have been all but
forgotten.

And yet things are not improving in that country. Far from it. According
to one renowned Buddhist leader, the situation is deteriorating six months
on from the bloody military crackdown against the pro-democracy movement.

Many monks have been forced to cross into Thailand and Malaysia because of
political persecution. There are widespread allegations of disappearances,
murder and torture by the dictatorship.

All this seems to be continuing despite an announcement by the military
junta that next month a national referendum will be held on a new
constitution with elections following in 2010.

The state media reported that "the time has now come to change from
military rule to democratic civilian rule". Considering the junta’s
numerous broken promises, the announcement to restore democratic civilian
rule has been at best received with scepticism.

The constitution drafting process has been carefully engineered since 1993
and unsurprisingly contains no input from the public instead being drawn
up by a handpicked assembly, without the participation of the country's
main democratic opposition and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In fact draft constitution will bar her from holding government office
because she was married to a foreigner. It is already clear that the
constitution will ensure the military retains a stronghold on power in
Burma and 25 per cent of the seats in the new parliament will be reserved
for the armed forces.

Civilians will be permitted to enter parliament, but only if they show due
deference to the military leaders. It furthermore allows stringent
restrictions on any activities deemed "inimical to national unity" which
covers a wide range of criticism and dissent.

Indeed, criticism of the draft constitution is punishable with up to 20
years behind bars, and criticising the referendum with up to three.

The question of how a free vote will take place in such a climate remains
something of a riddle, and - unsurprisingly - the draft constitution has
been denounced by critics as a ruse to consolidate the junta’s power. The
rejection of an UN offer to send international monitors has only
heightened these suspicions.

Than Shwe, Burma’s 75 year old leader, declared before an audience of
diplomats that the military regime that has ruled Burma for 45 years had
now "a sincere aim for developing the country without any cravings for
power".

He however, made no reference to the bloody oppression his regime is still
perpetrating and one wonders who he can fool with this statement.

The world still remembers when thousands of Burmese took to the streets
making a variety of demands reflecting the widespread dissatisfaction with
the continued military rule and the policies of the ruling State Peace and
Development Council.

At least 227 distinct protests in 66 towns were staged which resulted in
the deaths of officially 15 people (independent estimates state at least
twice this number). Approximately 6,000 people were arrested, including as
many as 1,400 monks. It is estimated that at least 700 protesters and
monks remain in detention.

The ruling 'State Peace and Development Council' has denied any knowledge
of the majority of those it killed during the protests. No attempts have
been made to identify the dead, return the bodies to the families or even
give the dead the minimum Buddhist funerary rites.

Instead, numerous testimonies have revealed a strategy in which bodies
were removed systematically to cover up the extent of the violence. The
Human Rights Documentation Unit of the National Coalition Government of
the Union of Burma refers in Bullets in the Alms Bowl to persistent
reports testifying to the fact that Ye Way Crematorium in North Okkalapa
Township was operated from the 27th to the 30th of September by security
forces to dispose most probably of the bodies of those killed.

By cracking down on monks, the junta took a calculated risk when violence
against the country’s spiritual leaders was bound to inflame popular
sentiments. Burmese monks are highly revered in Burmese society.

Considered to be ‘Sons of Buddha’ they represent the strongest institution
in Burma after the military. Although according to the Buddhist monastic
code, monks are not supposed to involve themselves in mundane politics,
they have played an important social and political role in history.

Throughout British rule for instance, the so called ‘political monks’
played an important role in mobilising opposition to colonial excesses.
After independence, monastic organisations pushed the new leaders to make
Buddhism the state religion.

Attempts in the 1960s and 70s to bring Buddhism under tighter control was
met with fierce resistance and Burma’s young and active Buddhist community
of about 300,000 has had an uneasy relationship with the ruling generals.

During the 1988 democracy marches, the independent monks union emerged to
support the students. The regime responded by issuing decrees to keep the
monks in line and banning all independent Buddhist organizations.

Over the last two decades, the monks have observed a religious boycott of
the regime and have refused alms from the military regime or simply
overturned their bowls instead of collecting food and donations. By
ruthlessly keeping monastic involvement in politics to a minimum since
1988, the role of the monks at the head of the recent protests took many,
including the Government, by surprise.

Burma specialist Michael Charney points out that although it may appear
that the State has successfully cowed the monks into submission, they have
in the past survived more serious episodes of persecution.

“Given their importance in Burmese society and their resilience in past
periods of political turmoil, it would be foolish to assume that they will
not rebound from current setbacks,” he argues.

The authorities have resolutely tried to snuff out dissent and
intelligence officers have systematically detained thousands of people
believed to have participated in the protests.

Anger is still floating beneath the surface, and this is even the case for
many people who were previously apolitical.

The crackdown has altered dynamics inside Burma and the country’s future
is still unknown. The level of fear, but also anger is unprecedented.

More importantly, following international outrage over the brutal
behaviour of the military regime, there were indications that differences
have grown within the military itself.

Every government in Burma, going back to monarchical times has sought
legitimacy through the Buddhist Sangha. Many within the military feel
guilt-ridden and ashamed of their role in beating and killing monks.

There are no open splits yet, but there have been rumblings of
mismanagement and corruption. The younger generation of generals is slowly
beginning to realise change is inevitable.

When that change will actually come is harder to gauge.

____________________________________

April 8, Irrawaddy
When will the opposition deliver? – Adam Selene

Which way is Burma heading? Straight to a new confrontation it seems. And
when the dust settles, the customary winners: the Burmese army.

Now that the National League for Democracy (NLD) has asked the people to
publicly vote “No” in May’s referendum, it is more likely that the
constitution will be rejected.

Maybe there will be fresh demonstrations. But one needs a very vivid
imagination to envision that a new public outcry will persuade the
military leaders to ditch their uniforms. Most likely there will be more
violence, no new constitution and no democratic changes at all.

This cannot be what the opposition wants. In an earlier contribution, [“An
Inconvenient Truth”; The Irrawaddy online; February 14, 2008] I wrote
about a more pragmatic and visionary stance. By stepping over its own
shadows the opposition would at least be able to get a small result out of
all of this, as opposed to the total absence of results in the past and
the collision course the opposition is on right now, which will only bring
more pain and misery.

Of course there is little use in repeating my argument although I'd like
to address one objection the opposition is making to a more pragmatic
outlook. One of the main criticisms of the flawed constitution the regime
proposes is that is almost impossible to alter it after its acceptance. To
amend the constitution would require a majority of more than 75 percent
through a parliamentary vote. With a guaranteed 25 percent of the seats
for the military in both the upper and the lower houses it seems unlikely
that parliament will ever be able to change the constitution and move on
to a more democratic Burma.

Kyaw Zwa Moe is one of the critics making this argument in his article
“Constitutional Conundrum” [The Irrawaddy, print edition April 2008].
Judged purely by numbers his assertion seems to be irrefutably true. But
there is more to Burmese politics than mathematics. Remember the 1990
elections, when even a significant part of the Tatmadaw, or armed forces,
voted for the NLD and left the National Unity Party embarrassed and
virtually empty handed? And how about the discord at the highest levels of
the regime on how to deal with the protests in September 2007? Some people
with connections whisper that even today some regional commanders are
still ready to switch sides if the opposition would manage to oust Snr-Gen
Than Shwe and his most trusted allies. It's a caricature to portray the
army as a homogenous institution, made up only of fans of repression and
poverty. There are many different shades between black and white.

Yes, on the outside the army projects a united front. But it is not
unthinkable that within a few years the opposition could persuade a couple
of military-picked members of parliament to vote for changes to the
constitution. Courage is not a monopoly of the opposition.

Maybe the army would react by staging a fresh coup, but at least this
would create a new political situation that would be hard to swallow for
regional neighbors and the international community. And it would rob the
army of one of its main tactics: its claim that it is preparing a
transition, if we would all just have a little more patience.

It's tragic that there's so little room for alternative views in the minds
of opposition leaders. “If you’re not with us, you’re against us,” seems
to be their collective thought. Of course, persons with a pragmatic stance
are doomed to be labeled “apologists for the regime” sooner or later.

The opposition would be more productive if it shed its inflexibility and
finally started producing results. They have a responsibility to deliver
to the people they claim to represent. The people in Burma deserve more
than stalemates and deadlocks. At least the referendum on the new
constitution could offer results, albeit in a modest way.

It's time the democracy process in Burma began moving in the right
direction. Whether the current generation of opposition leaders is
flexible and visionary enough to stop tugging the boat in the wrong
direction remains to be seen. Maybe they are too old (like some of the
current NLD leaders) to put the past aside and move on. However, they have
no alternative if they want to avoid another 20 years of military rule.

Politics is not about pride—Politics is about deliverance.

Adam Selene is a journalist based in Bangkok.