From editor at burmanet.org Fri Jan 15 13:35:04 2010 From: editor at burmanet.org (Editor) Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:35:04 -0500 (EST) Subject: BurmaNet News, January 15, 2010 Message-ID: <13260.63.173.78.131.1263580504.squirrel@webmail2.pair.com> January 15, 2010, Issue #3877 INSIDE BURMA AP: Myanmar democracy leader Suu Kyi meets official Reuters: Ageing Myanmar opposition gets "middle-aged" boost DVB: Woman included in NLD expansion DVB: Burma electoral laws ?70 percent complete? New Light of Myanmar: Myanmar Gazette ON THE BORDER Irrawaddy: Thai Cabinet to reconsider migrants' work permits Right Vision News (Pakistan): Bangladesh: BDR, Nasaka talk fencing issue INTERNATIONAL Kyodo News (Japan): Okada, Thai's Kasit agree on need for 'fair' Myanmar election OPINION / OTHER Irrawaddy: A mouse tries to catch a big cat?s tail ? Htet Aung United News of Bangladesh: Bangladesh-Myanmar maritime boundary talks: A big step forward ? Barrister Harun ur Rashid ____________________________________ INSIDE BURMA January 15, Associated Press Myanmar democracy leader Suu Kyi meets official Yangon, Myanmar -- Detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday held her first meeting this year with the Cabinet official responsible for contact with her, as her party makes preparations for possible participation in elections. Officials said Suu Kyi was taken from her home to meet for about 20 minutes with Relations Minister Aung Kyi. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release information, did not know the contents of their talk. Myanmar's military government has set elections, the first since 1990, for an unspecified date this year. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, which has not yet declared whether it will take part, this week expanded its central executive committee by nine members to 20. Last year, party colleagues agreed to Suu Kyi's suggestion that the committee be reorganized. Most of its members are elderly. Suu Kyi's last meeting with Aung Kyi was on Dec. 9, when he informed her that her request to be allowed to meet with the party elders was granted. She met them on Dec. 16. Suu Kyi has also requested a meeting with junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe to explain how she would cooperate in tasks "beneficial to the country," but is not yet known to have received any response. The constitution adopted in 2008 that set up this year's polls was considered undemocratic by her party. It has clauses that would ensure that the military remains the controlling power in government, and would bar Suu Kyi from holding office. Politics in Myanmar have been deadlocked since Suu Kyi's party overwhelmingly won the 1990 elections. The military refused to allow it to take power and clamped down on the pro-democracy movement, causing the United States and another Western nations to impose economic and political sanctions in an attempt to isolate the junta. However, the Obama administration has said the sanctions failed to foster reforms and is seeking to engage the junta through high-level talks. ____________________________________ January 15, Reuters Ageing Myanmar opposition gets "middle-aged" boost Yangon ? Myanmar's main opposition party has injected some youth into its aging leadership, although the new recruits are all in their 60s and the ailing 92-year-old chairman keeps the top job. The National League for Democracy (NLD) of detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi said nine "middle-aged" party officials were joining its executive committee, whose 11 existing members have an average age of nearly 82. "We have added nine middle-aged party officials to fulfill the desire of the party's youth members and help reinforce the committee," senior NLD member Khin Maung Swe told Reuters. Much of the NLD's leadership is frail and in poor health. Chairman Aung Shwe has been housebound for over a year due to illness. Some of the older members are against the NLD running in this year's elections, the first in two decades, because they believe the constitution gives too much power to the military, which has ruled for almost five decades. A former top NLD official said it was unlikely the new members, all former political prisoners, would have any impact on party policy in the short term. "The only change we can expect is a steep drop in the average age," he said. "They have injected new blood into the leadership but the brains of the party will remain as old as before." (Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Alan Raybould) ____________________________________ January 15, Democratic Voice of Burma Woman included in NLD expansion ? Htet Aung Kyaw and Francis Wade Another woman will join the Burmese opposition party?s central committee after a major and unprecedented expansion was yesterday put into motion. Nine people in total have been added to the existing 11-member central executive committee (CEC) of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party. One of these, Dr May Win Myint, is now the only female in the committee other than the detained leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The news was met with muted enthusiasm by the secretary general of the Thailand-based Burma Women?s Union (BWU), Tin Tin Nyo, which has in the past called for a greater gender balance within the party. ?Only after 20 years has one more woman been included in the CEC,? she said. ?It?s a positive step, but it?s taken so many years to get [here].? ?I would suggest however that the NLD consider more women at this decision-making level. There are 20 people, and only two of these are women. The other woman, Aung San Suu Kyi, is under house arrest, so it?s really only one woman [who is active].? Another prominent addition to the CEC is party spokesperson and lawyer for Suu Kyi, Nyan Win, who acted as the international media?s first port of call during the Suu Kyi trial last year. Another NLD spokesperson, Khin Maung Swe, said that the majority of the CEC, those who were neither detained or in poor health, will hold a plenary meeting next Monday to assign duties to the new members. He added that the expansion was being undertaken to prepare for ?the upcoming political situation in the country?, but declined to say whether this was a reference to the looming elections, which the NLD is yet to announce whether it will participate in. Some lower-ranking NLD members complained last week however that the decision-making process to select the new members had been done without full cooperation from the various party wings. Khin Maung Swe reacted by saying that the party had needed to act swiftly on the requests of regional members. The expansion was first framed as a call for fresh blood in the party following a rare meeting between Suu Kyi and two ageing CEC members, chairperson Aung Shwe and secretary U Lwin. ?Due to our respect to [regional members], we carried out the expansion quickly. If we have to collect opinions from the ground level, we wouldn?t be able to do it this quickly,? he said. ?One day, when we can convene everyone, we will do this as a fully democratic procedure.? ____________________________________ January 15, Democratic Voice of Burma Burma electoral laws ?70 percent complete? ? Francis Wade The majority of Burma?s electoral laws have been completed and will be rounded off in a matter of months, the Thai foreign minister reported after a meeting with his Burmese counterpart. Speculation has been rife over the possible date of Burma?s first elections since 1990, with eyes now fixed to the latter part of 2010, most likely October. The ruling junta has confirmed only that they will be held this year. A number of potential runners in the elections have said however that the lack of confirmation from the ruling junta of both the date and the laws governing polling has hindered their ability to prepare, and may force their withdrawal. Thai foreign minister Kasit Piromya told Reuters yesterday after a meeting with Nyan Win that ?60 to 70 percent? of the electoral and political party laws had been completed. ?You take another two or three months to make it 100 percent, so it will take you by that time from the mathematical, or the guessing point of view, to the middle of this year,? he said. ?So, I think the elections would be most probably in the second half.? According to information leaked from a meeting between the head of a prominent Japanese charity and the chief of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), a proxy of the Burmese junta, the elections will be held in October, most likely on the 10th. The 10/10/2010 date would be in keeping with the junta?s fixation on numerology, which has dictated many of the key decisions of the military since it took power, including currency devaluations and the 1990 election date. Nyan Win also sought to assure Piromya that elections would be ?free and fair?, following criticism from the international community that constitution, supposedly ratified by 92 percent of the country in the weeks following cyclone Nargis in May 2008, would entrench military rule. Indonesia?s foreign minister echoed international concerns but said that delays to announcing the election date may remedy this. ?For us the main criterion, or the main preoccupation, would be that we have that necessary positive, democratic atmosphere for a credible election to take place,? he said, after meeting Nyan Win at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Vietnam. ?It?s best to allow things for such conditions to be established rather than to rush into it and then we have a situation where the ideal condition is not there.? ____________________________________ January 15, New Light of Myanmar Myanmar Gazette Nay Pyi Taw ? The State Peace and Development Council has appointed Col Soe Aung of the Ministry of Defence as Director-General of Relief and Resettlement Department under the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement on probation from the date he assumes charge of his duties. ? MNA ____________________________________ ON THE BORDER January 15, Irrawaddy Thai Cabinet to reconsider migrants' work permits ? Lawi Weng Nearly 60,000 Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, whose migrant registration cards are due to expire on Jan 20, will be deported if they do not get work permits within the next few days or the Thai government quickly changes its policy to allow them to stay, according to leading right groups in Thailand. ?Many of the 59,228 migrant workers [whose cards expire on Jan. 20] have not been to apply for nationality verification. If the Thai government does not extend their registration cards for one more year, they will be deported,? said Andy Hall, the director of the Migrant Justice Programme (MJP), based in Bangkok. ?Even if the government deports them, they will come back illegally because they need the money. The government should find a solution for them. It is quite dangerous if they are forced to work underground,? he said. MJP said it will ask Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to consider deeply what will happen to the 59,228 migrants if they are deported. The Thai government announced in December 2008 that migrants who have not yet completed the nationality verification process by Feb 28, 2010, would be deported. MJP and other rights groups said that the Thai government will have a Cabinet meeting soon and the migrants will have to wait until a Cabinet resolution is issued that allows them to formally extend their permits. The right groups have urged the Thai government to allow two more years for migrant workers to go through the nationality verification process. In the meantime, there are only 12,000 migrant workers in Thailand who have work permits. Of an estimated 2 to 3 million Burmese migrant workers in Thailand only 1,310,686 have registered as migrant workers. Many of the Burmese migrants are from ethnic minority groups, such as the Mon, the Karen and the Shan, and have fled from Burmese army oppression and human rights abuses. To verify their Burmese nationality, migrant workers have to submit detailed biographical information to the Burmese military. Many fear for their safety and of repercussions against family members in Burma if they turn up at the military government offices for nationality verification registration. The rights groups say very limited public awareness has been raised about the national verification process and its benefits, both for migrant workers and employers. The right groups have called on the Burmese government to send their officials to verify their people's nationalities in Thailand in order to encourage Burmese migrant workers to register. Due to a lack of information and awareness about the national verification process, they say many migrant workers have chosen to stay away from the process. The Cambodian and Lao governments have sent their officials to Thailand to complete the process in previous years. However, the Burmese government has refused the demand and wants all migrant workers to go to three border points??Myawaddy, Tachilek and Kawthoung??for nationality verification registration. ____________________________________ January 15, Right Vision News (Pakistan) Bangladesh: BDR, Nasaka talk fencing issue A zone commander-level meeting between Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and Myanmar's border guard Nasaka was held at Chakdhala frontier under Naikhyongchhari upazila of Bandarban district yesterday on the issue of erecting fence along border.Earlier, BDR lodged a protest with Nasaka for erecting fence adjacent to zero point along border ignoring the international boundary laws, BDR sources said.Combat of cross-border smuggling, continued intrusion of Rohingyas and maintenance of peace border also figured at the meeting.Nasaka handed over Azizul Haque and Noor Mohammad, two Bangladesh nationals to BDR. Both were held by Nasaka for the last six months, said sources.A nine-member team from each side participated in the flag meeting.Commander of the 15th Battalion of BDR stationed at Naikhyongchhari, Lt Col Shafiul Azam, led the Bangladesh side while Col Umony Singh led the Nasaka of Myanmar.Our Correspondent in Khagrachhari adds: police yesterday arrested a Myanmar citizen from Guimara area under Ramgorh Upazila in Khagrachhari.Arrestee Mohammad Rafiq 30, is son of Abdul Alim of Goalliyadev village under Iaikep district of Myanmar.Guimara police station Sub Inspector Mohammad Rashed told this correspondent that Rafiq was staying in Cox's Bazar for the last seven years. A few days ago he brought to Guimara his other associates. However, they managed to escape police raid.A case was filed with Guimara police station in this connection. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Right Vision News. For more information on news feed please contact Sarabjit Jagirdar at htsyndication at hindustantimes.com ____________________________________ INTERNATIONAL January 15, Kyodo News (Japan) Okada, Thai's Kasit agree on need for 'fair' Myanmar election Tokyo ? Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and his Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya agreed Friday that an ''open and fair'' general election in Myanmar is important for the further development of Southeast Asian nations, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. ____________________________________ OPINION / OTHER January 15, Irrawaddy A mouse tries to catch a big cat?s tail ? Htet Aung To try to remedy the country?s ill-managed agricultural economy, Burma?s leading outspoken economist unveiled a few economic reform proposals recently during a rare economic forum held in cooperation with UN-ESCAP in December. As a follow-up, U Myint, a retired economics professor at the Rangoon Institute of Economics and a former economic adviser to ESCAP, held a press briefing at the Myanmar Egress Capacity Development Center on Jan. 9. In his press statement, U Myint recalled that someone at the conference expressed the view that the only people worth talking to in Myanmar are the generals, but the generals are poor listeners or are hard of hearing so it is a waste of time to talk to them because nothing useful will result. Responding to this view, he said in his statement: ?The military establishment here, like other establishments, is not a monolith. It has its hardliners and soft liners, conservative wing and liberal wing, and poor listeners and good listeners.? U Myint is not in the camp of some Burma military watchers who regularly predict that the power struggle among the military leaders will lead to the establishment's disintegration. He prefers to work to try to influence the military establishment. The economic forum gained the attention and criticism of some Burma observers because of the presence of Economics Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, who recently offered economic advice to the generals. Many observers saw the event as just another political dance by the generals that was aimed at reducing international political pressure before the election this year. But, the forum offered a platform for U Myint and others to state their views. Economic experts in Burma, such as U Myint, take a real risk if they criticize the economic mismanagement of the generals while at the same time trying to engage them in a dialogue. ?It does not matter if the mouse is black or white, as long as it is not caught by the cat,? said U Myint, reversing a quotation of Deng Xiaoping, China?s former paramount leader. ?I request that you keep in mind that mice take considerable personal risks in trying to bring about change in Myanmar [Burma].? This conference was different, because of Stiglitz's presence, but seminars on Burma?s economy involving the junta and Burmese economists, including U Myint, have been held in the past. U Myint is, in fact, a committed economic reformer trying to change an outdated and ineffective economic policy. Since the heyday of spymaster Gen Khin Nyunt, he has tried to engage with the generals to improve the country?s economy. On Jan. 22, 1998, the state-run New Light of Myanmar reported the attendance of Gen Khin Nyunt at the closing ceremony of a five-day seminar called ?An Analysis and Assessment of the Current Economic Situation in Myanmar.? It was co-sponsored by the Office of Strategic Studies of the Ministry of Defense and the Tun Foundation Bank in which U Myint is a director. Later, U Myint publicly criticized the junta?s economic mismanagement. In 2006, he gave a talk on Burma?s economy at the American Center in Rangoon. Young Burmese political reformers, including 88 Generation student leaders Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, joined the talk. I was also attended the event. In the same year, U Myint presented a paper, ?Myanmar Economy: A Comparative View,? at the Burma Studies Conference in Singapore. ?When we got independence from Britain in 1948 we said 'Burma is an agricultural country, and it is rich in natural resources,'? U Myint wrote in this paper. ?Fifty years later, we are still saying 'Myanmar is an agricultural country, and it is rich in natural resources.'? ?In 1938 when the country was a British colony, the share of agriculture in GDP was 48 percent. In 2003, agriculture's share was reported to be 52 percent. But it also indicates there is no structural change in the economy, and that we are not getting anywhere.? U Myint, in his recent press statement, proposed to set up a Rice Technical Advisory Group (RTAG) with academics and professionals, who would advise on how to improve the agricultural base. The question now is: How can Burma?s patriotic western-educated economists convince the blind-nationalist non-economist-minded generals for the structural change of the country?s economy? Dr Tin Soe, a former professor and head of a department at the Rangoon Institute of Economics, discussed the main characteristics of the Burmese economy in a paper, ?Policy Dilemmas and Economic Development: A Case Study of Myanmar Economy in Transition.? The paper appeared in the Journal of International Cooperation Studies Vol. 15, No. 3 in 2008. He wrote: ?The policies and plans in Myanmar especially since the early 1960s under military regimes were characterized by inconsistency, instability, interruption and discontinuation, rigidity and limited scope and vision, lack of transparency, unpredictability and uncertainty, quantitative physical targets-orientation, inefficient and ineffective implementation and use and abuse of consultancy and advisory services.? Elaborating on the ?use and abuse of consultancy and advisory services,? he wrote: ?The SPDC has formed the Myanmar Academy as a national think-tank organization to mobilize the retired and in-service professors, rectors, researchers and scholars to provide consultancy services. The advisers/consultants are rarely formally consulted in formulating policies, and, if used, it is usually to legitimize the decisions made by the policy makers to convince the public. ?At times, the services of consultants, scholars, researchers have been abused,? he wrote. ?Assignments were controlled....[so that a] final ?report? usually came out in a distorted and incomprehensible form.? While reading Dr Tin Soe?s paper, I remembered my news article on U Myint?s explanation when he was accused of supporting the junta's double-hike in the price of fuel in 2007. (The Irrawaddy, Sept. 6, 2007) At that time, U Myint said: ?The strongest reservations on this matter [fuel price hike] were raised by me and my colleague, Prof. Dr Tin Soe.? In his illuminating paper, Tin Soe wrote: ?As a matter of historical-cultural fact, although the social status of the intellectuals or learned persons in Myanmar society is high traditionally, the ruling class has rarely given them an effective role in policy making or in implementing policy.? Tin Soe?s assessment of the role of Burmese intellectuals in formulating government policy is true. However, if the country had an army of outspoken intellectuals such as U Myint and Tin Soe, it would have a fighting chance of influencing the hard-of-hearing generals. ____________________________________ January 15, United News of Bangladesh Bangladesh-Myanmar maritime boundary talks: A big step forward ? Barrister Harun ur Rashid During the recent meeting (8th and 9th January) in Dhaka, the delegations from Bangladesh and Myanmar have been able to agree on the method of delimitation of sea boundary. It is a very positive outcome. It is not only a big step forward to achieving a successful outcome but also demonstrates the determination of both countries to resolve the issue bilaterally. The talks at earlier stages bogged down on what method -equidistance or equity of resources-is to be applied to draw the boundary in the Bay of Bengal. While Bangladesh had proposed equity of resources as the method of boundary, Myanmar insisted on apply the equidistant method. Bangladesh case was that if equidistant method was applied, a gross distortion would take place in the boundary line making it much narrower than Bangladesh deserved and was thus not acceptable. It is further claimed that equidistance method, if applied, will lose 48,025 square kilometres of Bangladesh's claimed area to Myanmar. During the recent talks, both delegations agreed for the first time since 1974 that both methods will be applicable to demarcate the maritime boundary. This difficult hurdle has been overcome and now the process of nitty-gritty of demarcating the boundary will hopefully proceed within a time-framework to complete the process. Factors contributing to the agreed outcome: The very fact that Bangladesh and Myanmar sat for negotiations on maritime boundary in April 2008 after a lapse of 22 years demonstrated the willingness of both countries to achieve an accord on this important issue when sources of energy are explored from maritime areas (sea bed). Other factors that have contributed to the agreement of method of demarcation deserve mention as follows: o Bangladesh and Myanmar are friendly states and any confrontation on this issue is not desirable. All the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Myanmar wish the issue to be settled peacefully between them. o Coastal belts or configuration adjacent to the sea are fashioned by nature and do not conform to any neat mathematical formula and therefore equidistant method that is based on a geometrical calculations does not apply for all the regimes of the sea claimed by states under UNCLOS. o Both the Ambassador of Myanmar in Bangladesh and Bangladesh Ambassador in Myanmar must have sincerely worked behind the scene to have an agreed method to resolve the issue o It seems Bangladesh side has been able to convince Myanmar side that its position stands on the principle of international law as contemplated by the UNCLOS and would not agree to the equidistant method because Bangladesh and Myanmar are not opposite states but adjacent/lateral states. oBangladesh's initiation of proceedings on maritime boundary to international arbitration under Annex VII of the UNCLOS demonstrates Bangladesh's deep commitment to international law and Myanmar seems to have seen merit in Bangladesh's case. o Both sides are aware that UNCLOS emphasises bilateral agreement as a preferable method to achieve the mutually satisfactory result. o Negotiation implies persuasion and compromise without abandoning vital national interests. Negotiations involved understanding of the other's point of view and in all successful negotiations it becomes necessary to give something in return to the other side. Against the background, it is heartening to note that bilateral negotiations on sea boundary have turned into a positive momentum and the next meeting would be held in April. Law under the UN Convention: The 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea provides guidelines for drawing maritime boundary as between states. Bangladesh ratified the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in July 2001 while Myanmar ratified it in May 1996. This means both states are legally bound by the provisions of the UNCLOS in delimiting the maritime boundary There are three issues to be settled with Myanmar with regard to delimitation of maritime boundary: (a) Territorial Sea (b) Exclusive Economic Zone (c) Continental Shelf (sea bed). The territorial sea extends to 12 nautical miles, the exclusive economic zone to another 188 miles and the continental shelf may extend another 150 miles. In all 350 miles of maritime boundary are involved. The jurisdiction of a state on territorial sea is three dimensional---control on airspace of the territorial sea, surface water and seabed except "innocent passage" of foreign ships, while the jurisdiction on economic zone and continental shelf is resources-oriented. States has the exclusive right to explore, exploit, preserve, conserve and protect living and non-living resources of the sea of these areas. With regard to the territorial sea, Article 15 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides the equidistant method for its delimitation, unless the states concerned agree otherwise. The equidistant method is drawing a median line every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points on the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. It is a line based on geometric calculations. With regard to the delimitation of economic zone and continental shelf, UNCLOS in its Articles 74 and 83 does not provide equidistant method as the basis of agreement. Both the Articles provide that the delimitation agreement on economic zone and continental shelf must achieve "equitable solution" That means justice and fairness must guide the negotiations leading to an equitable solution. I would argue Bangladesh's concavity and heavily indented coastline, natural prolongation of its land territory to continental shelf, its scanty natural resources in proportion of the huge population, and the general orientation of the Bangladesh's topography are some of the factors to be considered by Myanmar in determining the maritime boundary of Bangladesh to achieve an equitable solution, as contemplated by the UN Convention. Another fact is to be borne in mind that the claim in the areas in the Bay of Bengal constitutes about 10-12% of Myanmar's but Bangladesh's stake is 100% per cent. Bangladesh should get a fair and just share of the continental shelf (sea bed) of the Bay of Bengal in terms of the UN Convention. Summing up: Given the spirit of goodwill generated through the agreed method of demarcation of maritime boundary, I would argue that a mutually accepted boundary will hopefully be completed so that both countries may exploit and explore the maritime areas for their benefit of economic development. It is hoped that India will adopt similar stance in resolving the maritime boundary issue with Bangladesh. [Barrister Harun ur Rashid is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva] January 15, 2010, Issue #3877 INSIDE BURMA AP: Myanmar democracy leader Suu Kyi meets official Reuters: Ageing Myanmar opposition gets "middle-aged" boost DVB: Woman included in NLD expansion DVB: Burma electoral laws ?70 percent complete? New Light of Myanmar: Myanmar Gazette ON THE BORDER Irrawaddy: Thai Cabinet to reconsider migrants' work permits Right Vision News (Pakistan): Bangladesh: BDR, Nasaka talk fencing issue INTERNATIONAL Kyodo News (Japan): Okada, Thai's Kasit agree on need for 'fair' Myanmar election OPINION / OTHER Irrawaddy: A mouse tries to catch a big cat?s tail ? Htet Aung United News of Bangladesh: Bangladesh-Myanmar maritime boundary talks: A big step forward ? Barrister Harun ur Rashid ____________________________________ INSIDE BURMA January 15, Associated Press Myanmar democracy leader Suu Kyi meets official Yangon, Myanmar -- Detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday held her first meeting this year with the Cabinet official responsible for contact with her, as her party makes preparations for possible participation in elections. Officials said Suu Kyi was taken from her home to meet for about 20 minutes with Relations Minister Aung Kyi. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release information, did not know the contents of their talk. Myanmar's military government has set elections, the first since 1990, for an unspecified date this year. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, which has not yet declared whether it will take part, this week expanded its central executive committee by nine members to 20. Last year, party colleagues agreed to Suu Kyi's suggestion that the committee be reorganized. Most of its members are elderly. Suu Kyi's last meeting with Aung Kyi was on Dec. 9, when he informed her that her request to be allowed to meet with the party elders was granted. She met them on Dec. 16. Suu Kyi has also requested a meeting with junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe to explain how she would cooperate in tasks "beneficial to the country," but is not yet known to have received any response. The constitution adopted in 2008 that set up this year's polls was considered undemocratic by her party. It has clauses that would ensure that the military remains the controlling power in government, and would bar Suu Kyi from holding office. Politics in Myanmar have been deadlocked since Suu Kyi's party overwhelmingly won the 1990 elections. The military refused to allow it to take power and clamped down on the pro-democracy movement, causing the United States and another Western nations to impose economic and political sanctions in an attempt to isolate the junta. However, the Obama administration has said the sanctions failed to foster reforms and is seeking to engage the junta through high-level talks. ____________________________________ January 15, Reuters Ageing Myanmar opposition gets "middle-aged" boost Yangon ? Myanmar's main opposition party has injected some youth into its aging leadership, although the new recruits are all in their 60s and the ailing 92-year-old chairman keeps the top job. The National League for Democracy (NLD) of detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi said nine "middle-aged" party officials were joining its executive committee, whose 11 existing members have an average age of nearly 82. "We have added nine middle-aged party officials to fulfill the desire of the party's youth members and help reinforce the committee," senior NLD member Khin Maung Swe told Reuters. Much of the NLD's leadership is frail and in poor health. Chairman Aung Shwe has been housebound for over a year due to illness. Some of the older members are against the NLD running in this year's elections, the first in two decades, because they believe the constitution gives too much power to the military, which has ruled for almost five decades. A former top NLD official said it was unlikely the new members, all former political prisoners, would have any impact on party policy in the short term. "The only change we can expect is a steep drop in the average age," he said. "They have injected new blood into the leadership but the brains of the party will remain as old as before." (Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Alan Raybould) ____________________________________ January 15, Democratic Voice of Burma Woman included in NLD expansion ? Htet Aung Kyaw and Francis Wade Another woman will join the Burmese opposition party?s central committee after a major and unprecedented expansion was yesterday put into motion. Nine people in total have been added to the existing 11-member central executive committee (CEC) of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party. One of these, Dr May Win Myint, is now the only female in the committee other than the detained leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The news was met with muted enthusiasm by the secretary general of the Thailand-based Burma Women?s Union (BWU), Tin Tin Nyo, which has in the past called for a greater gender balance within the party. ?Only after 20 years has one more woman been included in the CEC,? she said. ?It?s a positive step, but it?s taken so many years to get [here].? ?I would suggest however that the NLD consider more women at this decision-making level. There are 20 people, and only two of these are women. The other woman, Aung San Suu Kyi, is under house arrest, so it?s really only one woman [who is active].? Another prominent addition to the CEC is party spokesperson and lawyer for Suu Kyi, Nyan Win, who acted as the international media?s first port of call during the Suu Kyi trial last year. Another NLD spokesperson, Khin Maung Swe, said that the majority of the CEC, those who were neither detained or in poor health, will hold a plenary meeting next Monday to assign duties to the new members. He added that the expansion was being undertaken to prepare for ?the upcoming political situation in the country?, but declined to say whether this was a reference to the looming elections, which the NLD is yet to announce whether it will participate in. Some lower-ranking NLD members complained last week however that the decision-making process to select the new members had been done without full cooperation from the various party wings. Khin Maung Swe reacted by saying that the party had needed to act swiftly on the requests of regional members. The expansion was first framed as a call for fresh blood in the party following a rare meeting between Suu Kyi and two ageing CEC members, chairperson Aung Shwe and secretary U Lwin. ?Due to our respect to [regional members], we carried out the expansion quickly. If we have to collect opinions from the ground level, we wouldn?t be able to do it this quickly,? he said. ?One day, when we can convene everyone, we will do this as a fully democratic procedure.? ____________________________________ January 15, Democratic Voice of Burma Burma electoral laws ?70 percent complete? ? Francis Wade The majority of Burma?s electoral laws have been completed and will be rounded off in a matter of months, the Thai foreign minister reported after a meeting with his Burmese counterpart. Speculation has been rife over the possible date of Burma?s first elections since 1990, with eyes now fixed to the latter part of 2010, most likely October. The ruling junta has confirmed only that they will be held this year. A number of potential runners in the elections have said however that the lack of confirmation from the ruling junta of both the date and the laws governing polling has hindered their ability to prepare, and may force their withdrawal. Thai foreign minister Kasit Piromya told Reuters yesterday after a meeting with Nyan Win that ?60 to 70 percent? of the electoral and political party laws had been completed. ?You take another two or three months to make it 100 percent, so it will take you by that time from the mathematical, or the guessing point of view, to the middle of this year,? he said. ?So, I think the elections would be most probably in the second half.? According to information leaked from a meeting between the head of a prominent Japanese charity and the chief of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), a proxy of the Burmese junta, the elections will be held in October, most likely on the 10th. The 10/10/2010 date would be in keeping with the junta?s fixation on numerology, which has dictated many of the key decisions of the military since it took power, including currency devaluations and the 1990 election date. Nyan Win also sought to assure Piromya that elections would be ?free and fair?, following criticism from the international community that constitution, supposedly ratified by 92 percent of the country in the weeks following cyclone Nargis in May 2008, would entrench military rule. Indonesia?s foreign minister echoed international concerns but said that delays to announcing the election date may remedy this. ?For us the main criterion, or the main preoccupation, would be that we have that necessary positive, democratic atmosphere for a credible election to take place,? he said, after meeting Nyan Win at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Vietnam. ?It?s best to allow things for such conditions to be established rather than to rush into it and then we have a situation where the ideal condition is not there.? ____________________________________ January 15, New Light of Myanmar Myanmar Gazette Nay Pyi Taw ? The State Peace and Development Council has appointed Col Soe Aung of the Ministry of Defence as Director-General of Relief and Resettlement Department under the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement on probation from the date he assumes charge of his duties. ? MNA ____________________________________ ON THE BORDER January 15, Irrawaddy Thai Cabinet to reconsider migrants' work permits ? Lawi Weng Nearly 60,000 Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, whose migrant registration cards are due to expire on Jan 20, will be deported if they do not get work permits within the next few days or the Thai government quickly changes its policy to allow them to stay, according to leading right groups in Thailand. ?Many of the 59,228 migrant workers [whose cards expire on Jan. 20] have not been to apply for nationality verification. If the Thai government does not extend their registration cards for one more year, they will be deported,? said Andy Hall, the director of the Migrant Justice Programme (MJP), based in Bangkok. ?Even if the government deports them, they will come back illegally because they need the money. The government should find a solution for them. It is quite dangerous if they are forced to work underground,? he said. MJP said it will ask Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to consider deeply what will happen to the 59,228 migrants if they are deported. The Thai government announced in December 2008 that migrants who have not yet completed the nationality verification process by Feb 28, 2010, would be deported. MJP and other rights groups said that the Thai government will have a Cabinet meeting soon and the migrants will have to wait until a Cabinet resolution is issued that allows them to formally extend their permits. The right groups have urged the Thai government to allow two more years for migrant workers to go through the nationality verification process. In the meantime, there are only 12,000 migrant workers in Thailand who have work permits. Of an estimated 2 to 3 million Burmese migrant workers in Thailand only 1,310,686 have registered as migrant workers. Many of the Burmese migrants are from ethnic minority groups, such as the Mon, the Karen and the Shan, and have fled from Burmese army oppression and human rights abuses. To verify their Burmese nationality, migrant workers have to submit detailed biographical information to the Burmese military. Many fear for their safety and of repercussions against family members in Burma if they turn up at the military government offices for nationality verification registration. The rights groups say very limited public awareness has been raised about the national verification process and its benefits, both for migrant workers and employers. The right groups have called on the Burmese government to send their officials to verify their people's nationalities in Thailand in order to encourage Burmese migrant workers to register. Due to a lack of information and awareness about the national verification process, they say many migrant workers have chosen to stay away from the process. The Cambodian and Lao governments have sent their officials to Thailand to complete the process in previous years. However, the Burmese government has refused the demand and wants all migrant workers to go to three border points??Myawaddy, Tachilek and Kawthoung??for nationality verification registration. ____________________________________ January 15, Right Vision News (Pakistan) Bangladesh: BDR, Nasaka talk fencing issue A zone commander-level meeting between Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and Myanmar's border guard Nasaka was held at Chakdhala frontier under Naikhyongchhari upazila of Bandarban district yesterday on the issue of erecting fence along border.Earlier, BDR lodged a protest with Nasaka for erecting fence adjacent to zero point along border ignoring the international boundary laws, BDR sources said.Combat of cross-border smuggling, continued intrusion of Rohingyas and maintenance of peace border also figured at the meeting.Nasaka handed over Azizul Haque and Noor Mohammad, two Bangladesh nationals to BDR. Both were held by Nasaka for the last six months, said sources.A nine-member team from each side participated in the flag meeting.Commander of the 15th Battalion of BDR stationed at Naikhyongchhari, Lt Col Shafiul Azam, led the Bangladesh side while Col Umony Singh led the Nasaka of Myanmar.Our Correspondent in Khagrachhari adds: police yesterday arrested a Myanmar citizen from Guimara area under Ramgorh Upazila in Khagrachhari.Arrestee Mohammad Rafiq 30, is son of Abdul Alim of Goalliyadev village under Iaikep district of Myanmar.Guimara police station Sub Inspector Mohammad Rashed told this correspondent that Rafiq was staying in Cox's Bazar for the last seven years. A few days ago he brought to Guimara his other associates. However, they managed to escape police raid.A case was filed with Guimara police station in this connection. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Right Vision News. For more information on news feed please contact Sarabjit Jagirdar at htsyndication at hindustantimes.com ____________________________________ INTERNATIONAL January 15, Kyodo News (Japan) Okada, Thai's Kasit agree on need for 'fair' Myanmar election Tokyo ? Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and his Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya agreed Friday that an ''open and fair'' general election in Myanmar is important for the further development of Southeast Asian nations, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. ____________________________________ OPINION / OTHER January 15, Irrawaddy A mouse tries to catch a big cat?s tail ? Htet Aung To try to remedy the country?s ill-managed agricultural economy, Burma?s leading outspoken economist unveiled a few economic reform proposals recently during a rare economic forum held in cooperation with UN-ESCAP in December. As a follow-up, U Myint, a retired economics professor at the Rangoon Institute of Economics and a former economic adviser to ESCAP, held a press briefing at the Myanmar Egress Capacity Development Center on Jan. 9. In his press statement, U Myint recalled that someone at the conference expressed the view that the only people worth talking to in Myanmar are the generals, but the generals are poor listeners or are hard of hearing so it is a waste of time to talk to them because nothing useful will result. Responding to this view, he said in his statement: ?The military establishment here, like other establishments, is not a monolith. It has its hardliners and soft liners, conservative wing and liberal wing, and poor listeners and good listeners.? U Myint is not in the camp of some Burma military watchers who regularly predict that the power struggle among the military leaders will lead to the establishment's disintegration. He prefers to work to try to influence the military establishment. The economic forum gained the attention and criticism of some Burma observers because of the presence of Economics Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, who recently offered economic advice to the generals. Many observers saw the event as just another political dance by the generals that was aimed at reducing international political pressure before the election this year. But, the forum offered a platform for U Myint and others to state their views. Economic experts in Burma, such as U Myint, take a real risk if they criticize the economic mismanagement of the generals while at the same time trying to engage them in a dialogue. ?It does not matter if the mouse is black or white, as long as it is not caught by the cat,? said U Myint, reversing a quotation of Deng Xiaoping, China?s former paramount leader. ?I request that you keep in mind that mice take considerable personal risks in trying to bring about change in Myanmar [Burma].? This conference was different, because of Stiglitz's presence, but seminars on Burma?s economy involving the junta and Burmese economists, including U Myint, have been held in the past. U Myint is, in fact, a committed economic reformer trying to change an outdated and ineffective economic policy. Since the heyday of spymaster Gen Khin Nyunt, he has tried to engage with the generals to improve the country?s economy. On Jan. 22, 1998, the state-run New Light of Myanmar reported the attendance of Gen Khin Nyunt at the closing ceremony of a five-day seminar called ?An Analysis and Assessment of the Current Economic Situation in Myanmar.? It was co-sponsored by the Office of Strategic Studies of the Ministry of Defense and the Tun Foundation Bank in which U Myint is a director. Later, U Myint publicly criticized the junta?s economic mismanagement. In 2006, he gave a talk on Burma?s economy at the American Center in Rangoon. Young Burmese political reformers, including 88 Generation student leaders Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, joined the talk. I was also attended the event. In the same year, U Myint presented a paper, ?Myanmar Economy: A Comparative View,? at the Burma Studies Conference in Singapore. ?When we got independence from Britain in 1948 we said 'Burma is an agricultural country, and it is rich in natural resources,'? U Myint wrote in this paper. ?Fifty years later, we are still saying 'Myanmar is an agricultural country, and it is rich in natural resources.'? ?In 1938 when the country was a British colony, the share of agriculture in GDP was 48 percent. In 2003, agriculture's share was reported to be 52 percent. But it also indicates there is no structural change in the economy, and that we are not getting anywhere.? U Myint, in his recent press statement, proposed to set up a Rice Technical Advisory Group (RTAG) with academics and professionals, who would advise on how to improve the agricultural base. The question now is: How can Burma?s patriotic western-educated economists convince the blind-nationalist non-economist-minded generals for the structural change of the country?s economy? Dr Tin Soe, a former professor and head of a department at the Rangoon Institute of Economics, discussed the main characteristics of the Burmese economy in a paper, ?Policy Dilemmas and Economic Development: A Case Study of Myanmar Economy in Transition.? The paper appeared in the Journal of International Cooperation Studies Vol. 15, No. 3 in 2008. He wrote: ?The policies and plans in Myanmar especially since the early 1960s under military regimes were characterized by inconsistency, instability, interruption and discontinuation, rigidity and limited scope and vision, lack of transparency, unpredictability and uncertainty, quantitative physical targets-orientation, inefficient and ineffective implementation and use and abuse of consultancy and advisory services.? Elaborating on the ?use and abuse of consultancy and advisory services,? he wrote: ?The SPDC has formed the Myanmar Academy as a national think-tank organization to mobilize the retired and in-service professors, rectors, researchers and scholars to provide consultancy services. The advisers/consultants are rarely formally consulted in formulating policies, and, if used, it is usually to legitimize the decisions made by the policy makers to convince the public. ?At times, the services of consultants, scholars, researchers have been abused,? he wrote. ?Assignments were controlled....[so that a] final ?report? usually came out in a distorted and incomprehensible form.? While reading Dr Tin Soe?s paper, I remembered my news article on U Myint?s explanation when he was accused of supporting the junta's double-hike in the price of fuel in 2007. (The Irrawaddy, Sept. 6, 2007) At that time, U Myint said: ?The strongest reservations on this matter [fuel price hike] were raised by me and my colleague, Prof. Dr Tin Soe.? In his illuminating paper, Tin Soe wrote: ?As a matter of historical-cultural fact, although the social status of the intellectuals or learned persons in Myanmar society is high traditionally, the ruling class has rarely given them an effective role in policy making or in implementing policy.? Tin Soe?s assessment of the role of Burmese intellectuals in formulating government policy is true. However, if the country had an army of outspoken intellectuals such as U Myint and Tin Soe, it would have a fighting chance of influencing the hard-of-hearing generals. ____________________________________ January 15, United News of Bangladesh Bangladesh-Myanmar maritime boundary talks: A big step forward ? Barrister Harun ur Rashid During the recent meeting (8th and 9th January) in Dhaka, the delegations from Bangladesh and Myanmar have been able to agree on the method of delimitation of sea boundary. It is a very positive outcome. It is not only a big step forward to achieving a successful outcome but also demonstrates the determination of both countries to resolve the issue bilaterally. The talks at earlier stages bogged down on what method -equidistance or equity of resources-is to be applied to draw the boundary in the Bay of Bengal. While Bangladesh had proposed equity of resources as the method of boundary, Myanmar insisted on apply the equidistant method. Bangladesh case was that if equidistant method was applied, a gross distortion would take place in the boundary line making it much narrower than Bangladesh deserved and was thus not acceptable. It is further claimed that equidistance method, if applied, will lose 48,025 square kilometres of Bangladesh's claimed area to Myanmar. During the recent talks, both delegations agreed for the first time since 1974 that both methods will be applicable to demarcate the maritime boundary. This difficult hurdle has been overcome and now the process of nitty-gritty of demarcating the boundary will hopefully proceed within a time-framework to complete the process. Factors contributing to the agreed outcome: The very fact that Bangladesh and Myanmar sat for negotiations on maritime boundary in April 2008 after a lapse of 22 years demonstrated the willingness of both countries to achieve an accord on this important issue when sources of energy are explored from maritime areas (sea bed). Other factors that have contributed to the agreement of method of demarcation deserve mention as follows: o Bangladesh and Myanmar are friendly states and any confrontation on this issue is not desirable. All the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Myanmar wish the issue to be settled peacefully between them. o Coastal belts or configuration adjacent to the sea are fashioned by nature and do not conform to any neat mathematical formula and therefore equidistant method that is based on a geometrical calculations does not apply for all the regimes of the sea claimed by states under UNCLOS. o Both the Ambassador of Myanmar in Bangladesh and Bangladesh Ambassador in Myanmar must have sincerely worked behind the scene to have an agreed method to resolve the issue o It seems Bangladesh side has been able to convince Myanmar side that its position stands on the principle of international law as contemplated by the UNCLOS and would not agree to the equidistant method because Bangladesh and Myanmar are not opposite states but adjacent/lateral states. oBangladesh's initiation of proceedings on maritime boundary to international arbitration under Annex VII of the UNCLOS demonstrates Bangladesh's deep commitment to international law and Myanmar seems to have seen merit in Bangladesh's case. o Both sides are aware that UNCLOS emphasises bilateral agreement as a preferable method to achieve the mutually satisfactory result. o Negotiation implies persuasion and compromise without abandoning vital national interests. Negotiations involved understanding of the other's point of view and in all successful negotiations it becomes necessary to give something in return to the other side. Against the background, it is heartening to note that bilateral negotiations on sea boundary have turned into a positive momentum and the next meeting would be held in April. Law under the UN Convention: The 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea provides guidelines for drawing maritime boundary as between states. Bangladesh ratified the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in July 2001 while Myanmar ratified it in May 1996. This means both states are legally bound by the provisions of the UNCLOS in delimiting the maritime boundary There are three issues to be settled with Myanmar with regard to delimitation of maritime boundary: (a) Territorial Sea (b) Exclusive Economic Zone (c) Continental Shelf (sea bed). The territorial sea extends to 12 nautical miles, the exclusive economic zone to another 188 miles and the continental shelf may extend another 150 miles. In all 350 miles of maritime boundary are involved. The jurisdiction of a state on territorial sea is three dimensional---control on airspace of the territorial sea, surface water and seabed except "innocent passage" of foreign ships, while the jurisdiction on economic zone and continental shelf is resources-oriented. States has the exclusive right to explore, exploit, preserve, conserve and protect living and non-living resources of the sea of these areas. With regard to the territorial sea, Article 15 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides the equidistant method for its delimitation, unless the states concerned agree otherwise. The equidistant method is drawing a median line every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points on the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. It is a line based on geometric calculations. With regard to the delimitation of economic zone and continental shelf, UNCLOS in its Articles 74 and 83 does not provide equidistant method as the basis of agreement. Both the Articles provide that the delimitation agreement on economic zone and continental shelf must achieve "equitable solution" That means justice and fairness must guide the negotiations leading to an equitable solution. I would argue Bangladesh's concavity and heavily indented coastline, natural prolongation of its land territory to continental shelf, its scanty natural resources in proportion of the huge population, and the general orientation of the Bangladesh's topography are some of the factors to be considered by Myanmar in determining the maritime boundary of Bangladesh to achieve an equitable solution, as contemplated by the UN Convention. Another fact is to be borne in mind that the claim in the areas in the Bay of Bengal constitutes about 10-12% of Myanmar's but Bangladesh's stake is 100% per cent. Bangladesh should get a fair and just share of the continental shelf (sea bed) of the Bay of Bengal in terms of the UN Convention. Summing up: Given the spirit of goodwill generated through the agreed method of demarcation of maritime boundary, I would argue that a mutually accepted boundary will hopefully be completed so that both countries may exploit and explore the maritime areas for their benefit of economic development. It is hoped that India will adopt similar stance in resolving the maritime boundary issue with Bangladesh. [Barrister Harun ur Rashid is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva]