BurmaNet News, October 14, 2010

[Editor]

October 14, 2010 Issue #4062

INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Suu Kyi fights law with law
Asia Times: Myanmar democracy fight polls apart
Myanmar Times: Business associations ease way for members to enter parliament
Irrawaddy: The general versus the teenage prisoner
Mizzima: Mandalay dam water leaves 2,500 homeless, cuts roads

BUSINESS / TRADE
Myanmar Times: Economic expertise needed in Hluttaws: analysts, politicians
Irrawaddy: Burmese tycoon buys the Kandawgyi Palace hotel

INTERNATIONAL
DVB: Concern greets new Security Council arrivals
NLM: F&R Minister attends IMF, WB meetings

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy (Editorial): How to keep the flame of democracy burning
IPS: As vote nears, moods range from disdain to determination - Yan Paing
Mizzima: Forgotten Panglong - Jai Wan Mai

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 14, Democratic Voice of Burma
Suu Kyi fights law with law - Khin Hnin Htet

Burma’s detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said that under
Burmese law it will be illegal for her to vote in upcoming elections,
despite the ruling junta granting her participation rights.

The 65-year-old this week rejected the opportunity to vote, following an
announcement by an official in late September that Suu Kyi and her two
live-in maids “will get the right to vote. But they will not get
permission to go outside on election day.”

Her dissolved National League for Democracy (NLD) party has boycotted
Burma’s first elections in 20 years, due on 7 November, citing laws that
ban Suu Kyi from running for office and which had appeared to prohibit any
participation at all.

Nyan Win, lawyer for Suu Kyi, told DVB yesterday that she had asked him to
explain to police “that there is no reason for her to vote as she
understood that the election law states that those who are serving prison
terms are prohibited from voting”.

A letter destined for the police’s Special Branch has been drafted and is
waiting to be signed by Suu Kyi, who has spent 15 of the past 20 years
under house arrest. The NLD won the 1990 elections in a landslide victory,
but the military generals refused to transfer power.

The NLD has meanwhile taken to the streets to advocate a boycott of the
polls. A group of the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) yesterday
met with party members in Mandalay division, before heading to Kachin
state later this week.

“We told our members that people should not vote if they are scared
because if they vote, they will continue to be scared,” said CEC member
Ohn Kyaing. “So they should boycott the election by not voting if they
want to stop being scared. Our members understood what we said and they
liked it.

____________________________________

October 14, Asia Times
Myanmar democracy fight polls apart - Clifford McCoy

Singapore - Myanmar's first elections in 20 years are less than a month
away, and the country's main pro-democracy party, the National League for
Democracy (NLD), will not participate despite winning a landslide at the
annulled 1990 polls.

The party, led by the detained former Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi, was officially banned this year after it declined to register for
the polls. Instead of challenging the ruling military junta on what it
perceives an unequal electoral playing field, the NLD will immerse itself
in "people-politics" to maintain a voice in the transition from military
to civilian rule.

NLD vice chairman U Tin Oo recently spoke to Asia Times Online in
Singapore about the NLD's future. "Everything is purposely[done] to
marginalize the NLD," said the 83-year-old, a former military general and
defense minister.

"The military junta wishes to marginalize Aung San Suu Kyi from the
election." Even before the NLD refused to participate, Suu Kyi was legally
banned from contesting the polls because she was married to a foreign
national. (Her husband, Oxford University academic Michael Aris, died in
1999.)

The NLD was the runaway winner of the 1990 elections, receiving nearly 59%
of the vote. The junta's National Union Party (NUP) garnered a mere 21%.
The polls were judged by international observers as free and fair, but
facing defeat, the military declared the elections were not for seats in
parliament but rather a national convention to design a new constitution.

Soon thereafter, the military launched a campaign of harassment against
the NLD, including jailing its members and shuttering its headquarters.
The harassment took a violent turn in 2003 when Tin Oo and Suu Kyi,
freshly released from a period of house arrest, traveled the country to
regalvanize the party's base.

Their caravan was attacked by pro-government thugs who killed an estimated
100 NLD supporters in an orgy of violence. Both Suu Kyi and Tin Oo were
arrested in the assault's aftermath. Tin Oo was released from detention in
February this year and resumed immediately his role as the NLD's vice
chairman.

Meanwhile, the junta's long-awaited new charter was finally passed in a
May 2008 national referendum - many believe in a pre-ordained result.

The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has since moved to
the next step in its so-called "roadmap to democracy" by calling for
parliamentary elections on November 7. Many believe the polls will be
similarly skewed in favor of junta-linked parties and candidates. The new
parliament by law reserves 25% of its seats for military members.

The run-up to the polls has already been criticized by several foreign
governments and organizations, including the United States and even United
Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Parties connected to the regime,
especially the Union Solidarity and Development Party, an offshoot of the
junta's mass organization the Union Solidarity and Development
Association, and the NUP, have received advantages through support from
the government and state agencies.

Widespread criticism has also focused on the regime-appointed Election
Commission, which has barred several parties, especially those deriving
support from ethnic ceasefire organizations, from participating in the
polls. Election rules have also made it almost impossible for parties to
contest the elections at all levels nationwide.

The NLD voted in March against registering for the elections, a move that
resulted in its official disbandment in September. According to Tin Oo,
the party's decision to boycott was taken after two proposals put forward
to the military regime were rejected.

The first proposal demanded that the junta free all political prisoners
ahead of the polls and for the regime to honor the 1990 election results.
The second called for a tripartite dialogue between the junta, the
democratic opposition and ethnic groups as part of the transition towards
democracy.

"If the State Peace and Development Council agreed, the NLD would endorse
the process and carry on with the elections," said Tin Oo.

Instead, the regime said that for the NLD to join the election process, it
must endorse the 2008 constitution, reject the 1990 election result and
dismiss Aung San Suu Kyi from the party. The junta also refused to release
nearly 2,200 political prisoners. "How can we agree?" asked Tin Oo.

People-power politics
Most NLD members voted not to participate in the elections during a
meeting of 100 central committee and other key members. Several members,
however, broke off to form the National Democratic Force led by former NLD
member and veteran politician Khin Maung Swe; it will contest the polls.

For Tin Oo and other NLD stalwarts, the party will continue its activities
despite its official disbandment. "We will carry on like the NLD is still
in existence," said Tin Oo. "The NLD will continue to do politics." Rather
than function as a political party with elected members in parliament, the
NLD will take its actions directly to the people, he said.

"The members will move into the masses, stay with them. They will carry
out acts under the existence of law. Even if there is no flag, no sign, no
office, it doesn't matter. We will do people-politics, not party politics.
We will survive in the people."

The NLD's grassroots campaign is already up and running. One of its
programs looks after the families of political prisoners. Another tends to
HIV/AIDS sufferers, whose numbers have recently swelled in an absence of
adequate public-health facilities. A third tends to the welfare of workers
and farmers, including reporting on government use of forced labor,
recruitment of children into the armed forces and official land-grabbing.

"These are the things we can carry on," said Tin Oo, who was first jailed
in 1977 by then-dictator Ne Win on suspicions he withheld information of a
plot to assassinate the leader and stage a coup. "They seem like social
matters, but they are our politics. They are the ideas and the thoughts
for the time after Aung San Suu Kyi's release."

Suu Kyi is scheduled for release from house arrest, where she had been
held 14 of the past 20 years, in November after the polls have been held.
The NLD clearly hopes to maintain a high profile through its social
outreach programs, despite its lack of political status or representation
in the new parliament. Tin Oo also hints at post-election accommodation.

"We want political stability, that is the main thing. The junta maintains
stability with armed repression. We believe in creating trust. We want to
trust the army and the army to trust us," said Tin Oo. "After the
elections, there is still a need for talks. Talks between the government
and the military need to be inclusive, all parties including the ethnic
groups. Aung San Suu Kyi has expressed her openness to help the regime."

At the same time, the NLD has endorsed a United Nations Commission of
Inquiry to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity by the
military regime, as recommended by UN special rapporteur on the situation
of human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana.

"I signed for the commission," Tin Oo said. "The report [from Quintana]
was strong enough. The junta has never complied with previous advice [from
UN rapporteurs]. It is the kind of language the junta will understand."

Tin Oo also makes a point of placing Myanmar's future politics within a
geostrategic context, with the NLD favoring ties with democratic over
authoritarian nations. "For [Myanmar], China is a big tiger, India is a
big tiger. India and China compete and this will affect us. This is why we
must make friends with democratic countries," he said.

"We realize the danger ahead. The government gives concessions to India
and China, but they don't take into account the long-term danger. We need
peaceful coexistence. We need a friend. We don't know the future [in
regards to what competition between India and China might bring]. We see
the US as a democratic country."

"I am very sorry about China. I met Mao Zedong two or three times when I
headed the [Myanmar government] party to China. We were received well,
with a red carpet. Mao said, 'The oppressed people of China have stood up.
The oppressed people of Burma [Myanmar] will stand up.' It was very nice
to hear that. [Now] China must see what is true and right, who is the
oppressed and the oppressor."

Clifford McCoy is a freelance journalist.

____________________________________

October 11 - 17, Myanmar Times
Business associations ease way for members to enter parliament - Kyaw Hsu Mon

Many professional associations have amended their constitutions in the
lead up to the November 7 election, allowing members and office bearers to
become party members and even candidates.

The groups bill themselves as non-governmental and previously required
members to be apolitical, at least publicly. However, since the
announcement in 2008 that multi-party elections would be held this year,
most associations have liberalised their policy as it was clear some of
their members would take part as candidates.

As many as 10 senior members of the Union of Myanmar Federation of
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), which describes itself as “a
national level non-governmental organisation representing and safeguarding
the interest of private business sector”, will stand as candidates for
Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), National Unity Party (NUP)
or as independents.

“As the provision stating [members] shall be apolitical was amended in the
articles of association, they can contest without having to resign from
the organ-isation,” a UMFCCI spokesperson said.

UMFCCI chairman U Win Myint, who is also chairman of Shwe Nagar Min
company, will contest Sagaing Region Amyotha Hluttaw Constituency 3, which
includes Kanbalu, Kyunhla, Ye-u and Taze townships, as a USDP candidate.

The UMFCCI also has 50 sister organisations that are formed or being
formed as separate and smaller organisations representing specific
industries.

The spokesperson said there were also some election candidates in these
smaller associations but the exact number was not known.

The Myanmar Fisheries Federation is comprised of fishery and livestock
entrepreneurs and has become well-known for the almost weekly seminars it
has hosted over the past three years. The meetings, which have focused on
a wide range of topics, are presented by high-profile experts.

The federation’s chairman, U Htay Myint, who is also chairman of Yuzana
company, will stand as a USDP Pyuthu Hluttaw candidate in Myeik. Five
other members of the federation will also stand as candidates, a fisheries
federation spokesperson said.

“The federation amended the provision stating members shall be apolitical
in 2007,” the spokesperson said. “None of the six are standing as
independent candidates.”

At its annual general meeting on September 4 , the Myanmar Construction
Entrepreneurs Association (MCEA) also agreed to amend the provision in its
constitution that members are unable to join political parties.

Consequently, five MCEA members, including president Dr Khin Shwe,
chairman of Zaykabar Construction, will stand as USDP candidates.

At least three members of Myanmar Engineering Society, an industry
assoc-iation carrying out capacity-building and disaster preparedness
activities, will also run as USDP candidates.

However, unlike their counterparts at the UMFCCI, MFF and MCEA, the three
Myanmar Engineering Society members who will contest the election –
including Central Executive Committee mem-bers U Nyan Htun Oo and Dr Khin
Maung Htun – have already tended their resignations, as per society rules.

“The organisation has had the provision stating it shall be apolitical
since its establishment [in 1996]. We can only amend articles of the
association’s constitution at our annual general meeting and we will
consider doing this at our next meeting in January,” said U Ko Ko Gyi, the
society’s joint general secretary. “For the time being there has been no
change at all to our rules.”

Another association that has maintained its apolitical stance is the
Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association, which was established in
1989.

Four senior members, including chairman U Tin Kha and vice chairman Dr Tin
Tun Oo, the publisher of The Myanmar Times, resigned their posts on August
27, three days before the deadline to register as candidates for this
year’s election. All four will stand as USDP candidates.

“As we are an independent association, we have a rule that our members
must not join a political party. As they are preparing to participate in
election as candidates of a party, they had to resign according to our
rules,” association secretary U Ko Ko said, adding that they would be
welcome to rejoin the association if they resigned from the USDP.

http://www.mmtimes.com/2010/news/544/54411news.html

____________________________________

October 14, Irrawaddy
The general versus the teenage prisoner - Wai Moe

Rangoon Mayor, Ex Brig-Gen Aung Thein Lin, 58, a leading member of the
junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), is facing a
challenge from independent candidate Kaung Myint Htut, 35, who was one of
the youngest political prisoners in Burma.

Both candidates are running for a seat in the lower house in Rangoon's
South Okkalapa Township constituency in the Nov. 7 election.

“Frankly speaking, I don't believe the elections can bring the changes we
would like to see,” Kaung Myint Htut said. “But I think people should be
given an alternative to candidates from the USDP or the former military
rulers in the National Unity Party.”
Kaung Myint Htut, an entertainment producer, attempted to form the Myanmar
Democracy Congress Party with some colleagues when the Union Election
Commission (UEC) called for registration of political parties in March,
but the attempt failed because of financial difficulties and obstacles to
membership imposed by the UEC regulations.

Kaung Myint Htut was 13-years-old when he was arrested following his
involvement in the 1988 democracy uprising. He was arrested three times
between 1988 and 1990 before he was sentenced to six years imprisonment in
1991.

He said he hoped his fellow student activists of the 1988 Generation who
are in prison understand his involvement in the elections.

Coming from the ruling military hierarchy, however, Aung Thein Lin
background is very different. He was a major in the military in 1988 and
later became the commander of Light Infantry Division 101 and then deputy
minister of Industry-2 as well as an executive of the junta’s mass
organization, the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA),
which was transformed into the USDP in April. He became mayor of Rangoon
in 2003.

Aung Thein Lin’s association with the junta and the USDA may not help him
win votes since the USDA under its modern guise as the USDP achieved
infamy in the eyes of the general public in the past 17 years.

Political observers in Rangoon suggest that if the USDP does not cheat in
the polls, even Aung Thein Lin might find it difficult to compete with
Kaung Myint Htut, his main rival.

“Major U Aung Thein Lin’s political background as a general and member of
the USDA stands in direct contrast with that of Kaung Myint Htut, who was
a teenage political prisoner because of his principled stand for human
rights against the military's injustice,” said a businessman in South
Okkalapa who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The National Democratic Force (NDF) candidate [running in the same
constituency] is also young, but when I read her campaign statements, I
saw she has no political background, so I think Kaung Myint Htut will be a
much stronger candidate,” he said.

But Aung Thein Lin has a much greater advantage than other candidates in
his constituency since he can use his government position, state property
and projects and the state media to support his campaign.

As the election approaches, state-run-newspapers have frequently published
pictures of Aung Thein Lin and other USDP leaders inspecting and opening
state construction projects in the country, describing them as government
officials rather than USDP leaders.

Aung Thein Lin's picture was published in October when he attended opening
ceremonies of construction projects in his constituency along with the
commander of the Rangoon Regional Military Command, Brig-Gen Tun Than.

“I expect that I will definitely win my seat at this year's election,”
Aung Thein Lin said in a report in The Myanmar Times weekly published by
USDP candidate Tin Tun Oo. “If I win in South Okkalapa I will focus on
speeding up development in my constituency. I believe that  other elected
representatives will try to do the same.”

However, Kaung Myint Htut told The Irrawaddy he is optimistic even though
Aung Thein Lin is a heavyweight.

“Since the USDP candidates are government ministers and officials, they
have more opportunities to promote their campaigns than other candidates,”
he said. “But what the Burmese people are really looking for is someone
who will stand before them and advocate for basic rights that are free and
fair.”

“So I believe they will vote for me and the other candidates rather than U
Aung Thein Lin and the USDP,” he said.

____________________________________

October 14, Mizzima
Mandalay dam water leaves 2,500 homeless, cuts roads - Salai Han Thar San

New Delhi – Water released from dams in Mandalay after at least a week of
heavy rain has inundated three wards in the divisional capital and forced
about 2,500 from their homes, residents and relief workers said yesterday.

Seitawlay and Seitawgyi dams had reached dangerous levels after heavy rain
filled their reservoirs to near capacity, forcing officials to open the
floodgates. Run-off cut roads and swamped homes in Aungpinle, Thamankone
and Myayinanda wards, residents said.

“People from these localities are taking refuge at Innkhayu monastery 

There are about 2,500 flood victims there. They an’t return to their homes
even though the water has receded slightly,” a resident and volunteer
relief worker told Mizzima.

Officials feared the reservoirs, swollen after a least a week of rain,
would force dam walls to break or collapse. After they opened the gates,
the wards were inundated with four to 10 feet of water, depending on an
area’s topography.

At least 10 people were killed in this flood, a monk giving food and
medicine to the flood victims said. “The death toll is climbing and 10
bodies have been recovered so far in Aungpinle,” the monk said.

Mizzima was as yet unable to verify the death toll from an independent
source.

Some businessmen such as Win Win Candle, Lucky drinking water, individual
donors, and social organisations such as Bhramaso and monks were donating
food and drinking water to the flood victims under the leadership of the
abbot of Sagaing Myasetkya monastery, the monk said.

Authorities were collecting food parcels in rotation from other wards in
Mandalay and had opened an aid-material collection centre in the city, a
resident said.

The monk said that he and his volunteers were facing difficulties in their
relief work.

“They [city authorities] don’t allow donors to donate relief materials
directly to the flood victims. Soldiers and firemen want the relief
materials delivered to them. But the monks forcefully waded through the
floodwater to donate directly,” he said.

Drugs and dehydration packets were desperately needed for child flood
victims, who were suffering from diarrhoea. Also badly needed were candles
as electricity had been cut off, and mosquito coils, rice, meat and
vegetables, the monk said.

The released water also inundated highway links to northern Shan State,
leaving townships there cut off from communications for at least five
days.

“We can’t go even to Pyinoolwin as the highway is inundated. There are no
uphill or downhill cars. The highway buses running to Musay and Lashio
have had to stop running as well. Cars can’t travel to Myingyan and they
have to go via Meiktila,” a passenger bus operator’s ticket counter
supervisor at the Chanmyashwepyi highway bus terminal said.

Meteorologist Dr. Tun Lwin warned that more and frequent storms were
likely to hit Burma this month or next month, with heavy rain and
gale-force winds also likely. He also urged the public to watch weather
reports regularly.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

October 11 - 17, Myanmar Times
Economic expertise needed in Hluttaws: analysts, politicians

Political lightweights or potential instigators of economic reform? That’s
the question many voters and analysts are pondering with one month to go
until November 7, when more than 30 prominent business identities will
stand for election.

Collectively, they have decades of business experience, however, it
remains to be seen whether their acumen can be put to good use in the
national and regional Hluttaws.

Economist and author U Khin Maung Nyo, who is also vice chairman of the
Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association, said he expected little in
the way of legislation from the businessmen who do become Hluttaw
representatives.

“Having politicians who can introduce legislation will be a big change,”
he said. “But [the businessmen who are standing for election], they just
have money. They are not politicians. We can only expect them really to
contribute to the social sector, not politically.”

He said the number of business leaders standing for election, let alone
those who win their constituencies, was small relative to the 1157 seats
up for grabs.

“Most of those elected will have political, rather than business,
backgrounds,” U Khin Maung Nyo said.

Nonetheless, he broadly supports the idea of businessmen standing for
election, provided their intention is to work for the people of their
constituency.

“We have two options; to reach our goal [of democracy] in the parliament
and outside the parliament. In my view, trying in the parliament will be
better and allow us to reach the goal faster.”

Most of the businessmen-turned-politicians have done little so far to
assuage doubts over their political experience or desire to take a leading
role in the Hluttaws and instigate economic reform.

In a less-than-expansive interview with The Myanmar Times last month,
Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry chairman
U Win Myint said his priority, if elected, would be the development of his
constituency, which includes Kyunhla, Taze, Ye-u and Kanbalu townships in
Sagaing Region.

“My aim is to foster the all-round development of the region from the
grassroots level,” said the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)
candidate.

Similarly, Dr Khin Shwe, chairman of Zaykabar Construction, said in an
interview with Monitor journal last month he would focus “on religion and
social work”, rather than business, “because I made a lot of roads and
bridges in my constituency after Cyclone Nargis”.

Dr Khin Shwe will stand as a USDP candidate in Yangon Region Amyotha
Hluttaw Constituency (9), which includes Kawhmu, Kungyangone and Twante
townships.

While most will stand as candidates for the USDP, a handful are running
for other political parties or as independents.

U Hla Shein, a UMFCCI Executive Committee member who will stand as an
independent candidate in the Mon State Hluttaw seat of Mawlamyine (1),
said he was hopeful the businessmen could use their expertise to bring
about economic reform.

“A businessman has a business sense; we are in a better position than
normal politicians to introduce and debate legislation on changes to
foreign investment laws or the official exchange rate, for example.

“If we change things like the official exchange rate, it should help to
get rid of the black market. Businessmen understand this, they know how
the system works,” he said.

He said his priority was to improve economic conditions in his constituency.

“I want to try and create employment for young people in Mawlamyine. We
have natural resources and cheap labour but at the moment we don’t know
how to use these assets properly so I will focus on that in the Mon State
Hluttaw,” he said.

Like many candidates, U Thu Wai, chairman of the Democratic Party
(Myanmar), has spent his adult life immersed in politics. But he said that
if businessmen were elected, they could bring a balance to the parliament
and help forge new economic policies.

“Some of them [the businessmen candidates] are quite intelligent in
business and economic matters,” he told The Myanmar Times on October 8.

“Some candidates are experienced in politics, others are more interested
in and experienced in business. But all of these views are very important
for the new parliament.”

He said that he was not concerned about potential conflicts of interest
that could arise if businessmen lobby for legislation that would benefit
their own industries or companies.

“Everyone in parliament will be pushing their own interests,” he said.
“[That’s why] it’s important to get a balance.”

A retired government official told The Myanmar Times that while elected
businessmen would push legislation that benefited their companies, the new
laws were also likely to benefit the general public.

“I think they would push for less state interference [in business]; a more
level playing field,” he said, adding that these changes would
“definitely” make things easier for the majority of people.

He also said that political inexperience was a charge that could be
levelled at many “political” candidates as well as the businessmen,
because apart from older candidates, many have not had the chance to
participate in government.

Former National Planning and Economics Minister Brigadier General
(retired) David Abel said the businessmen would have the expertise to
introduce “more comprehensive” economic legislation.

“But if they are only given the chance to talk [about introducing laws]
and not to actually introduce them, it’s meaningless. If those laws come
into practice, but they are not enforced, it’s also meaningless,” Brig Gen
Abel said. “There will only be benefits if [economic] laws are really
amended and put to good use. If the businessmen speak one way and do the
other, the public will judge them harshly.”

In an interview last month, Dr Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the
Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn
University’s Faculty of Political Science, said that the relationship
between business and politics in Myanmar was likely to change after the
election.

____________________________________


October 14, Irrawaddy
Burmese tycoon buys the Kandawgyi Palace hotel - Hset Naing

The Htoo Trading Company, owned by Tay Za, a Burmese businessman with
close ties to Burma's military regime, has bought the Kandawgyi Palace
Hotel in Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township in Rangoon for US $29 million,
according to sources.

Owned by a Burmese-born American, Robert Thein Pe, who controls the
Baiyoke Group of Hotels, the Kandawgyi Palace Hotel has operated under a
30-year contract with the government and has 13 years left on the
contract, sources said.

“The hotel was sold to the Htoo company for $29 million and
representatives from Htoo will join the hotel directors' meeting on Oct.
14,” a member of the hotel's board of directors told The Irrawaddy.

The hotel staff will be retained, he said, and their salaries will be
increased by 10 percent. Whether the name of the hotel will be changed is
not known, he said.

A shop owner in the hotel's gems and jewelery sale center said that
because of the change in ownership all shops in the center will close by
November.

“We were told on Oct. 8 that we would have to move out by November at the
latest,” said the shop owner.

An official from the hotel said the gems and jewelery center, which has a
total of 60 shops, has been open for about nine months.

A training school and a seafood restaurant owned by the hotel will be
transferred to Htoo company, the official said.

“The training school will host training in the future as usual. A
large-scale renovation of training venues will be carried out,” said an
instructor with the school.

Observers say that there is speculation that Htoo Trading Company will
also acquire the Traders Hotel, owned by the Shangri-La Group, and the
well-known Strand Hotel, which is known internationally and is more than
100 years old. The rumors could not be confirmed by The Irrawaddy.

Two years ago, the Htoo company bought a hotel in Rangoon owned by a
Japanese company and changed the name to the Chatrium Hotel.

Apart from hotels, the Htoo Trading Company has investments in enterprises
such as airlines, communication, logging, mining and electricity.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 14, Democratic Voice of Burma
Concern greets new Security Council arrivals - Francis Wade

India and South Africa will take up a two-year membership of the UN
Security Council next year but their appointment to the powerful grouping
has concerned Burma observers.

They are among five UN member states, including Colombia, Portugal and
Germany, recently appointed to the Council’s temporary seats. According to
analysts, however, they have little leverage over the permanent members –
China, Russia, Britain, US and France.

South Africa’s last stint as a Council member came under fire from rights
groups after it voted against a resolution in 2007 condemning rights
abuses by the junta in Burma. It did the same to prevent the Council from
criticising the Zimbabwean government, and in both cases Russia and China
had led the defence.

It is in the Security Council that some of the fieriest international
debates over Burma have played out, with the chamber pitting two of the
junta’s strongest critics, the US and UK, against its key economic and
security allies, Russia and China. But while China has used its power of
veto only six times, it is the US that leads the way with 82.

This conflict of interest could scupper any progress towards indicting
junta chief Than Shwe at the International Criminal Court (ICC), an issue
that has grown in prominence in recent months and which has received
backing from key Security Council players, including the US and France.

India’s admittance will raise further concerns about the Council’s power
to take any action on Burma. Delhi’s once-vocal condemnation of the junta
changed in the mid-1990s to a policy of engagement, primarily to secure
economic interests, and it has shifted its position to one of caution in
criticising the generals.

“The fact that India and South Africa are on board probably means that the
ICC issue is now further away than before,” said political analyst Aung
Naing Oo, who claimed that the chances of indictment were slim in the
first place.

“India is very close to the Burmese military, and they have a bigger fish
to fry. They also have to look at the bigger picture: geopolitically,
there are issues [other than Burma] that are imperative to India, and if
it ever comes to a vote [on the ICC], I’m not sure that India will vote
yes: they may abstain.”

South Africa has however been critical of the ruling junt, with
comparisons made between its 1983 constitution, which looked to legitimise
apartheid rule through only token participation of ethnic groups, with
Burma’s controversial 2008 constitution.

South Africa’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim told DVB that the
transition to democracy that the junta promises after the 7 November
elections cannot happen unless certain conditions are met.

“The [Burmese] government needs to create conditions for free dialogue, as
well as releasing all political prisoners and lifting the ban on political
parties and activists. Importantly, like South Africa, it should allow all
exile to come back and participate in the dialogue.

____________________________________

October 14, The New Light of Myanmar
F&R Minister attends IMF, WB meetings

Yangon - A Myanmar delegation led by Minister for Finance and Revenue U
Hla Tun attended the annual meetings 2010 of International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the World Bank in Washington DC in the United States of America
from 8 to 10 October.

The opening of MIF and WB annual meetings and related meetings was held at
DAR Constitution Hall in Washington DC on 8 October morning, attended by
ministers for finance and revenue, delegation members, advisers,
economists and chairmen of financial and monetary boards and managing
directors.

Minister of Finance of Nigeria Mr Olusegun Aganda extended greetings.

IMF Managing Director Mr Dominique Strauss- Khan of IMF and Chairman of WB
explained their endeavours in solving world economic crisis.

The Southeast Asian voting governors meeting was held at the IMF office in
Washington DC.

Minister U Hla Tun reviewed development of Myanma economy and achievement
in solving world economic crisis.

The financial ministers of SEA voting member countries explained progress
of their economy.

On 9 October, the meetings of international monetary and financial
committee were held at IMF office, attended by the Myanmar delegation.

The Myanmar delegation also attended the development committee meeting at
the same venue. On 10 October, the world monetary system reformation
meeting took place at the WB office in Washington DC.

The Myanmar delegation arrived back here this evening on 11 October.
Governor of Central Bank of Myanmar U Than Nyein arrived back here on the
same flight. - MNA

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 12, Irrawaddy (Editorial)
How to keep the flame of democracy burning

Although the general election process in Burma is clearly a sham, it will
bring about some form of change to the political structure in the country.

While the central government will be led by a president, both the national
and regional parliaments will emerge into the foreground of the political
process, most notably in the regional Cabinets which will be headed by a
chief minister in each state and division.

But to what extent will this structural change open an avenue for
political pluralism in post-election Burma? More importantly, will the
torch of democracy—which was lit by the arrival of the iconic Aung San Suu
Kyi and kept alive by the National League for Democracy (NLD) for so many
years—be extinguished in the hands of the current democratic pretenders?

These are the critical questions that the international community are
asking in the lead-up to the election.

Burma's fundamental political issues—genuine national reconciliation among
the major stakeholders (the military, the mainstream pro-democracy forces
and the ethnic groups); armed ethnic conflicts; human rights violations;
corruption; the issue of Burmese refugees and mass migration; the
continuous deterioration of the social structure caused by poor management
of the national budget; and widespread poverty caused by the mismanagement
of the economy—will continue to exist.

Four main factions will be seated together in the arena of each new
parliament: the nominated military representatives who automatically
assume 25 percent of the parliamentary seats; the military-backed Union
Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and its allies; the ethnic
political parties; and the mainstream pro-democracy parties.

How the new parliaments will operate in terms of balance and efficiency
and how they will exercise the core democratic principles such as freedom
of speech and assembly will depend, to a high degree, on the results of
the election.

For the pro-democracy parties, their claim to a voice within the new
political landscape will depend on the gross number of seats they win in
the election and the strength of their alliance in parliament.

But what if the pro-democracy parties win only an insignificant numbers of
seats in the election? Would that result in a situation that the people of
Burma and the international community has long called for—political
stability?

Six days after the election, on Nov. 13, Suu Kyi is scheduled to be
released from house arrest after more than seven continuous years in
detention. There is no doubt whatsoever that the pro-democracy movement
will be galvanized by her reappearance on the scene and garner strength
from her popular personal appeal, her political integrity and her
charismatic leadership.

Suu Kyi first mission when returning to the fray of daily political life
may well be to initiate a successful reunion of the NLD with the National
Democratic Force (NDF). This would immediately restore the political image
of the democratic camp and signal a new wave of political maturity.

A recent statement by NDF leader Khin Maung Swe, once Suu Kyi's close
associate, has opened the door for a continued democratic struggle both
within and outside the new parliamentary framework.

Khin Maung Swe said that while current disagreements between the NLD and
NDF might be unreconciled for now, the NDF leaders have a very high regard
for Suu Kyi's shrewdness and integrity, and are always ready to follow her
leadership toward the common goal of democracy and human rights in Burma.

While not a clear call for reunification between the NLD and the NDF, the
statement was an olive branch to Suu Kyi. Whether she accepts it remains
to be seen.

What unites the mainstream pro-democracy advocates is their urgent need to
rekindle the torch of democracy in post-election Burma. If the NLD and NDF
can keep that flame alive, its light will attract the broader alliance of
democrats, ethnic leaders and cease-fire groups.

Only in unity will that alliance be able to apply the pressure required to
turn the military's hearts and minds toward accepting a genuine national
reconciliation, which is the only path toward sustainable peace, stability
and the development of the country.

____________________________________

October 13, Inter Press Service
As vote nears, moods range from disdain to determination - Yan Paing

Rangoon - "Voting in X (number of) days," reads what sound like a reminder
to voters in the front pages of weekly journals here ahead of the Nov. 7
general election in Burma, the first to be held in 20 years.

But while there is a lot of election talk in this military-ruled country,
many of the voices quoted in articles in state media and journals are
those of politicians and not of voters.

"There are many journals writing about the elections, but those are just
boring. All the news came out after being censored by the scrutiny board,"
remarks Ye Htut, a 30-something vendor of news journals.

A mix of moods prevails here in the former capital of Burma ahead of a
vote that some say will just legitimise military rule under a civilian
veneer, but others believe offers some chance to get a degree of political
change. Some say it might be better to boycott the vote, while others have
mixed, conflicting opinions about it. "It is a very complicated process
for voting but I still have no idea who are going to contest or whom to
vote," says Cho Cho, a homemaker.

Recalling the atmosphere in the weeks before the last election in this
South-east Asian country of 53 million people in 1990, she says: "We could
hear campaign songs played loudly everywhere."

Recalling parts of a campaign ditty at the time, Cho Cho sang, ‘We would
be wealthy if Suu (Aung San Suu Kyi) wins in the elections’." But "it is
different this time. I haven't seen many party doing public campaigns
widely like that".

Cho Cho voted for Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National
League for Democracy (NLD) that won a landslide victory 20 years ago, but
which the military junta did not recognise. The NLD has been disbanded
after it decided to boycott the November poll after finding "unjust" the
government’s electoral laws.

"In 1990, we could make speeches anywhere we like but it is quite
different this time," says Khin Maung Swe, who contested the 1990
elections with NLD and has now formed a new party called National
Democratic Force (NDF). He is also its spokesman.

"We have to deal with very strict rules and regulations. If we want to
make a public speech, we have to ask permission one week ahead about where
we’ll make it, how many people will come, and who will say what," he
explains. "Very strict!"

Political parties also complain about the limited time for building
networks and getting candidates under the rules set by the Elections
Commission.

"We were given just 15 days. It was very, very hard for our two-month-old,
newly established party to get enough candidates within these days. If we
were given one more month to seek candidates, we could have got 300
candidates," says Khin Maung Swe. "But we just got only about 160
candidates in two weeks."

The Nov. 7 election will be held for 498 seats in the People’s Assembly or
lower house of parliament, 224 seats in the Nationalities Assembly or
upper house and other seats in the legislatures of divisions and states.
The country’s 2008 Constitution guarantees the military 25 percent of
these slots.

Parties like the NDF also find financial resources a struggle. "We have to
rely on donations even for travel. Our party can’t finance its
candidates," Khin Maung Swe adds.

The registration fee is 500 U.S. dollars for one candidate, a hefty amount
in a country where 32.7 percent of the population lives below poverty
line.

Only the strongest party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party
(USDP), is contesting more than 1,100 seats out of 1,163 seats nationwide
to be voted in during the November poll.

In campaigns aired on state-owned television, USDP general secretary and
agriculture minister Htay Oo has called the party a "national force" that
was "formed with the fine legacy of the USDP that has been joining hands
with the people for about 17 years in serving the interest of the national
people".

In truth, many voters say they do not make much of a distinction between
the USDP and the military government because Prime Minister Thein Sein and
other generals, as UDSP candidates, will be running for civilian seats.

"USDP is acting as a ruling party. It’s acting as the government’s party.
That party can do anything that it likes. It can make public speeches in
public areas. The party is also organising elderly people to vote for them
by giving money," argues the NDF’s Khin Maung Swe.

Ye Htut says, "USDP will win for sure. It's going to be worse if they take
power because thugs and gangsters will misuse power to ruin the country."

This is why "I’m not going to vote," says a 42-year-old government
employee. "They have the winning cards in their hands. The result has been
arranged. Why should we bother to play this game?"

But those like Cho Cho say that while it might not be clear what kind of
government would be in place after the vote, its verdict might be quite
clear on who Burma’s voters do not want to stay in power.

"In 1990, many people had only one consensus, to not vote for the National
Unity Party," she recalls. That party had been transformed from the
Burmese Socialist Party, which ruled for two decades until it was toppled
in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising.

This time, Cho Cho explains, a similar consensus – to avoid voting for
USDP – is shaping up among many. "This time, we don't want the USDP to
win, but we still don't know which party to vote," she says. (END)

____________________________________

October 14, Mizzima
Forgotten Panglong - Jai Wan Mai

Chiang Mai – “Where have you gone, Panglong Agreement?” The lyrics echo in
the minds of Sai Mong and a group of his friends at a construction site in
Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Acclaimed 20-year old Shan artist Sai Hai Mao, himself a migrant worker
who fled to Thailand after the Burmese Army torched his village in central
Shan State in July last year, performs the song.

Two clashes between ethnic militia and the Burmese Army in July last year
left a reported 13 government soldiers killed, with several more wounded.
Burmese troops subsequently retaliated, burning down three villages and
arresting several people –forcing many young people to flee into the
jungle.

As for Sai Mong, he toils as a day labourer in Thailand, having left his
parents and two younger sisters at home.

When talking about his family, his eyes fill with tears. “I want to go
home,” he says, “but making a living in Shan State is difficult. The
Burmese Army forces us to work in areas such as the paddy fields and in
road construction. This forced labour has become a daily occurrence.”

Sai Mong feels threatened and afraid of the Burmese troops in his village,
where he says villagers are beaten when accused of supporting Shan
soldiers opposed to the Burmese Army.

He laughs when asked when he will return home: “If the Burmese Army
returns to Mandalay or Rangoon then I will go home.”

Since liberation from Britain in 1948, internal conflicts in Burma have
fallen into two general classifications: Firstly, as power rivalries
amongst competing Burman elites and secondly, as struggles between the
central government and non-Burman ethnic groups following the failure of
the Panglong Agreement’s fruition.

The agreement as commonly understood promised equal rights and autonomy
for non-Burman peoples such as the Kachin, Chin and Shan. However, the
pact was never given a chance to succeed, as civil war and internal
rivalries broke out almost immediately upon liberation.

The ruling coalition government, Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League
(AFPFL), split into several factions, with the Communist Party of Burma
opting to raise arms against Rangoon.

Pathetically, the AFPFL government plunged into war not only with Burman
rebels but also against non-Burman ethnic groups including the Karen, Mon,
Kachin, Shan and several others. It was a situation that only worsened
after General Ne Win staged a military coup in 1962.
Sao Shwe Theik, a Shan and the first president of Burma, was arrested by
the Burmese Army and died in prison in 1962. The Burmese Army raided his
residence in Rangoon, killing some of his family. Ultimately, several
non-Burman leaders who had voiced their displeasure over the failed
Panglong Agreement and proposed the adoption of a federal system of
government found themselves jailed.

Even more frustrating for ethnic groups is that successive ruling Burmese
governments have neglected to recognise the agreement’s importance and
reneged on promises made under the pact. Instead, the Burmese government
opted to act as a big brother, eventually transforming itself into the
dictatorship it is today.

On the one hand, the regime called for “Union solidarity”, while on the
other, it failed to recognise and respect the rights of non-Burmese
nationalities. Again and again, the Burmese regime labelled armed ethnic
groups terrorists, drug lords and other unwelcome monikers in order to
gain political capital.

Yet, internally and internationally, the political reputation of the
Burmese regime has dropped to zero following its brutal crackdowns on the
1988 and 2007 protests.

As a result of the Burmese junta’s hard-handed and one-sided approach to
solving Burma’s political crisis, Burma’s ethnic populations have been
forced to run for the lives. According to the Thailand Burma Border
Consortium, as of August nearly 150,000 refugees, predominantly ethnic
peoples forced to flee their country, make their homes in camps dotting
the Thai-Burmese border. Meanwhile, tens of thousands exist as internally
displaced persons (IDPs) across the border in Burma.

A further 1.1 million Burmese migrant workers, as calculated by the
Migrant Assistance Programme (MAP) based in Chiang Mai, are residing in
Thailand and eligible for the Kingdom’s national verification process.

Burma’s population never dreamt they would face such poverty, hunger and
fear after liberation from the British. They believed in the Panglong
Agreement and the leaders who inked their names to the pact. Regrettably,
some of the leaders that followed did not share in the same vision for a
prosperous, unified and diverse Burma.