PM's Party Registration May Violate Law

Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein and his government colleagues who formed the Union Solidarity and
Development Party (USDP) on Thursday may be in violation of junta election laws stating that persons
forming a political party may not hold government positions.
Article 4 of the Political Party Registration Law says that a person who forms a political party must not hold
a government position.
State-run radio and television reported on Thursday that the USDP had been organized by 27 government
officials, including Prime Minister Thein Sein and Rangoon mayor Aung Thein Lin, and had registered with
the Union Election Commission (UEC).
On Monday, Burma's military establishment ordered Thein Sein, Aung Thein Lin and 20 other senior
officials to retire from their military positions.
On Friday, however, state-run newspapers still described Thein Sein and the others forming the USDP as
government officials, and their were no reports of resignations from government positions by any USDP
official.
Aye Lwin, the chairman of the Union of Myanmar Federation of National Politics, one of 25 political parties
currently registered and one of 12 currently approved by the UEC, spoke about the apparent violation of the
junta's election laws by the junta-backed USDP.
“When we first registered at the election commission, we had to sign a document saying we were not
holding a position in government. I think Thein Shein and the other government officials who formed the
USDP also had to sign this document,” said Aye Lwin.
“The State Peace and Development Council published the election laws, so the USDP officials would know
the laws well at the time they registered. And they would certainly know that the position of prime minister
is a government position,” he said.
The junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), founded in 1993 as a social
organization, claims to have a membership of about 24 million, including students, civil servants and
military personnel. Although it claims to be apolitical, the USDA has long been actively involved in
implementing the ruling regime’s policies.
Thu Wai, the chairman of the Democratic Party (Myanmar), criticized the decision of government officials
to form a political party closely linked with the USDA.
“It is not right to use the USDA name. The minister of home affairs once said that the USDA will be a social
organization. If it transforms into a political party, all its members have to quit the organization. I intend to
discuss this with the election commission.”
Minister of Home Affairs Maj-Gen Maung Oo did, however, signal the regime’s plans for the USDA when he
said in 2002 that the organization must be able to play a role in politics alongside other political parties.
Win Tin, one of the leaders of the National League for Democracy, which has announced it will not register
for the election, says the decision of Thein Sein and the other generals to form the USDP has altered the
political landscape.
He told the Irrawaddy on Friday, “I expected that the army would only take a 25 percent position in
parliament, in accordance with the 2008 constitution. But the situation is now different from what I
expected. The military-led USDP is going to contest the election, which means they intend to transform the
army into a political party.”
Source :http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18355

Myanmar Resignations Raise Questions on Vote

Top Myanmar officials resigned from their military posts this week and created their own political party in a
likely bid to contest upcoming elections later this year, raising new skepticism about the prospects for a
valid vote.
Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein, left, inspects a sample of cement produced at Myodaw Cement
Plant in Pyinyaung village, in Mandalay, Myanmar.

Analysts said the move by Prime Minister Thein Sein and 22 other officials to resign their military titles
appears designed to circumvent a 25% quota on the number of parliamentary seats members of the military
will hold, enabling them to maintain their grip on power in this resource-rich but secretive nation of 48
million people. If more senior military leaders shed their uniforms to run as civilians, they could lock up far
more seats.
The demilitarization of Myanmar's top leadership merely represents "a more sophisticated form of
oppression," says David Mathieson, a researcher at Human Rights Watch in Thailand. The Myanmar regime
in recent years has been accused of a wide range of human rights abuses, including the imprisonment of
more than 2,000 political opponents.
Attempts to reach the Myanmar government, which rarely speaks to foreign journalists, were unsuccessful.
The country's senior-most military leader, Than Shwe, has in the past said the vote will be fair.
The Myanmar government has yet to announce a date for the elections.
Mr. Thein Sein and the other officers resigned from the military on Monday, according to state media
reports, though they are expected to keep their cabinet posts. On Thursday, he and 26 other officials applied
to register a political group called the Union Solidarity and Development Party.
When Myanmar last held a national election, in 1990, opposition groups led by Nobel laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi easily won. But the military regime, which has ruled since 1962, ignored the result and has kept Ms.
Suu Kyi under house arrest much of the time since then. Her party, the National League for Democracy,
recently vowed to boycott the newest vote.
Some analysts have argued the new election—which they say was designed at least in part to boost the
legitimacy of the current regime—could at least open the door for opposition groups to gain a bit more say
in the way Myanmar is run. More than 20 new political parties have applied to participate, including some
led by opposition figures, and it is widely hoped that at least some of them could win seats in the new
government. Myanmar would have 440 parliamentary seats in the new parliament.
Analysts speculate that the regime's efforts to promote the creation of civilian parties could lead to more
accountability among top military leaders, some of whom will theoretically have to compete for public favor
in order to remain in office. But it's unclear if the government will allow international observers to ensure
the voting is free and fair, and the latest moves suggest some current leaders may not intend to retire and
hand over the reins to younger leaders as some residents had hoped.
Tensions are clearly rising in the country. At least seven bomb blasts have been reported in recent weeks,
including an attack at a public park in Yangon on April 15 that killed eight or more people. It is unknown
who orchestrated the latest attacks—which have also included smaller blasts at a hydropower project site—
or whether they are related.
Anxieties are also running high in border areas with Thailand and China, where ethnic minority groups
control vast swathes of territory and continue to grapple with the government over a controversial plan to
reduce their autonomy before the elections.
Military leaders are demanding that the ethnic groups convert their soldiers into "border guards" under the
leadership of the Myanmar army before participating in the vote. A deadline for acceptance of the deal
passed on Wednesday, with many still refusing to participate. That has left many Myanmar residents to
conclude violent conflicts are imminent as the government positions more troops in border areas.
Source :http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703871904575215644045235292.html?
mod=fox_australian

Junta Registers Political Party to Contest Election

Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein and other key members of the ruling junta have registered a political
party to contest the upcoming general election.
State-run media reported on Thursday evening that Thein Sein and 26 other leaders had registered the
party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), at the Union Election Commission earlier that
day. The 26 other party leaders were not identified but are known to be current ministers and deputy
ministers.
The registration of the USDP is the junta's first active entry into
Burmese politics in two decades.
The new party's title appears to be derived from the name of the junta’s
mass organization, the Union Solidarity and Development Association
(USDA).
Thein Sein, junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe, and other key regime
members such as Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, Gen Shwe Mann and Gen
Tin Aung Myint Oo are members of the USDA Central Panel of Patrons.
A further 25 ministers, deputy ministers and mayors are members of
the USDA central executive committee and secretariat.
“USDA leaders except four patrons seem to have transformed the mass
organization into a political party,” said a USDA source in Rangoon,
speaking on condition of anonymity. The USDA claims it has more than
24 million members across the country.
Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein (Photo: Reuters)
It is not clear whether Thein Sein and the 26 leaders of the new party
will resign their current government positions.
If they fail to do so, they will transgress a key election law, Article 4 of the Political Party Registration Law,
which bars any government staff from political party leadership.
State-run newspapers on Friday still described Thein Sein as prime minister and carried no news about
possible resignations.
Political observers in Rangoon say they expect important news in coming days about new government
appointments.
Friday's state-run newspapers reported that Thein Sein and Rangoon Mayor Aung Thein Lin attended the
opening on Thursday of a cement factory in Thazi, near Mandalay, along with another key USDA leader
Aung Thaung, the minister of Industry 1.
On Monday, Burma's war office ordered the retirement of Thein Sein and Aung Thein Lin from their
military positions, along with 20 other senior officials.
Commenting on Friday on the registration of the USDP, Win Tin, a veteran leader of the opposition
National League for Democracy, told The Irrawaddy the move represents an attempt by the junta to
prolong its rule.
“Some said the election shows the military junta is preparing to withdraw from politics systematically, but
what I see is that the generals are systematically trying to keep power with legitimacy,” Win Tin said. “Prime
Minster Thein Sein’s formation of a new party is a good example.”
Source :http://irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=18349

PM, now a retired general, leads USDA party

Friday, 30 April 2010 21:41 Kyaw Kha

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Prime Minister Thein Sein and 26 other ministers, all recently retired military
officers, submitted their application for registration of their Union Solidarity and Development Association
party with the Election Commission yesterday, the electoral watchdog said.

The party (USDA) was originally established as a nationalist social group by the military regime. A USDA
leader refused to disclose the names of the 27 people listed on the application when contacted by Mizzima
but said they were former Central Executive Committee members in the group’s former incarnation.

He also said that the party would stand for election in all three legislative bodies.

A source close to Naypyidaw said Thein Sein himself was surprised to be reinstated as top leader of the
USDA as he was widely known as wanting to resign from the post.

“They feel secure only in their uniforms but all of these developments were arranged [ordered] by [the]
Senior General [Than Shwe] himself”, he added.

Twenty-two serving high-ranking officers including the prime minister, ministers and deputy ministers
resigned from their military posts on April 26.

The source close to the issue told Mizzima that out of the list of 22 persons (see box), the prime minister and
some other ministers were included in the list of applicants mentioned in their party registration form.

Opposition groups and critics said the junta was using the polls to ensure a favourable outcome in the polls
and maintain a tight grip on power. According to the 2008 Constitution, 25 per cent of seats in each
legislature: the People’s Parliament (lower house), the National Parliament (upper house) and the States
and Regions Parliament (state assembly); are reserved for military personnel without needing to run for
office.

If the officers who formally resign from their military posts and contest in elections as civilians are
successful, they will not be counted among the 25 per cent of reserved seats, thus enabling military or junta-
friendly candidates a better chance of controlling each house, the critics said.

It was likely that more ministers and military officers would resign from their military posts in the near
future, they said.

According to party sources, USDA was trying to boost numbers until they can fulfil their target number of
about 20 million members.

(Additional reporting by Sein Win)

According to the letter of April 26 issued by the Military Appointment General office, the
following high-ranking officers resigned from their military posts:
Government position Rank
Prime Minister General Thein Sein
Foreign Minister Major General Nyan Win
Home Minister
Deputy Home Minister
Hotel and Tourism Minister
No. 1 Electrical Power Minister
No. 2 Electric Power Minister
Communications Minister
Economic and Commerce Minister
Energy Minister
Social Welfare Minister
Finance and Revenue Minister
Prime Minister’s Office Minister
Public Service Selection and Training Board Brigadier General Win Aung
No. 2 Industrial Minister
Deputy Minister of Defence
Border Region Development
Attorney General’s Office
Mandalay Mayor
Other resigning officers without ministerial posts:
Brigadier General Nyi Tun
Major Kyaw Kyaw Aung
Brigadier General Soe Oo
Major General Maung Oo
Brigadier General Phone Swe
Major General Soe Naing
Colonel Zaw Min
Brigadier General Khin Maung Myint
Brigadier General Thein Zaw
Brigadier General Tin Naing Thein
Brigadier General Than Htay
Brigadier General Maung Maung Swe
Major General Hla Tun
Colonel Thant Shin
Major General Kyaw Swa Khaing
Major General Aye Myint
Colonel Kyaw Kyaw Win
Lieutenant Colonel Win Ko Ko
Brigadier General Phone Zaw Han

Last Updated ( Friday, 30 April 2010 23:01 )

Source :http://mizzima.com/news/election-2010/3893-pm-now-a-retired-general-leads-usda-party.html

MPs fight for right to exist in top court

Friday, 30 April 2010 18:57 Phanida

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – National League for Democracy members of Parliament on Thursday filed a
lawsuit with Burma’s Supreme Court seeking a writ against dissolution of the party and to declare that the
members of Parliament can still legally maintain their positions, party leaders said.

The NLD move was designed to head off its dissolution under the junta’s new political party registration
law, which required parties to re-register within 60 days of May 6 or be dissolved as legal entities, a party
spokesman said.

The law also rendered invalid the positions of Members of Parliament elected in the 1990 election. That
injustice had forced the NLD to seek a court order to declare the MPs’ right to exist and call the original
1990 elected Parliament, he said.

Lawyers Kyin Win, Khin Htay Kywe and Kyaw Ho, visited the court to file the suit at 11 a.m. on Thursday
and Su Nge, the deputy director of the Supreme Court, accepted their documents at 1 p.m.

The leaders were responding to party general secretary Aung San Suu Kyi’s urging for members to continue
pursuing legal actions against the junta. Twenty-six members of Parliament elected in the 1990 election,
including party chairman Aung Shwe, were listed as plaintiffs in the filing, the spokesman said. Sanchaung
Township MP Khin Maung Swe and Kyauktan Township MP, Dr. Than Nyein, who had pushed for the party
to re-register with the Election Commission, joined them.
The court would release its decision on whether it will hear the case on April 30 at 1 p.m. If the court accepts
the lawsuit, the two cases will be handled individually, the spokesman said.

Although NLD won 392 of 485 seats in the election 20 years ago, the junta has refused to transfer power to
the party.

Observers said the action would almost certainly be ineffective as Burmese court decisions were always in
step with the junta’s wishes.

Nyan Win said, “All I want to say is that we will take every legal action against injustice.”

NLD had decided against re-registering with the Election Commission because of the junta’s exclusionary
electoral laws. Just four of 10 parties that remain remaining from the 1990 election have applied to re-
register with the regime’s electoral watchdog.

According to the party registration law for the 2010 election, existing parties and new parties must register
before May 6. If they fail to do so, they will be dissolved.

Source :http://mizzima.com/news/election-2010/3892-mps-fight-for-right-to-exist-in-top-court.html

Burma still among worst states for press

freedom: report
Friday, 30 April 2010 22:20 Ko Wild

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burma is still included on the list of the 10 worst countries for violating media
freedom and the military regime tightened such restrictions last year, a report from US democracy and
rights watchdog Freedom House said.

Washington-based Freedom House said in its report, “Freedom of the Press 2010”, that the Burmese junta
was continuing to monitor internet cafes and that at least 17 journalists were arrested and imprisoned by
the end of last year.

The report was based on surveys on the condition of worldwide press freedoms during last year and
maintains Burma in its 10 worst-rated countries along with Belarus, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran,
Libya, North Korea, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. In these states, the press acts as a mouthpiece for the
regime, citizens’ access to unbiased information is severely limited and dissent is crushed through
imprisonment, torture and other forms of repression, it says.

The report categorised countries as “Free”, “Partly Free” and “Not Free”. Burma, China, Tibet, Laos,
Cambodia and Vietnam are listed as “Not Free” and Thailand is rated “Partly Free”.

In Burma, daily papers and broadcasters are wholly owned or controlled by the military regime. Private
periodicals are allowed to be published but the censorship board is governed by military officers.

The works of cartoonist “Aw Pi Kye”, who depicts the topsy-turvy situation of Burmese society, are banned
by the military regime. Blogger Nay Phone Latt, who spread the majority of updated news during the 2007
September “saffron revolution” to the outside world, is serving a 12-year prison sentence.

Cartoonist Han Lay, a winner of this year’s Hellman/Hammett prize awarded by New York-based Human
Rights Watch, said there was “no freedom at all” on all fronts in Burma. The prize is given to writers who
have been victims of persecution. Prominent writers and journalists from all over the world have been
recipients since it was created in 1989.
“After 1988, the situation is worse than before. All the people are trapped with no outlet. They don’t know
what freedom is. All of their potential and calibre has been eliminated”, Han Lay told Mizzima.

The cartoonist attended Rangoon Painting Sculpture and Arts School from 1982 to 1984. After the 1988
uprising he fled to the border. He is now serving the Thailand-based Irrawaddy magazine and his works are
held in high regard.

Freedom House reported that the world’s press freedom had declined for the eighth consecutive year. It says
only one in six people live in countries with a “Free” press and that only the Asia-Pacific region had shown
overall improvement. Regional declines were registered in the former Soviet Union and Latin America.

Status changes were reported this year in Bangladesh and Bhutan from Not Free to Partly Free and
improvements were seen in India and Indonesia, the report says.

Source :http://mizzima.com/news/world/3895-burma-still-among-worst-states-for-press-freedom-
report-.html

Three Dead in Drugs Clash

MAE AI, Thailand—Thai border rangers clashed with drug traffickers on the Thai-Burmese border about 30
kilometers from Mai Ai District in Chiang Mai Province on Wednesday, killing three suspected drug
traffickers and seizing amphetamine pills, according to Thai military sources.
Pornthep Eamprapai, the director of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board in Chiang Mai told The
Irrawaddy on Friday that the three dead suspects, believed to be an ethnic Wa and two Lahu, were
attempting to smuggle drugs into northern Thailand.
Some 200,000 methamphetamine pills, an AK-47 rifle and grenades were founded after the fighting, he
said.
“We are worried about the increase in drug trafficking,” said Eamprapai, adding that the army has stepped
up vigilance along the border.
He said groups of traffickers operated on the border included ethnic Wa, Lahu, and Lisu, adding that it was
mostly Lahu men traveling on foot by night who carried the drug packages.
On April 12, soldiers from the Pha Muang Task Force in Mae Sai District of Chiang Rai Province seized
about 400,000 methamphetamine pills—known as “ya-ba” in Thailand—which had been smuggled from
Burma.
Drugs are most commonly smuggled across the Thai-Burmese border into Mae Sai and Chiang Mai
Province before being sent onward to Bangkok, Thailand's capital, he said.
The Thai military are closely watching the buildup of tension between the Burmese government and the Wa
cease-fire militia known as the Wa State Army (UWSA).
With 25,000 fighters under its command, the UWSA has rejected the Burmese regime's demands to turn its
militia into border guard forces under Burmese army control. The final deadline passed on April 28.
Eamprapai said he believed that the influx of drugs flowing into Thailand, especially into Chiang Mai and
Chiang Rai provinces, will increase if fighting breaks out between government forces and the UWSA.
Thai soldiers in Nor Lae village in Fang District of Chiang Mai Province on the border with southern Shan
State are often ordered to patrol along the border where Wa, Lahu and Lisu drug traffickers are active, Thai
military sources said.
After the fall of the ethnic Kokang army's capital of Laogai in August 2009, large amounts of illicit drugs
were smuggled into Thailand in what Thailand's anti-narcotic agency called a “clearance sale.”
The New York Times reported in Sept 2009 that heroin seizures by the Thai police in northern Thailand
increased. From October 2008 to August 2009, the authorities seized 2,795 pounds of heroin, up from 125
pounds a year earlier, according to the Office of Narcotics Control of Thailand.
Source :http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18352

PLA Deploys More Troops at Burma Border

China's People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has recently deployed more troops along its southwestern border
with Burma, where tension remains high between Burmese government forces and the ethnic Wa army over
the ethnic group's refusal to join the military junta's border guard force (BGF).
Sources close to the Wa said more PLA troops had been deployed in areas bordering Wa strongholds
controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), which has at least 20,000 soldiers. China has also
deployed air defense units, according to the sources.
“We estimate that five PLA brigades [some 5,000 troops] have been deployed,” said one border source.
In February, the PLA deployed an unknown number of soldiers in border towns close to the Wa areas where
armed conflict is anticipated. Local people said they saw Chinese troops exercising every morning.
The deployment along the border comes after 37,000 ethnic Kokang and Chinese people took refuge on
Chinese soil in August after Burmese government troops overran the Kokang capital of Laogai.
As former guerrillas of the Communist Party of Burma, the ethnic minority armies of the Wa, the Kokang
and the Mongla-based National Democratic Alliance Army were trained by and have had long alliances with
the PLA. Military analysts said that during the communist insurgency, ethnic fighters are believed to have
fought alongside Chinese troops against the Burmese army.
As Naypyidaw pushes for acceptance of the BGF plan ahead of the general election later this year, leaders of
the junta's civic organization, the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), including
Minister of Industry 1 Aung Thaung and Minister of Telecommunications, Post and Telegraphs Thein Zaw,
met Christian Kachin leaders in the state capital of Myitkyina on Thursday afternoon.
During the meeting, USDA leaders expressed their wish that the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO)
accept the BGF terms, according to KIO sources in Laiza.
The last meeting between government negotiators and the KIO leadership was on April 22-23 when no
agreement was concluded. However, the Burmese officials reportedly told the KIO to consider an alternative
proposal—joining a “Union Defense Force.”
Amid the tension at the Sino-Burmese border, Burmese government troops have forcefully recruited local
people in towns in northern Shan State and Kachin State for porter service. “A few days ago, men were
arrested by troops to work as porters. Now people are scared to go out,” said a resident in Bhamo.
Meanwhile, a government army convey was ambushed by an unknown armed group in an area controlled by
the Shan State Army- North in northern Shan State, according to the Shan Herald Agency for News.
Source :http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18354

Rangoon civic body allows Suu Kyi to renovate home

Friday, 30 April 2010 22:17 Myint Maung

New Delhi (Mizzima) - Renovation of Aung San Suu Kyi’s house, on hold for about four months because her
elder brother Aung San Oo filed a case to halt repairs, has been given the go ahead by the Rangoon civic
body.

The Rangoon (Yangon) City Development Committee issued a written order to Htin Kyaw, her
representative, allowing renovation of her home - No. 54, University Avenue, Rangoon yesterday.

“Bamboo fencing has been erected on the side of Inya Lake. We informed the security officials that work has
started again. The roof is old and has cracked and needs to be replaced,” Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Nyan
Win said.
Htin Kyaw and the construction engineers submitted an application to the special information police force
to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, party sources said.

Roof tiles of Aung San Suu Kyi’s house were damaged when Cyclone Nargis lashed Burma in May 2008 so
Rangoon municipal authorities allowed her to renovate between November 2009 to April 2010.

But, Aung San Oo, who claims inheritance of the house, objected to the renovation, which he says was
without his permission to the Rangoon City Development Committee. As a result the renovation was halted
on December 23, 2009. However, on April 6, 2010, the Rangoon Division Court rejected his lawsuit to stop
house repairs.

When Aung San Suu Kyi’s mother, Khin Kyi, was ambassador to India in 1960, the Burmese Prime Minister
U Nu gave her (Khin Kyi) the house, built during the British era. Aung San Suu Kyi has stayed in the house
since 1988, when she returned from London.

Source :http://mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3894-rangoon-civic-body-allows-suu-kyi-to-renovate-
home.html

UN: More funds needed for Myanmar cyclone recovery

YANGON, Myanmar — Hundreds of millions of dollars in international aid still are needed to help
Myanmar's people recover and rebuild from Cyclone Nargis two years ago, the United Nations said Friday.
Health, nutrition and education have significantly improved due to relief efforts after the disaster, said
Bishow Parajuli, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar.
"But two years on, significant gaps threaten to slow down or even halt longer-term recovery efforts," he said.
"Our work is far from done and the people still need help."
About $180 million of the $690 million required for a three-year recovery plan has been received, said
Parajuli.
Cyclone Nargis caused widespread devastation in the Ayeyarwady Delta and parts of Yangon in May 2008.
Some 140,000 people died, and 2.4 million people were severely affected.
The U.N. said recent assessments show 100,000 vulnerable families still need to rebuild their homes,
180,000 people face acute water shortages and agricultural support and community job opportunities are
needed.
A U.N. statement appealed for the international community to support the Nargis recovery plan and
recognize that cyclone recovery was a long-term process.
The plan was developed last year by a body that includes representatives of Myanmar's government, U.N.
agencies and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Source
:http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h2iF4nsYv9p0s0id_ddLkSOsi0dgD9FDGDB00

A chance to earn an income in Myanmar

Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites.
The views expressed are the author's alone.
Aye Lei Tun learns how Oxfam’s training is helping people affected by Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar to
develop new skills and improve their income.
Min Zaw, a mechanic in Nyaung Lan Village. Photo: Aye Lei Tun/Oxfam

“Incredible” was the word that 40-year-old Min Zaw uttered when asked about his current life after joining
Oxfam’s occupational skill training in January last year.
“It is quite incredible - the two-month program has really guaranteed a steady income for the rest of my
life,” Min Zaw said, referring to the Machine Repair and Maintenance Training provided by Oxfam as part
of its programmes for those whose livelihoods were destroyed or affected by Cyclone Nargis in 2008.
Min Zaw was one of ten participants in a training programme which he confirmed has changed his life.
Before Cyclone Nargis, Min Zaw sold maize, but when the cyclone devastated the agricultural sector, small
traders such as Min Zaw were particularly hard hit. By increasing his skills, more work opportunities have
opened up, allowing him to continue to earn an income, and to work from home so that he can now take
care of his disabled daughter - a very important step for him.
In the past, Min Zaw would go to his client’s house and check and repair only small machines. Now he can
work at home because he has more customers and they are confident in his competence, so they approach
him to repair larger machines as well. “This way, I can look after our daughter. Otherwise, my wife will be
occupied with her while also taking care of our grocery shop, cooking, and other household works. Our life is
getting better now.”
Min Zaw already had basic knowledge about mechanical devices and repairs, but he believes the training
has improved his skills and built up his confidence, which in turn has gained him trust from his customers.
“I think the rate of work has increased after that. My customers are not only from our village, but also from
other villages nearby. We earn at least 2,000 kyat (approx $2 US dollars) a day and at most 10,000 kyat
($10 US dollars).” Together with his wife’s income from the shop, they are doing quite well and can also
afford medicines for his daughter, who has been mute since birth.

Thuya, a mechanic in Kyone Dar Chuang Village. Photo: Aye Lei Tun/Oxfam

Another participant, Thuya, 19, from Kyone Dar Chaung Village, also said he is more confident about his job
since the training.
“Before the training, I sold maize. I learned how to repair machines by watching other mechanics do their
work, and became their assistant for minor repairs,” Thuya told Oxfam. “Now I have confidence to be a
professional mechanic. Because of the training, I was able to really understand about machine repairs and
how they work.”
Nine months after the training, Thuya has found that the number of people asking him to work has
significantly improved. He has started dreaming about the future: having his own business.
For big repairs, Thuya makes at least 10,000 kyat (approx $10 US dollars), and 3,000 or 4,000 kyat ($3 or
$4 US dollars) for smaller pieces. He usually repairs agricultural and fishery machinery. Thuya used to earn
about 500 kyat ($5 US dollars) from selling maize.
“I’ve earned about 150,000 kyat ($150 US dollars) already. I want to set up a welding business. For that, I
think I need to invest about four or five lakhs (approx $400-$500 US dollars). I expect my dream will come
true in two or three years,” he said with a smile.
Source :http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/220803/f914d159cd3a319e945dea84c9f67d33.htm

USDA Abolishes Township Committees in Arakan

0 Comments Print E-mail 4/30/2010

Maungdaw: The USDA township committees throughout Arakan State were

abolished by high authorities after the organization converted to a political party
to contest the upcoming election, said a close source to USDA officials in
Maungdaw on the western Burmese border.

"They intend to form new committees with new members of the USDA for the
election, so the authority abolished all the current township committees in Arakan
State," the source said.

In Arakan State, there are 17 townships and the committees in all townships have become inactive in the
restructuring.

"The USDA authority has abolished all township committees not only in Arakan State but also in other parts
of Burma to form new committees with well known and respected members, including businessmen,
educated people, and retired government officials," the source added.

A friend of U Khin Maung, who was secretary of the Maungdaw Township USDA confirmed with Narinjara
over the phone that U Khin Maung is no longer the USDA secretary in the township, and has become an
ordinary member, adding that "he is unable to be selected as secretary of Maungdaw Township again
because he is a government serviceman."

The USDA township committees are likely to be reformed with respected members who are not government
officials or civil servants, in order to gain votes in the upcoming election. The USDA has been recruiting
many worthy people, including retired officials who are well educated, and other respected people from the
village to township level.

However, the authority has not abolished the district-level committees nor the division and state-level
committees.

The USDA party has applied with the Election Commission under Prime Minister U Thein Sein, now a
former Lieutenant General, to run in the election. The move came after 23 ministers in the Burmese
regime's cabinet resigned from their military posts last Monday.
Source :http://www.narinjara.com/details.asp?id=2574
Burmese Premier Thein Sein Registers USDA for Polls
0 Comments Print E-mail 4/30/2010

By Takaloo, Sittwe:
Burmese Premier and retired Lieutenant General Thein Sein yesterday registered the regime-backed Union
Solidarity and Development Association as a political party to run in the upcoming election, announced
military-run Myanmar Television.

The move came after his resignation along with 22 other ministers in his cabinet from their military posts
last Monday.

According to the state-run television, "The Union Solidarity and Development Party led by Premier Thein
Sein and 26 other members, has submitted an application for registering as a political party with the Union
Election Commission."

The current military regime, the State Peace and Development Council, founded the USDA as a social
organization in 1993. According to official data released in 2007, there were 14 state and division-level
branches, 66 district-level branches, 320 township-level branches and 24 million members in total in the
organization.

Sources in western Burma's Arakan State told Narinjara that the organization has opened village-level
branches composed of at least 15 to 30 members in each branch in all township of the state since last year.

Official sources said that when Thein Sein met with military and other departmental officials during a visit
to Arakan in March, he urged them to work for the successful completion of the regime's seven-point
political road map, in which holding elections was the last point.

Meanwhile, the regime's Union Election Commission has approved the Mro and Khami National Solidarity
Organization's application to operate as a political party and run in the election. The organization is one of
the old political parties and the first to apply for official status in Arakan State. The Mro and Khami
National Solidarity Organization won a seat in the 1990 election and supported the regime's political road
map during the Nyaungnhapin National Conference that convened in 1993.

On the same day it granted the MKNSO official political party status, the Election Commission announced
that it received an application from another party in Arakan State, the Rakhine State National Force Party.

The regime's media said that there are now six parties out of the 22 that applied that have already been
approved, and the remaining organizations are still being scrutinized by the Election Commission.

The National League for Democracy, which won the 1990 elections by a landslide, along with most of the old
political parties, has declared a boycott of the regime's election, stating that the election is a sham and is
neither free nor fair, but rather designed to prolong the military's grip on power. Burma has been under
successive military rule since 1962.
Source :http://www.narinjara.com/details.asp?id=2573

Nasaka Assault Causes Mounting Tension in Village

0 Comments Print E-mail 4/30/2010

Takaloo, Maungdaw
Personnel from Nasaka, Burma's border security force, who were deployed for security at Shwezar Bridge in
Maungdaw on the western Burmese border, triggered a mounting conflict with nearby villagers after
publicly assaulting a woman on Tuesday evening.
According to an eye-witness, the conflict started after a shopkeeper intervened when he saw the four Nasaka
personnel standing outside his shop at the entrance to Shwezar Guna Village assault a woman by grabbing
her body while saying dirty words. The Nasaka officers were standing outside the shop smoking and
chewing betel-nut when they accosted the woman exiting the shop.

The shopkeeper, 61-year-old Bhaigya, was dragged from the shop and severely beaten by the officers, who
accused him of disrespecting their authority when he told them to stop their assault against the woman in
public.

"Irritated by what they had witnessed, some of the villagers took swords, wooden rods, and brickbats and
approached the scene to attack the Nasaka personnel. The officers then fired four shots into the sky with the
guns and retreated from the scene, arresting the old shopkeeper. No villager dared follow them after they
fired their guns," said the witness.

The elderly man is now being detained at the Maungdaw police station, after Nasaka handed him over to the
police on charges of looting their guns.

According to the villagers, the woman who was assaulted by the officers is 30-year-old Burkani from the
same village, and she is working in the sex trade in the area. Nasaka reportedly went to the village on
Wednesday morning to arrest the woman as well.
Source :http://www.narinjara.com/details.asp?id=2572

KIO meets junta officials; rejects BGF yet again

At the 17th meeting between Burmese junta brass and ethnic Kachin leaders, concluded yesterday, the
Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) made it clear it will not accept the Border Guard Force.

The meeting came at the end of the third deadline for transforming Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the
armed-wing of KIO to the Burmese Army-controlled BGF in Kachin State, northern Burma.
At the two-day meeting on the BGF faceoff, the two sides met in
the Northern Regional Command in Myitkyina, capital of Kachin
State, said KIO officials in Laiza headquarters east of Kachin
State, near the China border.

The KIO delegates led by Chairman Lanyaw Zawng Hra told

junta leaders that it would like to continue with the ceasefire and
work for a genuine federal union with equal rights between
majority and minorities in the country.

Two senior KIO/A officers--- Lt-Gen Gauri Zau Seng, Vice-

President No. 1 and Brig-Gen Sumlut Gun Maw, Vice-Chief of
Maj-Gen Soe Win, commander of Northern Staff of KIA skipped the meeting, said KIO officers.
Regional Command (left) and KIO Chairman
Lanyaw Zawng Hra. Photo: Kachin News This was the second meeting, where the junta realized that the
Group. KIO will not accept the BGF. The KIO’s decision was arrived at
after a press conference on the BGF standoff on April 16 in Laiza headquarters.

In what was unusual the BGF meeting was attended by two ethnic Shan military officers --- Brig-Gen Thein
Zaw, Minister for Telegraph, Post and Communications and Maj-Gen Lun Maung, Auditor-General of the
junta from Naypyitaw, along with Maj-Gen Soe Win, commander of the Northern Regional Command and
U Aung Thaung, Minister of Industry-1.

The three junta officials except Commander Soe Win, who was born in Kachin State--- Brig-Gen Thein Zaw
is from Waingmaw Township and Maj-Gen Lun Maung is from Bhamo. Both are ethnic Shans whereas U
Aung Thaung was also born in Mohnyin, Kachin State, said sources close to them.
On the orders of the junta supremo Snr-Gen Than Shwe, the four military officers spoke to the people in
Kachin State during their election campaign and threatened to eliminate the KIO/A if it rejects the BGF.
The KIO/A ignored the threat.

A KIO official in Laiza criticized the Burman-led military junta of trying to drive a wedge between ethnic
Kachin and Shan by using Kachin state-born Shan officials.

The junta set three deadlines - on October 31 last year, February 28 and April 28 for transforming all ethnic
ceasefire groups in the country to the BGF. However, Kachin, Mon, Shan and Wa have rejected the
proposal.

Source :http://kachinnews.com/News/KIO-meets-junta-officials-rejects-BGF-yet-again.html

Burma Army reported attacked by ceasefire Shan Army

A Burma Army unit was reportedly attacked by an unknown group yesterday 29 April, killing one and
wounding one while it was on the way to reinforce troops in Shan State North’s Tangyan Township, west of
the United Wa State Army (UWSA) controlled territory, according to sources from the Sino-Burma border.

The incident took place at 12:30 between Hoya village tract and Loi Ngeun (Silver Mountain), that forms the
northern border of the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North’’s Brigade No.1 controlled areas and south of the
junta-back Manpang militia force controlled areas. The unit was identified as Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)
# 326 based in Tangyan.

The SSA liaison officer in Lashio was summoned to meet the commander of the Northeastern Region
Command on that day as soon as the incident was reported. The officer was told by the commander to
inform his group to take responsibility for the incident. If the group refused to, it would face a military
operation.

“It is obvious that they blame us because we have yet to accept its program as its wants,” said a senior officer
from the First Brigade. “But the First Brigade’s policy doesn’t allow fighters to shoot first unless they are
attacked.”

According to him, the incident was the LIB# 326’s own doing. “We learned that the M79 rocket launcher
was accidentally fired by a soldier. The Burma Army commander was seizing this opportunity to make war
on us.”

The SSA-N has 3 brigades (1, 3, 7), one border force and one HQ Security Force commanded by Maj-Gen
Loimao. Brigade No. 3 and 7 were said to have submitted lists of their men and weapons to form the junta
run home guard force. The First however has remained silent to the program up to this day.

A senior officer from the anti-Naypyitaw Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’ commented that the Brigade No. 1
is in a dilemma. “For one thing, the brigade is still emotionally attached to its comrades in the other units.
For another, it is not sure it could really rely on its allies. It is also afraid that joining the SSA South will
push it into a premature war with the Burma Army.”

Nevertheless, the SSA North said it has yet to agree to transform itself to become home guards. It had only
submitted lists of their men who agreed to become members of a home guard force to be formed under the
Burma Army’s supervision.

The deadline for ceasefire groups to become militias expired on 28 April.

Source :http://shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3016:burma-army-
reported-attacked-by-in-ceasefire-shan-army-region&catid=86:war&Itemid=284