Former President U Thein Sein had quietly disappeared from public view after the change of government before news emerged ahead of Thingyan that he had become a monk for five days at a monastery at Pyin Oo Lwin.
Many had wondered, after his decision not to stand in the November 2015 election, whether he might have been planning a quieter life after five years in the nation’s top job. But that seems unlikely.
Thein Sein, 71, remains deeply involved in politics through his position as chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party. His control over the USDP was consolidated on April 22 when it expelled Thura U Shwe Mann and 16 of his factional allies in the last act of the purge that began in August when the former Speaker was removed as the party’s chairman. The expulsions were decided at a meeting of the party’s central executive committee attended by Thein Sein.
Documents obtained by Frontier last week revealing that the former president plans to form a civil society organisation called the Thein Sein Center have also fuelled speculation about a political strategy involving the 2020 election.
The documents show that the centre – which will include a library, a research and development arm and other departments – was registered in March, will work with domestic and foreign counterparts and have a 15-member board that includes people close to Thein Sein. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
May 6, 2016
Suu Kyi’s Ministry Sides With Hard-Line Buddhists
The foreign ministry here, headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, has advised embassies to stop using the term “Rohingya” to describe the country’s stateless Muslim minority, acceding to a demand by hard-line Buddhists.
Nationalist groups, who view Rohingya as an Islamist threat to Myanmar’s Buddhist majority, insist they be called “Bengalis,” implying they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Many Rohingya say they have lived in Myanmar for generations and are a distinct ethnic group.
Kyaw Zay Ya, a deputy director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that the advisory was sent to diplomats this week. “We have never accepted this term,” he said. (Courtesy of WSJ)
Nationalist groups, who view Rohingya as an Islamist threat to Myanmar’s Buddhist majority, insist they be called “Bengalis,” implying they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Many Rohingya say they have lived in Myanmar for generations and are a distinct ethnic group.
Kyaw Zay Ya, a deputy director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that the advisory was sent to diplomats this week. “We have never accepted this term,” he said. (Courtesy of WSJ)
2 Indians shot dead in Myanmar; tension grips border town
Tension gripped the Manipur-Myanmar border town of Moreh after two Indian nationals were reportedly shot dead at Wuksu in Myanmar.
Sources in Moreh told IANS that the bodies are yet to be handed over to the Indian authorities for identification.
However, the security forces are not taking any chances in this sensitive border area. Security measures have been beefed up to avert any untoward incident.
According to sources, the two Indian nationals, Mohammad Kheruddin (28) and Mohammad Jalanuddin (32) from Moreh, had left for Myanmar on May 2 to catch fish in the mountain streams. But they never returned. (Courtesy of Business Standard News)
Sources in Moreh told IANS that the bodies are yet to be handed over to the Indian authorities for identification.
However, the security forces are not taking any chances in this sensitive border area. Security measures have been beefed up to avert any untoward incident.
According to sources, the two Indian nationals, Mohammad Kheruddin (28) and Mohammad Jalanuddin (32) from Moreh, had left for Myanmar on May 2 to catch fish in the mountain streams. But they never returned. (Courtesy of Business Standard News)
Suu Kyi punts on Rohingya issue
Before Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy routed all comers in Myanmar's elections last November, many speculated that even if her party was always going to win a free and fair vote, the extent of the victory could be curtailed by attempts by Buddhist hardliners to undermine the NLD by stirring up anti-Muslim sentiment among the majority Buddhist electorate.
Rabble rousers such as Wirathu -- a Mandalay-based monk known for his derogatory and xenophobic rhetoric about Myanmar's estimated 5 million Muslims -- opposed the prospect of a NLD-led government, saying that such an administration would not only favor Muslims but would bring "chaos" to Myanmar. (Courtesy of Nikkei Asian Review)
Rabble rousers such as Wirathu -- a Mandalay-based monk known for his derogatory and xenophobic rhetoric about Myanmar's estimated 5 million Muslims -- opposed the prospect of a NLD-led government, saying that such an administration would not only favor Muslims but would bring "chaos" to Myanmar. (Courtesy of Nikkei Asian Review)
Myanmar's Religious Hate Speech Law
A week after having released 199 political prisoners, on April 17 the Government of Myanmar released 83 additional prisoners. Among those released were student activists involved in peaceful protests against the National Education Law and Naw Ohn Hla, a land rights activist involved in demonstrations against the Chinese-backed Letpadaung Mine.
Htin Lin Oo, a writer and former National League for Democracy information officer, was also among those released. In June 2015 he had been sentenced to two years of hard labor for violating section 295(a) of Myanmar’s Penal Code, which prohibits the deliberate and malicious outraging religious feelings. The charge emerged from a speech in which he had accused several prominent Buddhist organizations of extreme nationalism. (Courtesy of The Diplomat)
Htin Lin Oo, a writer and former National League for Democracy information officer, was also among those released. In June 2015 he had been sentenced to two years of hard labor for violating section 295(a) of Myanmar’s Penal Code, which prohibits the deliberate and malicious outraging religious feelings. The charge emerged from a speech in which he had accused several prominent Buddhist organizations of extreme nationalism. (Courtesy of The Diplomat)
Barua interview in China, not Myanmar: Indian intelligence
Indian intelligence says Assamese separatist leader Paresh Barua was interviewed by a TV Channel in the Chinese border town of Ruili and not in Myanmar as claimed by the channel.
The Newslive TV channel reporter Chayamoni Bhuiyan, who took Barua's interview, flew to Kunming in late April from Calcutta and returned to Assam via Calcutta on April 30, said a senior Assam intelligence officer.
"From Kunming, she had flown to Ruili to interview Barua in the jade business hotel," the officer told Mizzima. “She did not go to Hkamti to meet Barua." (Courtesy of Mizzima)
The Newslive TV channel reporter Chayamoni Bhuiyan, who took Barua's interview, flew to Kunming in late April from Calcutta and returned to Assam via Calcutta on April 30, said a senior Assam intelligence officer.
"From Kunming, she had flown to Ruili to interview Barua in the jade business hotel," the officer told Mizzima. “She did not go to Hkamti to meet Barua." (Courtesy of Mizzima)
Myanmar’s budding democracy
What am I doing out of the country a few days before our election? I thought it would be a good idea to step back from the heat of our election campaign. It would be good to get a perspective of things. The budding democracy and booming economy of Myanmar seems a good place to do that.
Why Myanmar? I was last here 14 years ago and I had been curious to see the changes in its domestic politics and the economy first hand. I also got intrigued by a glowing review of Myanmar from the ADB, gushing about it as the fastest growing country in Asia.
When I first visited in 2002, I saw a Yangon as if it was frozen in time, the 50s. Yangon did not have the adrenaline rush of Saigon. It didn’t have much of the infrastructure one would associate with its neighbors. Life seemed so easy going amidst the lush greenery of the surroundings.
I wrote in 2002 that “maybe the ruling junta will wake up one morning feeling like Lee Kuan Yew. Any positive shift in the political winds will enable the country to shift from mere survival mode. The country has huge potentials and could be an important competitor in the tiger race among the ASEAN countries.” (Courtesy of philstar.com)
Why Myanmar? I was last here 14 years ago and I had been curious to see the changes in its domestic politics and the economy first hand. I also got intrigued by a glowing review of Myanmar from the ADB, gushing about it as the fastest growing country in Asia.
When I first visited in 2002, I saw a Yangon as if it was frozen in time, the 50s. Yangon did not have the adrenaline rush of Saigon. It didn’t have much of the infrastructure one would associate with its neighbors. Life seemed so easy going amidst the lush greenery of the surroundings.
I wrote in 2002 that “maybe the ruling junta will wake up one morning feeling like Lee Kuan Yew. Any positive shift in the political winds will enable the country to shift from mere survival mode. The country has huge potentials and could be an important competitor in the tiger race among the ASEAN countries.” (Courtesy of philstar.com)
Focus on Corruption: Myanmar - A New Beginning?
Historically, Myanmar has not been known as a country with a focus on anti-corruption and anti-money laundering. In 2015, the Frankfurt-based Transparency International ranked the country as one of the most corrupt places to do business, putting it in 147th place out of 168 countries in terms of the Corruption Perception Index. The situation was evidently so dire that global giant Coca-Cola took the drastic step of insisting that its delivery drivers carry anti-corruption cards proclaiming that they do not pay bribes to errant officials and that they must report any solicitation to their supervisors.
While doing business in Myanmar has significant hurdles, there are signs that the situation is improving. In 2006, Myanmar was removed from the International Financial Action Task Force’s (“FATF”) list of “Non Cooperative Countries and Territories” with its implementation of controls in accordance with the IMF’s Anti-Money Laundering/Combating and Financing of Terrorism guidelines (“AML/CFT”). More recently, in September 2015 the Central Bank of Myanmar published further AML/CFT guidelines for financial institutions, implementing some of FATF’s recommendations. Myanmar has also improved its anti-corruption policies. (Courtesy of jdsupra.com)
While doing business in Myanmar has significant hurdles, there are signs that the situation is improving. In 2006, Myanmar was removed from the International Financial Action Task Force’s (“FATF”) list of “Non Cooperative Countries and Territories” with its implementation of controls in accordance with the IMF’s Anti-Money Laundering/Combating and Financing of Terrorism guidelines (“AML/CFT”). More recently, in September 2015 the Central Bank of Myanmar published further AML/CFT guidelines for financial institutions, implementing some of FATF’s recommendations. Myanmar has also improved its anti-corruption policies. (Courtesy of jdsupra.com)
Myanmar Armed Ethnic Groups Talk Peace With Government’s New Mediator
Eight armed ethnic groups met informally with the Myanmar government’s new peace envoy on Wednesday in Yangon to discuss how to advance peace and reform the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) before upcoming peace talks, the leader of a rebel group who attended the meeting said.
Representatives of the groups, who signed a nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA) last October, discussed their position on the peace process and the refashioning of the UPDJC, a 48-member body formed last November to implement political dialogue between the government and ethnic armed groups, said Khun Okka, chairman of the Pa-Oh National Liberation Organization (PNLO), one of the rebel organizations in attendance.
“We held the meeting informally and Dr. Tin Myo Win came unofficially as well,” he told RFA's Myanmar Service.
The groups expressed their concern about the role of the Ceasefire Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC), which has assumed control of political decision-making since the new National League for Democracy (NLD) government came into power in April, the online journal The Irrawaddy reported. (Courtesy of RFA)
Representatives of the groups, who signed a nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA) last October, discussed their position on the peace process and the refashioning of the UPDJC, a 48-member body formed last November to implement political dialogue between the government and ethnic armed groups, said Khun Okka, chairman of the Pa-Oh National Liberation Organization (PNLO), one of the rebel organizations in attendance.
“We held the meeting informally and Dr. Tin Myo Win came unofficially as well,” he told RFA's Myanmar Service.
The groups expressed their concern about the role of the Ceasefire Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC), which has assumed control of political decision-making since the new National League for Democracy (NLD) government came into power in April, the online journal The Irrawaddy reported. (Courtesy of RFA)
Minister settles worker import plan with Myanmar
Thai and Myanmar labour ministers have agreed to proceed with a labour cooperation plan to import migrant workers through a government-to-government agreement, says a senior ministry official.
Labour spokesman Theerapol Khunmuang said the plan is aimed not only at putting an end to labour exploitation and human trafficking, but also ensuring migrant workers' rights are protected.
The agreement was concluded on a recent visit to Myanmar by Labour Minister Gen Sirichai Distakul, he said, noting the meeting was a follow-up on the previous one in January in Nay Pyi Taw, the capital of Myanmar. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
AR gifts computer sets to Myanmar army
In a bid to strengthen the cordial relationship between India and Myanmar, 11 Assam Rifles under its programme “Strengthening Friendship through Information and Technology” provided 478 computer sets to Myanmar army at Moreh today.
Brig Rajesh Kumar, SM, VSM, Cdr 28 Sector Assam Rifles said that Indian army and Myanmar army have always enjoyed friendly relations and such step will certainly bring the two countries closer.
In 2007, 614 computers set were donated to Defence Service Academy, Myanmar by the Indian army. Apart from that, Indian army has also donated required equipments for raod construction in 2013. (Courtesy of thesangaiexpress.com)
Brig Rajesh Kumar, SM, VSM, Cdr 28 Sector Assam Rifles said that Indian army and Myanmar army have always enjoyed friendly relations and such step will certainly bring the two countries closer.
In 2007, 614 computers set were donated to Defence Service Academy, Myanmar by the Indian army. Apart from that, Indian army has also donated required equipments for raod construction in 2013. (Courtesy of thesangaiexpress.com)
Running in the direction of danger
When Esther Htusan started working as a fixer for foreign news agencies in 2010, she never imagined that she would one day win a Pulitzer Prize, one of the world’s most coveted journalism awards.
Her path to the prize – which she won last month in the Public Service Journalism category along with colleagues Margie Mason, Robin Mcdowell and Martha Mendoza – was fuelled by enthusiasm, hard work and a passion to learn everything she could about journalism as quickly as possible.
As a fixer for the AP news agency, she was especially keen to acquire the skills and techniques used by journalists to uncover the truth about injustice and discrimination. She started by studying the work of the correspondents whose stories she helped research. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
Her path to the prize – which she won last month in the Public Service Journalism category along with colleagues Margie Mason, Robin Mcdowell and Martha Mendoza – was fuelled by enthusiasm, hard work and a passion to learn everything she could about journalism as quickly as possible.
As a fixer for the AP news agency, she was especially keen to acquire the skills and techniques used by journalists to uncover the truth about injustice and discrimination. She started by studying the work of the correspondents whose stories she helped research. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
Education, heritage, culture and media – Mizzima talks to UNESCO
UNESCO has a long history of providing support and technical assistance to Myanmar, Mizzima’s Editor-in-Chief Soe Myint sat down with Sardar Umar Alam, Head of UNESCO’s Yangon Office and talked about the current projects the UN body has in Myanmar.
What is UNESCO focussed on in Myanmar?
UNESCO has a global mandate in education, natural heritage, culture and science and in Myanmar our focus is to support the government in education sector reform, strengthening of cultural preservation and environmental conservation and also strengthening of media in which we are working together with many media stakeholders. In education we are working with different stakeholders including the Ministry Of Education and partners and we have supported and will continue to support the Ministry of Education in undertaking education sector reform. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
What is UNESCO focussed on in Myanmar?
UNESCO has a global mandate in education, natural heritage, culture and science and in Myanmar our focus is to support the government in education sector reform, strengthening of cultural preservation and environmental conservation and also strengthening of media in which we are working together with many media stakeholders. In education we are working with different stakeholders including the Ministry Of Education and partners and we have supported and will continue to support the Ministry of Education in undertaking education sector reform. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
NLD to water down protest law, but keep prison penalties
The National League for Democracy has put forward changes to the peaceful protest law that are likely to result in fewer activists going to prison.
Bill committee secretary Dr Myat Nyarna Soe proposed the amendment bill to the upper house on May 5.
Under the changes, protesters would still have to inform the township police and administrator of their plan to demonstrate at least two days prior to the event, specifying the place, time, route and speakers.
However, they will no longer have to seek approval from the authorities for their demonstration.
The original Right to Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law was proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs and approved in 2011. It required protesters to seek approval from township police and administrators for demonstrations, and illegal demonstrations carried a one-year prison term. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
Bill committee secretary Dr Myat Nyarna Soe proposed the amendment bill to the upper house on May 5.
Under the changes, protesters would still have to inform the township police and administrator of their plan to demonstrate at least two days prior to the event, specifying the place, time, route and speakers.
However, they will no longer have to seek approval from the authorities for their demonstration.
The original Right to Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law was proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs and approved in 2011. It required protesters to seek approval from township police and administrators for demonstrations, and illegal demonstrations carried a one-year prison term. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
Nation’s leaders set for first foreign visit to Laos
While Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was not mentioned in the state newspaper’s announcement of the visit, spokesperson U Zaw Htay confirmed that the state counsellor – who is also the foreign minister – will join the delegation to the landlocked nation.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has said that she will be “above the president”, including during foreign visits. “I’ll go there. I’ll go along with the president, and he can sit beside me,” she told The Washington Post last year.
Myanmar’s first lady, Daw Su Su Lwin, will also travel to Laos to meet President Bounnhang Vorachith and his wife. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has said that she will be “above the president”, including during foreign visits. “I’ll go there. I’ll go along with the president, and he can sit beside me,” she told The Washington Post last year.
Myanmar’s first lady, Daw Su Su Lwin, will also travel to Laos to meet President Bounnhang Vorachith and his wife. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
Learning from the history of the Panglong conference
The Myanmar government, under Aung San Suu Kyi, has kicked off a new phase of the peace process with the country's ethnic minorities. On April 27, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi held a meeting with the Joint Monitoring Committee, a body representing the army and eight non-state armed groups that signed the so-called Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) last October.
The meeting was the first of its kind since the National League for Democracy (NLD) assumed power on April 1. Probably the most significant development of the meeting was that the state counsellor wanted to convene a "Panglong-style" conference within two months. The NLD leader had publicly voiced her support for holding a Panglong-type conference since the days of her confinement. A few days after her release from house arrest in November 2010, Ms Suu Kyi said, "A second Panglong conference addressing the concerns of the 21st century is needed for national reconciliation." As Myanmar prepares for the Panglong-style conference, there are three important lessons the country needs to learn from the failure of the original Panglong conference: representation, support and cooperation, and constitution. (Courtesy of Bangkok Post: Opinion)
The meeting was the first of its kind since the National League for Democracy (NLD) assumed power on April 1. Probably the most significant development of the meeting was that the state counsellor wanted to convene a "Panglong-style" conference within two months. The NLD leader had publicly voiced her support for holding a Panglong-type conference since the days of her confinement. A few days after her release from house arrest in November 2010, Ms Suu Kyi said, "A second Panglong conference addressing the concerns of the 21st century is needed for national reconciliation." As Myanmar prepares for the Panglong-style conference, there are three important lessons the country needs to learn from the failure of the original Panglong conference: representation, support and cooperation, and constitution. (Courtesy of Bangkok Post: Opinion)
Controversial Yangon hospital project in doubt
Myanmar’s lower house of parliament will soon decide whether to suspend a controversial US$70 million private hospital project in Yangon.
The Parkway Yangon Hospital is slated for development on a 4.4-acre plot in the downtown area, close to Yangon General Hospital.
The former government approved the project on a build, operate and transfer basis in January, shortly before it left office. The decision prompted howls of condemnation, particularly from medical professionals, who argued that the land should instead be used for a public hospital.
Yesterday, National League for Democracy MP Dr San Shwe Win submitted a proposal to suspend the lease granted for the site, on the corner of Bogyoke Aung San and Pyay roads, to a consortium led by Malaysian firm IHH Healthcare.
The lease is for 50 years, but can be extended by up to 20 years under Myanmar’s investment laws. Once the lease term ends, the assets will revert to state ownership. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
The Parkway Yangon Hospital is slated for development on a 4.4-acre plot in the downtown area, close to Yangon General Hospital.
The former government approved the project on a build, operate and transfer basis in January, shortly before it left office. The decision prompted howls of condemnation, particularly from medical professionals, who argued that the land should instead be used for a public hospital.
Yesterday, National League for Democracy MP Dr San Shwe Win submitted a proposal to suspend the lease granted for the site, on the corner of Bogyoke Aung San and Pyay roads, to a consortium led by Malaysian firm IHH Healthcare.
The lease is for 50 years, but can be extended by up to 20 years under Myanmar’s investment laws. Once the lease term ends, the assets will revert to state ownership. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
IDPs assemble shelters in razed camp
Following the fire in the camp on the outskirts of the state capital Sittwe on May 3, a spokesperson for the Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Department told The Myanmar Times that authorities were arranging 448 temporary tents for those affected by the blaze.
But when Myanmar Times reporters visited yesterday afternoon, there was no sign of any tents and families were facing a second night in the open as rain clouds gathered overhead.
Residents, the majority of whom are of the ethnic group identifying themselves as Rohingya that the government officially refer to as "Bengali", are trapped in IDP camps under nationally imposed restrictions of movement, were doing their best to construct some kind of shelter from bits of corrugated iron salvaged from the debris. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
But when Myanmar Times reporters visited yesterday afternoon, there was no sign of any tents and families were facing a second night in the open as rain clouds gathered overhead.
Residents, the majority of whom are of the ethnic group identifying themselves as Rohingya that the government officially refer to as "Bengali", are trapped in IDP camps under nationally imposed restrictions of movement, were doing their best to construct some kind of shelter from bits of corrugated iron salvaged from the debris. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
The odd and inspiring politics of Myanmar
The image of an elegant woman clad in a traditional htamein sarong, walking purposefully in her kitten heels into Myanmar's grandiose parliament to oversee the handover of power to her party was striking though hardly dramatic. But for many regional observers, the ascent of Aung San Suu Kyi from political prisoner to de facto leader of Myanmar signified a democratic shift as momentous as the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.
For in the space of just five years, Myanmar has gone from being Asia's embarrassing problem child to an inspiration -- albeit somewhat dysfunctional -- for new democracies everywhere. With the advent of a popularly elected government led by Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy, Myanmar's extraordinary transition from harsh military rule and economic decline to emerging democracy and economic revival is now in its most critical phase since Gen. Ne Win's 1962 military coup. (Courtesy of Nikkei Asian Review)
For in the space of just five years, Myanmar has gone from being Asia's embarrassing problem child to an inspiration -- albeit somewhat dysfunctional -- for new democracies everywhere. With the advent of a popularly elected government led by Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy, Myanmar's extraordinary transition from harsh military rule and economic decline to emerging democracy and economic revival is now in its most critical phase since Gen. Ne Win's 1962 military coup. (Courtesy of Nikkei Asian Review)
Thousands of car imports approved
When the last vehicle import supervisory committee was disbanded at the end of last year, thousands of cars bound for Myanmar were held up, commerce minister U Than Myint told The Myanmar Times.
“After re-forming the committee, we allowed about 14,000 cars from the border areas into the country on May 1, extending the permits that had expired. We plan to allow businesses to use these cars if businesspeople will apply,” he said.
Earlier this week car dealers and logistics firms said they had struggled to get vehicles and machinery across the borders during the past five months. They believed the restrictions were partly a response to huge volumes of trucks and other types of machinery entering Myanmar from China. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
“After re-forming the committee, we allowed about 14,000 cars from the border areas into the country on May 1, extending the permits that had expired. We plan to allow businesses to use these cars if businesspeople will apply,” he said.
Earlier this week car dealers and logistics firms said they had struggled to get vehicles and machinery across the borders during the past five months. They believed the restrictions were partly a response to huge volumes of trucks and other types of machinery entering Myanmar from China. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
New State Counselor Ministry Proposed for Suu Kyi
A proposal from Burma’s President Htin Kyaw to form a new ministry for State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi was formally brought to the Union Parliament floor on Thursday.
A document outlining the “Ministry of the State Counselor’s Office” proposal was read out in the chamber by Speaker Mahn Win Khaing Than, in which the president was quoted as saying “it is necessary to have a ministry to successfully implement the missions of national reconciliation, domestic peace, national development and the rule of law.”
The Speaker did not offer any indication as to who might head the new ministry and oversee its vague portfolio, but speculation has tipped Suu Kyi’s personal physician, Dr. Tin Myo Win, for the post.(Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
A document outlining the “Ministry of the State Counselor’s Office” proposal was read out in the chamber by Speaker Mahn Win Khaing Than, in which the president was quoted as saying “it is necessary to have a ministry to successfully implement the missions of national reconciliation, domestic peace, national development and the rule of law.”
The Speaker did not offer any indication as to who might head the new ministry and oversee its vague portfolio, but speculation has tipped Suu Kyi’s personal physician, Dr. Tin Myo Win, for the post.(Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
NCA Signatories Meet Tin Myo Win, Tipped as NLD’s Lead Peace Envoy
Representatives of eight non-state armed groups that signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in October met on Wednesday with Dr. Tin Myo Win, personal physician of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, to discuss reforming a body key to peace negotiations, the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC).
The ethnic representatives met Tin Myo Win at Green Hill Hotel in Rangoon, according to Saw Mya Yazar Lin, a central executive member of the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), an NCA signatory. The doctor has been tipped as the NLD government’s lead peace negotiator with ethnic armed groups, assuming the role taken by President’s Office Minister Aung Min in the previous military-backed government.
“We invited Dr. Tin Myo Win to talk and explained to him our current political stance. We talked about how to move forward peacefully, avoiding political deadlock in the future,” said the ALP’s Saw Mya Yazar Lin. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
The ethnic representatives met Tin Myo Win at Green Hill Hotel in Rangoon, according to Saw Mya Yazar Lin, a central executive member of the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), an NCA signatory. The doctor has been tipped as the NLD government’s lead peace negotiator with ethnic armed groups, assuming the role taken by President’s Office Minister Aung Min in the previous military-backed government.
“We invited Dr. Tin Myo Win to talk and explained to him our current political stance. We talked about how to move forward peacefully, avoiding political deadlock in the future,” said the ALP’s Saw Mya Yazar Lin. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
Military Defends Conduct in Arakan as Lawmakers Debate Conflict
Fighting in Arakan State was the focus of heated discussions in Parliament on Wednesday, but a legislative path to resolution of the conflict appears unlikely.
A proposal was submitted by Arakan National Party (ANP) lawmaker Wai Sein Aung to the Upper House of Parliament on Monday, urging the Union government to include the Arakan Army (AA) in the peace process and requesting that the military agree to a cessation of hostilities.
Legislators early this week agreed to discuss the motion, but on Wednesday the chamber’s speaker, Mahn Win Khaing Than of the National League for Democracy (NLD), opted to put a debate that began a day earlier on record rather than pushing for a more forceful endorsement of the ANP lawmaker’s proposal.(Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
A proposal was submitted by Arakan National Party (ANP) lawmaker Wai Sein Aung to the Upper House of Parliament on Monday, urging the Union government to include the Arakan Army (AA) in the peace process and requesting that the military agree to a cessation of hostilities.
Legislators early this week agreed to discuss the motion, but on Wednesday the chamber’s speaker, Mahn Win Khaing Than of the National League for Democracy (NLD), opted to put a debate that began a day earlier on record rather than pushing for a more forceful endorsement of the ANP lawmaker’s proposal.(Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
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