The closely watched appointment of the Chief Minister in Myanmar’s Rakhine state would have implications on both the humanitarian situation for Rohingya Muslims and the country’s parliamentary composition, said a prominent Rohingya activist.
In an interview with TODAY earlier this week, Mr Maung Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, noted that the political jockeying for Rakhine state’s top post was being played out between the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), the ultra-nationalist Arakan National Party (ANP), and the country’s military — which remains a potent political opposition in Parliament.
“The ANP is saying that if the NLD is really democratic, (the latter) has to select someone from ANP,” he said, referring to the fact that the ANP beat the NLD at the state-level polls last November. (Courtesy of TODAYonline)
February 26, 2016
British Ambassador discusses the massive change in Myanmar
British Ambassador Mr. Andrew Patrick hopes to see Myanmar “firmly on the road to democracy” before he finishes his tenure in the country next year.
In a wide-ranging interview with Mizzima Editor-in-Chief Soe Myint, Mr. Patrick discussed a range of issues including his hopes for the country, the democratic transition, and Britain’s aid commitment and programmes.
The interview was carried out on February 22 at the British Embassy in Yangon.
Mizzima: What are the key elements with the British relationship with Myanmar?
British Ambassador: I think the key elements of Britain’s relationship with this country obviously go back a long way. There were a lot of difficult things in that relationship and more recently a lot of positive things. At the moment our engagement is mainly about supporting the reform process here, supporting the peace process and helping people address the situation in Rakhine. So those are the main thing that we do as part of the relationship. There are people to people contacts, education is a very big element of what people in this country see as what is important about the UK. And of course there is the trade relationship which is still very small but it is growing. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
In a wide-ranging interview with Mizzima Editor-in-Chief Soe Myint, Mr. Patrick discussed a range of issues including his hopes for the country, the democratic transition, and Britain’s aid commitment and programmes.
The interview was carried out on February 22 at the British Embassy in Yangon.
Mizzima: What are the key elements with the British relationship with Myanmar?
British Ambassador: I think the key elements of Britain’s relationship with this country obviously go back a long way. There were a lot of difficult things in that relationship and more recently a lot of positive things. At the moment our engagement is mainly about supporting the reform process here, supporting the peace process and helping people address the situation in Rakhine. So those are the main thing that we do as part of the relationship. There are people to people contacts, education is a very big element of what people in this country see as what is important about the UK. And of course there is the trade relationship which is still very small but it is growing. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
February 25, 2016
Myanmar’s “lady” faces challenge of a lifetime
Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won the country’s first free nationwide election in a quarter of a century with the slogan “time for change”. After decades of oppression and long periods under house arrest, just taking power is a momentous achievement for the pro-democracy activist known to locals as “the lady”. Yet when she takes effective charge of the resource-rich nation on April 1, her first challenge will be to build on the rapid reforms undertaken by the previous regime.
Myanmar doesn’t look like a country that has endured decades of Western-led sanctions. Visitors to Yangon encounter a bustling Asian emerging market, where wealthy locals eat at KFC and shop for Calvin Klein products in air-conditioned malls. Taxi drivers own smart phones. Small boutique hotels serving high quality French food can even be found a bumpy six-hour drive away from the country’s biggest city.
Myanmar is already one of the world’s fastest-growing nations. The economy probably expanded by 8.5 percent in the year ending this March, the International Monetary Fund reckons. Outgoing President Thein Sein’s semi-civilian government ushered in a wave of reforms after taking over after almost 50 years of military rule in 2011. At the time, Europe and the United States rewarded the tentative transition by easing sanctions. (Courtesy of Reuters)
Myanmar doesn’t look like a country that has endured decades of Western-led sanctions. Visitors to Yangon encounter a bustling Asian emerging market, where wealthy locals eat at KFC and shop for Calvin Klein products in air-conditioned malls. Taxi drivers own smart phones. Small boutique hotels serving high quality French food can even be found a bumpy six-hour drive away from the country’s biggest city.
Myanmar is already one of the world’s fastest-growing nations. The economy probably expanded by 8.5 percent in the year ending this March, the International Monetary Fund reckons. Outgoing President Thein Sein’s semi-civilian government ushered in a wave of reforms after taking over after almost 50 years of military rule in 2011. At the time, Europe and the United States rewarded the tentative transition by easing sanctions. (Courtesy of Reuters)
Myanmar Army conducts combined operations in northern Shan State
The Ministry of Defence yesterday announced that the Myanmar Army is conducting combined operations in the areas in Namhsam and Kyaukme, towns of northern Shan State, where fighting between Shan State Army – South (SSA-S) group and Ta’ang national Liberation has been ongoing, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported on 24 February.
The commander of North-East Command sent a letter of complaint denouncing the acts of SSA-S and asking it to return to the territory designated for the group to U Sai Aung Mya, vice-chairman (1) of Joint Monitoring Committee-State level and Myanmar Peace Centre on 12 February. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
The commander of North-East Command sent a letter of complaint denouncing the acts of SSA-S and asking it to return to the territory designated for the group to U Sai Aung Mya, vice-chairman (1) of Joint Monitoring Committee-State level and Myanmar Peace Centre on 12 February. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
UK MP Paul Scully discusses Myanmar’s transition, hard work of MPs
British Conservative Party MP Paul Scully is visiting Myanmar to check out the changes as the country heads towards a more democratic future.
Mr Scully was born in Britain to a Myanmar father and British mother and has long felt he had an important link with the Golden Land.
In the following interview with Mizzima, Mr Scully discusses a range of issues from his hopes for Myanmar’s new government to UK-Myanmar relations and the need to be patient with the new government and Myanmar MPs as they learn on the job. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
Mr Scully was born in Britain to a Myanmar father and British mother and has long felt he had an important link with the Golden Land.
In the following interview with Mizzima, Mr Scully discusses a range of issues from his hopes for Myanmar’s new government to UK-Myanmar relations and the need to be patient with the new government and Myanmar MPs as they learn on the job. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
Myanmar Army conducts combined operations in northern Shan State
The Ministry of Defence yesterday announced that the Myanmar Army is conducting combined operations in the areas in Namhsam and Kyaukme, towns of northern Shan State, where fighting between Shan State Army – South (SSA-S) group and Ta’ang national Liberation has been ongoing, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported on 24 February.
The commander of North-East Command sent a letter of complaint denouncing the acts of SSA-S and asking it to return to the territory designated for the group to U Sai Aung Mya, vice-chairman (1) of Joint Monitoring Committee-State level and Myanmar Peace Centre on 12 February. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
The commander of North-East Command sent a letter of complaint denouncing the acts of SSA-S and asking it to return to the territory designated for the group to U Sai Aung Mya, vice-chairman (1) of Joint Monitoring Committee-State level and Myanmar Peace Centre on 12 February. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
February 24, 2016
Myanmar's NLD Needs to Up its Game
For the past five years, Myanmar’s transition has mainly been about building legitimacy. By implementing various political and economic reforms, President Thein Sein validated his government and, more importantly, the new political arrangement, created under the 2008 constitution. Now, with an overwhelming victory in the 2015 election, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) has the mandate to pursue political reforms in Myanmar. However, what can it realistically achieve?
When President Thein Sein came into power in March 2011, Myanmar was in a state of despair. International sanctions were in place, the economy was in ruin and widespread, armed conflicts plagued the borderlands. Most significantly, the administration lacked electoral legitimacy. (Courtesy of Economy Watch)
When President Thein Sein came into power in March 2011, Myanmar was in a state of despair. International sanctions were in place, the economy was in ruin and widespread, armed conflicts plagued the borderlands. Most significantly, the administration lacked electoral legitimacy. (Courtesy of Economy Watch)
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