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Euro-Burma OfficeWeekly News
2 to 15 March 2010
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Inside BurmaBurma Enacts Election Laws, Aung San Suu Kyi barred from participating
Burma’s military government announced five election laws on 8 March 2010 but did not give an election
date. The five laws enacted include: (1) the Union of Myanmar Election Commission Law;(2) the Political
Parties Registration Law
;(3) the People’s Parliament Election Commission Law; (4) the National
Parliament Election Commission Law and (5) the State or Division Parliament Commission Law. Throughthe Election Commission Law, a National Election Commission will be created to organize and overseethe elections, while the Party Registration Law provides details regarding party registration and eligibilityto run in the elections. -
Of th
e five laws enacted the Election Commission Law, the Party Registration Law and the People’s
Parliament Election Commission Law have been met with criticism due to their restrictive nature. In theParty Registration Law, the junta has incorporated articles and clauses that bar pro-democracy leaderAung San Suu Kyi from running in the upcoming elections and thus even forcing her own political partyto expel her. Therefore, the National League for Democracy (NLD) faces a tough decision on whether ornot to participate in the elections. The appointment of the 17-member National Election Commission led
by a former military advocate general is another clear signal indicating the military’s intent to select and
appoint all political positions from within the military. The Commission will now begin with the task todraw up the relevant plans in organizing the elections in accordance to the guidelines set out in theElection Commission Law.Election Campaign To Begin -
Irrawaddy
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15 March 2010
Irrawaddy
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15 March 2010
Irrawaddy
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15 March 2010
Mizzima - 12 March 2010
Irrawaddy
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12 March 2010
AFP/DVB - 12 March 2010
Irrawaddy - 12 March 2010
Mizzima - 12 March 2010
Mizzima - 11 March 2010
Irrawaddy
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11 March 2010
Irrawaddy
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11 March 2010
Irrawaddy
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10 March 2010
Mizzima
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9 March 2010
Irrawaddy
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9 March 2010
DVB
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5 March 2010Opinion / Analysis
Mizzima - 13 March 2010
Mizzima - 10 March 2010
Euro-Burma OfficeWeekly News
2 to 15 March 2010
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Tensions Rise Further as Border Guard Force
Deadline Passes, Junta continues to send troops
At the end of February, the junta military set 10 March as another deadline for the armed groups thatare still refusing to give their response to the
Naypyidaw’s
Border Guard Force (BGF) program. It alsowarned the groups that failure to respond by the deadline would lead to war and declaration as illegalorganizations by 15 March.Tensions continued to rise around the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) Laiza headquarters asthe latest deadline passed for the KIO and other ethnic armed groups to agree to join the regime'splanned BGF. According to Kachin sources, the KIO has moved all its important documents and officematerials from Laiza to prevent them falling into regime hands if government forces launch an attack.According to government sources, more than 70,000 regime troops have been sent to ethnic rebel areasof north eastern Burma, near bases of the KIO and the United Wa State Army (UWSA). The troop builduptook place at the same time as talks continued between the KIO and the government on the BGFproposal. The KIO had deployed well-trained militias around its headquarters and has planted landmines. The ceasefire groups that have continued to oppose the BGF program are UWSA, Shan State
Army (SSA) ‘North’, National Democratic Alli
ance Army (NDAA) better known as Mongla group and theKachin Independence Army (KIA).
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15 March 2010
Irrawaddy
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12 March 2010
SHAN - 11 March 2010
S.H.A.N. - 9 March 2010
Irrawaddy
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9 March 2010
Mizzima - 6 March 2010
Irrawaddy
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3 March 2010
Mizzima - 3 March 2010
DVB - 2 March 2010
Malaysia:
Rohingya ‘pushed out to sea’ by Thais
Malaysia’s immigration department has said that it is investigating claims that the 93 Rohingya ‘boatpeople’ who were rescued last week in the country’s northern waters had been pushed out to sea by
Thai navy. In January 2009 last year, similar incidents drew widespread condemnation of the Thai
government’s policy towards refugees.
According to Malaysian authorities, Thai navy personnel hadgiven the refugees food before setting them adrift. The refugees, who had been at sea for between 30and 45 days, ranged from 16 to 50-years-old and were said to be in good health, however one man haddied during the journey. The investigation is expected to take two weeks.
DVB
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9 March 2010
Mizzima - 8 March 2010
Kaladan Press - 5 March 2010
Narinjara News - 8 March 2010
ASEAN to cease coordination of Cyclone Nargis relief
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) announced at the 7th meeting of the AseanHumanitarian Task Force (AHTF) that it will end its recovery assistance in Cyclone Nargis-affectedregions in Burma by July and transfer the coordination role of assistance for post-Nargis recovery efforts
in Burma’s southern Irrawaddy delta
to the Burmese government.
ASEAN said that it would “accelerateaid delivery” to the cyclone
-affected population before pulling out, more than 18 months after 140,000
people lost their lives in one of Southeast Asia’s most devastating natural disasters. The subsequent
Euro-Burma OfficeWeekly News
2 to 15 March 2010
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formation of the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), comprising the government, ASEAN and the UN, appearedto have formed a bridge between Burma and the outside world. It is the termination of this that hascaused some concern among international observers. They say many survivors will be left out of therecovery process after July even if Asean vows to complete its recovery plan, adding that the aim toaccelerate the recovery process is probably a part of election preparations aimed at making sure foreignworkers have to leave the country. Together with the humanitarian community, Asean appealed for anadditional US $103 million to address the pressing needs faced by Cyclone Nargis survivors in November2009. As of 28 Feb 2010, total pledges had increased to US $91.3 million, and a total of US $38.57 millionhad been received by either trust fund or implementing partners.
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8March 2010
Further articles of interest:
DVB - 12 March 2010
Irrawaddy
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10 March 2010
DVB - 10 March 2010
Irrawaddy
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8 March 2010
Irrawaddy
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6 March 2010
Irrawaddy
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5 March 2010
Irrawaddy
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5 March 2010
Irrawaddy
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5 March 2010
AFP
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4 March 2010
DVB
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2 March 2010
Outside BurmaUN Official Makes Secret Trip to Burma to deliver letter from UNSG Ban
A day before the Burmese military junta announced electoral laws and plans about the general electionlater this year, Vijay Nambiar, a key confident of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, is believed to havemade an unannounced trip to Burma. Nambiar is the chef de cabinet of the secretary-general, and afterthe departure of the UN Envoy for Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, in January Nambiar was given temporarycharge to look after the good offices role of the secretary-general in Burma. The goal of day-long visitwas apparently to deliver a personal letter from Ban to Snr-Gen Than Shwe. Officials refused to divulgeany details about the trip. The UN has notably kept a low profile after the Obama administrationengaged the junta in two rounds of direct talks late last year. However, on 8 March, Ban announced thathe had written to the junta's leader expressing his concern about the lack of progress in nationalreconciliation and also emphasizing the importance of the election which will be held this year to becredible, inclusive and transparent manner. Meanwhile, sources said the Burmese military junta is said
to have “vetoed” the name of Noer Hassan Wirajuda, the former Indonesian foreign minis
ter, as thenew UN Envoy for Burma.
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15 March 2010
US Assistant Secretary of State Campbell to visit Burma
US Assistant Secretary of State Mr. Kurt Campbell is due to arrive in Burma soon, according todiplomatic sources in Rangoon. Details of the unannounced trip are not available, but the visit isbelieved to be related to the publication of new Burmese election laws. The US State Department hasnot confirmed the visit. The highest US official to visit Burma in several years, Kurt Campbell last visited
the country in October 2009 and met with the junta’s Prime Minister Thein Sein and pro
-democracy
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