at Seminor Sitagu International Buddhist Academy and US commission on International Religious Freedom

Sitagu International Buddhist Academy

Sagaing Hills, Sagaing, Myanmar

The United States has voiced its "strong concern" to China over threats from Beijing to enforce its claims to a set of disputed Pacific islands controlled by Japan but claimed by the People's Republic.

The White House, State Department and Pentagon all issued statements late Saturday, hours after Beijing threatened to take "defensive emergency measures" against aircraft entering its newly-proclaimed air defense zone. The Chinese edict called on all aircraft to identify themselves before entering the zone, and to obey all orders from Beijing.

The White House called the threat an escalatory development," while Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called it "a destabilizing attempt to alter the status quo" in the East China Sea. Hagel also said the United States has no plans to change how it conducts military operations in the region.

The islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Daioyu in China, are uninhabited, but surrounded by rich fishing grounds and potential energy deposits.

Earlier Saturday, Japan lodged a strong protest with Beijing that called establishment of the zone "totally unacceptable." Senior Japanese diplomat Junichi Ihara also criticized China for escalating bilateral tensions over the islands.

In the Chinese statement, which appeared Saturday on a defense ministry website, Beijing said the new rules were effective immediately.

After months of escalating tensions, Japan scrambled fighter jets earlier this month over the East China Sea, after it spotted what it said was an unmanned aircraft flying toward Japan.

Japan annexed the islets in the late 19th century. China claimed sovereignty over the archipelago in 1971, saying ancient maps show it has been Chinese territory for centuries.

The festering China-Japan dispute is one of several maritime controversies pitting China against several Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia.

Beijing has indicated a willingness to negotiate the disputes, but has so far rejected calls for multilateral talks. It has sought separate negotiations with each country.

Dear Sister Ms. Hannah Beech,

North Korea on Saturday launched three short-range guided missiles into the sea, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Defense, in defiance of international sanctions and efforts to bring the rogue nation to the table for talks.
The ministry detected two launches in the morning, followed by another in the afternoon, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported, quoting an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"The missiles launched may be a modified anti-ship missile or the KN-02 surface-to-surface missile derived from the Soviet era SS-21 that has a range of about 120 kilometers (75 miles)," the Seoul official said.
He said that judging by the trajectory and distance traveled, the missiles were neither medium- or long-range, adding that they were fired in a northeasterly direction, away from South Korean waters.
In April, North Korea deployed two intermediate-range missiles along its east coast in what was seen as a response to joint South Korean-U.S. military exercises, but they were recalled earlier this month after the operations ended.
The intermediate-range missiles, known as Musudan, are believed to have a range of up to 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles) and may be capable of striking the U.S. Pacific island of Guam.
"All missiles launched fell into the sea," the South Korean Defense Ministry official said of Saturday’s firing, adding that it was likely part of a military exercise or a missile test.
The launches could also be a show of force for the U.S., which last week docked the nuclear-powered USS Nimitz aircraft carrier in South Korea’s port city of Busan. The North had referred to the carrier’s port call as “a fresh tinderbox to escalate the tension and ignite a nuclear war.”
Routine launch?
Test launches of short-range missiles by North Korea are fairly routine. The North last launched two such missiles into the sea in March.
But tensions have been high on the Korean Peninsula since Pyongyang launched a long-range rocket in December and conducted its third nuclear test in February.
Both tests were in violation of international sanctions that ban North Korea from developing missile or nuclear technology, prompting the U.N. Security Council to adopt even tougher measures against the country in March.
Pyongyang began issuing vitriolic war rhetoric after the new sanctions were imposed, raising ominous prospects of a nuclear conflict on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea has launched five long-range missiles or rockets over the past seven years and last December placed a satellite in orbit.
Pyongyang claimed the satellite was part of peaceful research, but critics said the launch amounted to a banned ballistic missile test that marked a major advance for the North's illicit nuclear weapons program.
U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Glyn Davies this week completed a trip to South Korea, China, and Japan, where he discussed plans to deal with the North Korean nuclear threat.

 Aung San Suu Kyi, center, last week received the Congressional Gold Medal from House Speaker John Boehner, left, as former first lady Laura Bush, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell watched.
Jacquelyn Martin — AP


One of the world's most inspiring political figures, Aung San Suu Kyi, acknowledged the long and outspoken support she received from Sen. Mitch McConnell with a speech Monday at the University of Louisville, where she also dined amidst the colorful kitsch of Lynn's Paradise Cafe.
It really is a small world.
Suu Kyi was in the United States to accept honors she received during the 15 years a military dictatorship kept her under house arrest in her native Burma. On a 17-day American tour, she said she hoped Burma's fledgling democracy can learn from the U.S.
But, really, we need to learn from her.
Suu Kyi has reached out to her former jailers, the military junta that cut off Burma from the world, snuffed all dissent and inflicted great suffering on her and her family.
"We are beginning to learn to work together," she said at the U.S. Institute of Peace. "We are beginning to learn the art of compromise, give and take, achievement of consensus. It is good that this is beginning in the legislature and we hope this will spread and become part of the political culture of Burma."
We'd love to know what Senate Republican Leader McConnell, grand master of division and obstruction, thought when he heard that.
At a time when American political culture has been poisoned and Congress all but paralyzed by knee-jerk partisanship, let's hope McConnell and his colleagues took some inspiration from Suu Kyi's remarkable spirit of reconciliation.
McConnell has said he became interested in Burma after reading a newspaper article in 1990 about Suu Kyi being kept under house arrest after her political party won 80 percent of the seats in Parliament.
McConnell became one of Suu Kyi's most important allies in Washington and helped ratchet up the economic pressure on the Southeast Asian nation's dictatorship.
McConnell was one of the first Americans to visit her in Burma after her release. And, along with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he was among those flanking her as she received the Congressional Gold Medal. He praised her "luminous heroism."
Suu Kyi is now a member of parliament and leads an opposition party that could take power in upcoming elections. She is second in power only to President Thein Sein, the former general who, bowing to international and internal pressures, initiated democratic reforms and released her in late 2010.
A Nobel laureate, she has said: "It is not power that corrupts, but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."
If Suu Kyi can reach out to those who brutally repressed her and her fellow Burmese, you have to wonder: Would it kill McConnell to reach out to a Democratic president every once in a while?
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/09/27/2352093/shining-example-of-leadership.html#storylink=cpy

Political activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi told a Fort Wayne, Ind., audience Tuesday she hopes expatriates will return to Burma.

Referring to her homeland by its former name, Burma, instead of its current name, Myanmar, Suu Kyi said if those who left the country wish to return, she would "do my best to achieve this goal." She also thanked the Fort Wayne community for hosting and educating Burmese refugees and said the United States, "the greatest democracy in the world," was teaching her country how to be a democracy, through discussion, debate and compromise.

Suu Kyi, leader of Myanmar's political opposition party, was among the world's most prominent political prisoners, under house arrest by authorities for 15 of the 21 years between 1989 and 2010. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

The audience of 5,000 at Fort Wayne's Memorial Coliseum included Mayor Tom Henry and Sen. Dan Coates, R-Ind., the Fort Wayne, Ind., Journal Gazette reported.

US politicians united by their respect for Burma democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi presented her with Congress' highest civilian honour in a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, ahead of a meeting with President Barack Obama.
Ms Suu Kyi described it as "one of the most moving days of my life".
She was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2008 while under a 15-year house arrest for her peaceful struggle against military rule.
Her long-awaited visit to America finally provided an opportunity for her to receive the honour in person in Congress' most majestic setting, beneath the dome of the Capitol and ringed by marble statues of former presidents.
The 67-year-old Nobel laureate said it was worth the years of waiting, being honoured "in a house undivided, a house joined together to welcome a stranger from a distant land".
Previous recipients of the medal include George Washington, Tibetan Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama and Pope John Paul II.
She then met privately at the White House with Mr Obama, another winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. They appeared relaxed and were smiling as they talked in the Oval Office.
Mr Obama "expressed his admiration for her courage, determination and personal sacrifice in championing democracy and human rights over the years", according to a statement from the White House.
The White House said the president "reaffirmed the determination of the United States to support their sustained efforts to promote political and economic reforms and to ensure full protection of the fundamental rights of the Burmese people".
The low-key nature of the meeting appeared to reflect concerns that Ms Suu Kyi's Washington visit could overshadow Burma's reformist president Thein Sein, who attends the UN general assembly in New York next week, and still faces opposition within Burma's military to political reform.

President Barack Obama met Wednesday with fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi in the Oval Office.
Obama and the Myanmar democracy leader held a private meeting and made no formal comments. Earlier in the day, Suu Kyi received Congress' highest honor, the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81412.html

(Also on POLITICO: Photos: Aung San Suu Kyi receives Congressional medal)
http://www.politico.com/gallery/2012/04/photos-myanmar-election/000040-006039.html


A who's who of politicos attended, including former first lady Laura Bush, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Speaker of the House John Boehner, who shed some of his well known tears during the ceremony.

Read more about: Aung San Suu Kyi
http://dyn.politico.com/tag/aung-san-suu-kyi


By HADAS GOLD
http://www.politico.com/reporters/HadasGold.html

Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates LP, boasts 15 percent annualized returns over two decades for his main hedge fund and 25.3 percent this year (through Aug. 31) amid extraordinary economic turmoil. He runs more money than any of his macro rivals.
These are the sort of distinctions that have landed him on Bloomberg Markets magazine’s first annual list of the 50 Most Influential in global finance.
Dalio also turns out to be an interesting character, making his money based on a set of investment principles (which he won’t share) and running his firm based on a set of management principles (which he does).
The Bloomberg Markets LIST has 49 more fascinating folk. We have defined our 50 as the people who matter most in global finance: those whose comments move markets; whose deals set the value of companies or securities; whose ideas and policies shape corporations, governments and economies. We have focused on people who matter right now rather than those who have been influential over the course of a long career, although some clearly meet both criteria. (For a slide show of the Most Influential 50, http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20110906/bloomberg-markets-most-influential-50.)
Influence isn’t something that can be measured with a single yardstick. We used several. We canvassed Bloomberg News’s global network of reporters and editors, located in 146 bureaus. We examined how often a person’s name appears in news stories on the Bloomberg Professional service. We consulted the rankings that Bloomberg Markets publishes over the course of each year, such as our features on the most-accurate economic forecasters and most-profitable hedge funds.
Dimon’s Clout
There are episodes in which clout is on display for all to see. Such was the case when Jamie Dimon, at a bankers’ conference in Atlanta in June, questioned Ben S. Bernanke about the possible harm of the financial regulations and higher capital standards the government is imposing. Who but Dimon has the stature to challenge a Federal Reserve chairman in that way?
Like the markets themselves, influence can be fickle. Christine Lagarde, already a force in the European sovereign- debt crisis as France’s finance minister, increased her stature when she became managing director of the International Monetary Fund. The job came open only because of the fall from grace of her countryman, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who had been accused of attacking a hotel maid in New York.
Deficit Hawk
Economist Martin Feldstein, a deficit hawk for four decades, finds himself at the center of the political debate over budget austerity that has swept across the developed world. And yet the former adviser to President Ronald Reagan is also seeing that some of his tax proposals are getting a better reception from Democrats than from fellow Republicans.
Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, perhaps best known outside his country for his 27-story home in Mumbai (with three helipads and a 50-seat movie theater), embodies the rise of emerging markets in the past decade. After patching up a feud with his brother Anil, Mukesh is being courted by politicians and investment bankers alike -- a sign that he, like the 49 other people on our list, has secured a place among the world’s most influential.
To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Dieterich in New York at rdieterich@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Laura Colby at lcolby@bloomberg.net

A MAGNITUDE 7.3 earthquake has struck wide areas of northern and north-eastern Japan, the Meteorological Agency says.
No immediate casualties or damage were reported and no tsunami warning was issued.
The quake occurred at 12.01pm (1301 AEST) on Tuesday with its epicentre off Japan's northern island of Hokkaido at a depth of 590km, the agency said.
On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami hit north-eastern Japan, leaving nearly 19,000 people dead or missing.

Burma hopes that credit card transactions will be possible in the Asian nation by next year with negotiations underway with Visa.

Banks in Burma are hoping to begin handling international credit card transactions by next year.
Than Lwin, deputy chairman of the prominent Kanbawza Bank, on Sunday said negotiations are under way with Visa on the use of its cards.
Foreign visitors have been unable to use credit cards because of US and EU restrictions on money transactions since 2003.
Western countries imposed sanctions on Burma because of its repressive policies, but began easing them this year after elected President Thein Sein initiated political and economic reforms.
Another Burma banker, who declined to be identified because he is not authorised to release information, said talks also were ongoing with MasterCard, China Union Pay and Japan Credit Bureau and he hoped credit card transactions would be possible by 2013.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the prominent Burmese politician, human rights defender and former prisoner of conscience who spent some 15 years under house arrest in Myanmar, is currently visiting Europe.
 
This historic trip – which includes stops in Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize and Ireland to accept Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award – is her first visit to Europe in more than two decades.

The following timeline highlights the organization’s relationship with the Burmese activist over the past several decades:

1988
After more than 20 years of military rule, tens of thousands march to demand democracy. Soldiers fire on crowds, killing an estimated 3,000 people.

National League for Democracy (NLD) formed, with Aung San Suu Kyi general secretary. The NLD has a policy of non-violence and civil disobedience.

1989
Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest, without charge or trial. Amnesty International adopts Suu Kyi as a prisoner of conscience

1990
Despite detention of Suu Kyi, NLD wins election with 82 per cent of parliamentary seats. Myanmar authorities refuse to recognise results.

1991
Aung San Suu Kyi is declared winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

Suu Kyi remains in detention.

1998
Suu Kyi makes a personal pledge in support of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as part of Amnesty’s Get up, Sign up! campaign.

To mark the 10th anniversary of the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar, Amnesty launches a campaign calling on the Burmese government to end torture and release all political prisoners.

2003
Amnesty International granted access to Myanmar for the first time under an official visa.

2007
A new wave of public dissent begins, culminating with the monk-led peaceful “Saffron Revolution”, violently repressed by the authorities.

Amnesty International calls a Global Day of Action for Myanmar, with rallies in cities around the world.

2009
Aung San Suu Kyi is named the recipient of Amnesty’s Ambassador of Conscience Award.

2010
Amnesty International launches internet appeal to send 4,000 radios to Myanmar.
   
Main military-backed party claims victory in first general election since 1990. Opposition groups allege widespread fraud. A week after the election, Suu Kyi is released from house arrest.

2011
March Thein Sein is sworn in as president of a new government.
August Thein Sein meets Suu Kyi.

October Some political prisoners, including comedian Zarganar, are freed in a general amnesty.
December NLD re-registers as a political party.

2012
January Many political prisoners are released, including student leaders from the 1988 protests Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi.
April NLD candidates, including Suu Kyi, win 43 of 44 parliamentary seats contested in by-elections.

Amnesty International points out that there are still hundreds of political prisoners in Myanmar, that abuses continue, particularly against Kachin civilians, and repressive laws remain in place.

Aung San Suu Kyi is to be awarded an honorary degree at Oxford University.

The Burmese civil rights activist and leader of the country's opposition is to receive a doctorate in civil law at the university’s annual Encaenia ceremony on June 12.

Last year she was guest curator of the Brighton Festival.

John Riady | May 10, 2012


Aung San Suu Kyi has finally been allowed to win. Her by-election victory in Burma last month brought home the scale of the political earthquake taking place there after half a century of military rule. The government is reforming at an unprecedented pace, land prices are rising and tourists are preparing their itineraries.

It is, at the very least, a reminder of the power of a single person committed to change. Suu Kyi’s long house arrest in Burma, on and off since 1990, took her away from the West, where she studied, and her family — her husband died and her children grew up in her absence. Of persistent ideas it is said that ninety-nine times out of a hundred they are smashed to bits; the hundredth time they can change the world. If nothing else, Suu Kyi’s persistence has changed Burma.

But why now? The opening came as a surprise to many, particularly since the regime went to great trouble to secure sham electoral victories in 2010. Some say the pressure from international sanctions are what precipitated the recent thaw (even though sanctions have been ongoing in some form since 1988).

Others, like Singaporean diplomat Kishore Mahbubani, argue that the engagement by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is what led to big changes (even though this has been going on longer than sanctions have). But pay attention to the way Mahbubani makes the argument: “Western sanctions did not work. Asean engagement with Myanmar did. The regional organization forced Myanmar’s officials and leaders to attend thousands of meetings in Asean countries. These travels opened their eyes to how far Myanmar was falling behind: they realized it had to become a more ‘normal’ country.”

The crux here is that only in the context of rising economic growth does Asean engagement matter. If Southeast Asia were an economic basket case, then the Burmese leadership, no matter how many KrisFlyer miles it racked up, would not be persuaded to follow its example.

This “good neighbor” theory of economic growth roughly goes like this: regions develop by comparing themselves to their neighbors (both in terms of general economic prosperity and its accoutrements: like military spending and public monuments) but also by attracting investment and trade from them. This may explain why a country like Greece, with a sclerotic political culture and limited industrial capacity, is still many times richer than Indonesia: proximity to Germany, France and Northern Europe brought with it spillover effects. In this view, Burma opened up because it saw all of Southeast Asia advancing and needed to keep up.

The case of Burma reminds me of the long debate among economists and political scientists about why Indonesia and Nigeria, similar countries in many respects, have turned out so differently.

Of course, there is the famous joke about our bureaucrats: a man from dictator Gen. Sani Abacha’s Nigeria is impressed by an Indonesian bureaucrat’s house and Mercedes. “Do you see that road?” the Indonesian asks. “Ten percent,” he says. A couple years later, Suharto’s man visits the Nigerian in a palace with Ferraris, amazed. “Do you see that road,” says the Nigerian, gesturing at virgin rainforest. “One hundred percent.”

The joke is glib but the point is not: a distinction can and must be made between a corruption that facilitates and one that obstructs. The question is why some nations end up with the former and others with the latter.

Both Nigeria and Indonesia are regional giants, the former in West Africa, the latter in Southeast Asia. Both are large — the seventh and fourth most populous countries, respectively, with remarkable diversity. Indonesia has some 200 languages and Nigeria 400. Indonesia has three to four prominent religions, Nigeria has two. Politically, both are recent creations, forged from ancient states by Europeans, then governed as one country. Both are home to large immigrant business communities: the Chinese in Indonesia and the Lebanese in Nigeria. Both have oil.

Even their histories mirror each other. Independence was gained within a dozen years of each other, coups launched within a few months — September 1965 for Indonesia and January 1966 in Nigeria. Their strongmen left power around the same time too — May 1998 in Jakarta and May 1999 in Abuja. In its teeming, mad wonder, Lagos is also like Jakarta; both are megalopolises of countries besieged by secessionist movements, civil unrest, corruption and human rights violations.

Yet, Indonesia is not Nigeria. The 2011 nominal per capita GDP is $3,509 for the former and $1,490 for the latter, according to the International Monetary Fund. Peter Cunliffe-Jones, who compared the countries in his book “My Nigeria: Five Decades of Independence,” points out that when Suharto took power in 1967, the number of people in poverty was the same as Nigeria: around 6 out of 10.

Three decades later, it had fallen to two in Indonesia but risen to seven in Nigeria. The average Nigerian lives to 47, the average Indonesian to 70. At independence, he notes, both countries were comparable; today Indonesia does better on most fronts: growth, average income, health and education.

Why is this the case? The conclusion Cunliffe-Jones reaches is that Suharto, despite everything, felt pressure to perform throughout his rule from the media, the business elite, the urban poor and the rural areas. In Nigeria, this sort of pressure did not exist. He quotes a retired Supreme Court justice of Nigeria as saying: “We have not fought, not really, or not enough. And if you do not fight for your rights, nobody will fight for you.”

It’s an intriguing argument, and it could be taken further. Much of the pressure for Indonesia’s advancement may have been driven by a comparison with regional neighbors. Indonesians had Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok (and later Perth) within a few hours of air travel, whereas Nigerians, further away from Southern and Northern Europe, were more likely to compare themselves to their West African neighbors. Singapore, in particular, was always the glaring comparison for Indonesians: geographically an hour away and yet quite a civilizational distance.

If this is the right way to approach growth, then it casts the Burmese opening in a new light. It seems that once you get the ball rolling, it is difficult to stop. Expectations have risen permanently, something widespread Internet access and cheap flights will do little to lower.

In this kind of world, the best Asean foreign policy toward Burma is paradoxically domestic growth and prudent policy-making. By itself of course this is not sufficient — we must continue to engage Burma and make sure the “dividends of reform” are felt by its citizens. But setting a good example is ultimately what will keep the pressure for reform alive.

John Riady is a lecturer at Pelita Harapan University Law School and editor-at-large at BeritaSatu Media Holdings.

By Associated Press, Published: May 7

 

As many as 40,000 gorgeously plumed birds known as the Gurney’s pitta thrive in the lowland rainforests of economically backward Myanmar. Across the border, Thailand’s last five pairs are guarded around the clock against snakes and human predators.

The bird’s status is among many reasons Myanmar is regarded as one of Asia’s last bastions of biodiversity, and why environmentalists view the country’s steps toward opening its doors with some fear.

Myanmar has avoided the rapid, often rampant development seen in Thailand and other parts of Asia because of decades of isolation brought on by harsh military rule. But as foreign investors begin pouring in, activists in what was once known as Burma say endemic corruption, virtually nonexistent environmental laws and a long-repressed civil society make it “ripe for environmental rape.”
They hope that it will at least prove a race: pro-democracy reformers and conservationists are urging the government to put more safeguards in place against the unscrupulous eager to take advantage of their absence.
The rush is already on. Airplanes bound for Yangon, the nation’s largest city, are booked up with businessmen looking for deals, along with throngs of tourists. Singapore dispatched a delegation with 74 company representatives in March while the Malaysians sent a high-level investment mission focused on property development, tourism, rubber and oil palm plantations. U.S. and European countries are not as involved because sanctions against Myanmar prevent them from starting new businesses there.
“The ‘development invasion’ will speed up environmental destruction and is also likely to lead to more human rights abuses,” says Pianporn Deetes of the U.S.-based International Rivers Network. “Industries will move very fast, while civil society is just beginning to learn about the impacts.”
Under President Thein Sein, the government last year began to loosen the military’s grip on power, instituting some reforms and even allowing democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to run, and win, a seat in Parliament. Reasons for the changes remain murky, but years as an international pariah have left Myanmar poor and in need of foreign investment.
Environmentally, Myanmar is certainly no longer pristine, but it has been spared some of the wholesale ravages seen in the economically booming, more open societies across Asia.
Positioned at the core of one of the world’s richest biodiversity hotspots, it’s endowed with plant and animal life of the flanking Himalayas, Malay peninsula, Indian subcontinent and mainland Southeast Asia.
Only three countries in the world have more extensive tropical forests: Brazil, India and the Congo. Myanmar is home to 1,099 of Southeast Asia’s 1,324 bird species, and to extensive coral reefs. Unexploited rivers, on- and offshore oil deposits and minerals abound.
“The scale is just massive. It just dwarfs everything else in surrounding countries,” says Robert J. Tizard, who heads the office of the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society in Myanmar. “It could be a curse that they have so many resources.”

8:38AM BST 30 Apr 2012

Burma’s main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) has ended the dispute over the parliamentary admission oath and agrees to take its seats in the national legislature, party chairwomen Aung San Suu Kyi told a press conference at her Rangoon home on Monday morning.

Suu Kyi said NLD members decided to join Parliament on Wednesday in response to their supporters and MPs from ethnic groups who were keen to see the party take up the 43 seats they won in the landmark April 1 by-elections.

“There are two reasons why we decided to join Parliament,” said the 66-year-old. “One is we deeply respect the people’s desire who helped us win a majority at the election. These people want to see us in Parliament.

“Another reason is to show respect to members of ethnic political parties that are already MPs and who have asked us to join Parliament.”

MPs from ethnic political parties as well as independents and members of the National Unity Party all wrote letters in which they offered to cooperate with the NLD to change the Constitution within Parliament, according to Suu Kyi.

“Our party quickly made the decision to join Parliament because we have many matters with which to work together with these ethnic political parties,” said the Nobel Laureate.

She added that there are many undemocratic articles to change within the widely-condemned 2008 Constitution. “This is just a problem regarding the Constitution and is not a political conflict,” said Suu Kyi. “We do not create any political conflicts. Therefore, we agreed to join Parliament because we do not want to have any political tension.”
The NLD wanted to replace the phrase “safeguard” with “respect” the Constitution in the oath sworn by new MPs.

The party campaigned on a platform of amending undemocratic articles within the document—such as the 25 percent of parliamentary seats reserved for military appointees—but face a struggle as any change requires 75 percent of the legislature’s approval.

But Suu Kyi denied that she was backing down over the issue. “Politics is an issue of give and take,” she said. “We are not giving up, we are just yielding to the aspirations of the people.”

Nyan Win, a spokesperson for the NLD, told The Irrawaddy that his party’s members will join the Parliament on Wednesday. Most MP-elects will travel to Naypyidaw on Tuesday, but Suu Kyi has said that she will go to the capital early on Wednesday before swearing-in.

Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon delivered a historic speech within the Burmese Parliament on Monday. He called for international trade sanctions against Burma to be further reduced and is due to meet with Suu Kyi on Tuesday.

 

1:06 pm | Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. secretary-general’s special adviser on Myanmar said the resource-rich but desperately poor nation has the potential to become an Asian tiger if it promotes investment, eases financial restrictions, and finds experts to develop the country.

Vijay Nambiar gave an upbeat briefing to a group of reporters Tuesday, ahead of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit to Myanmar this weekend, saying that after more than 20 years of “almost self-inflicted hibernation” the country has undergone rapid and dramatic political changes.

“I think the pace as well as the nature of the change has been in some ways extraordinary, and perhaps far in advance of what had been envisaged” by the military, which ruled the country for 50 years, he said.

Since last year, the new government headed by President Thein Sein has overseen a wave of political reforms and won wide praise for progress toward democratic rule.

The government has freed political prisoners, signed truces with rebel groups, and organized April 1 by-elections deemed free and fair that were overwhelmingly won by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party and earned the Nobel laureate a seat in parliament after years of repression and house arrest.

“Today, after more than 20 years, Myanmar has a constitution, elections and a parliament,” Nambiar said, which despite flaws never happened before.

He said last year’s meeting between Thein Sein and Suu Kyi “has been a major game changer,” and he praised the president’s statesmanship and the opposition leader’s agreement to contest the April election despite her opposition to the constitution which was drafted during an era of military rule and gives inordinate power to the military.

Another “game-changer,” Nambiar said, was the decision of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to choose Myanmar to chair the organization in 2014.

The recent suspension of U.S. and European Union sanctions, which were imposed in the late 1990s to punish Myanmar’s former iron-fisted military rulers, has also been important, he said.

But Myanmar’s progress towards democracy suffered a hiccup Monday when Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, refused to take its 43 new seats in parliament because of a dispute over the lawmakers’ oath which says they must “safeguard the constitution.” It wants the word “safeguard” replaced with “respect.” Party officials said they expect the issue to be resolved soon.

“I think there is wisdom on both sides to get through this,” Nambiar said. “I can’t see them going through elections and not solving this.”

He said one of the most important imperatives today is to develop Myanmar, which he described as a country “twice the size of England or France with a population much larger than Afghanistan and Iraq put together which has had 60 years of conflict.” According to the International Monetary Fund, Myanmar’s population in 2010 was 50.5 million and the country ranks 149th out of 185 on the U.N.’s Human Development Index which measures the quality of life.

“There is a critical need for external investment, for easing of financial restrictions, of currency reform,” Nambiar said. “All these areas are extemely necessary — and quickly.”

He said in some ways the economic changes are “a little more intimidating” than the political changes because with the transition now taking place in the country “there is going to be this huge rush in terms of investment and financial attention — even aid attention to Myanmar — and the question of how to cope with it.”

It is going to require expanding the capacity of government institutions and changing regulations, deciding what kind of internal and foreign investments are needed, and planning to develop the country’s private sector, he said.

Nambiar, who is Ban’s chief of staff, said the first thing the U.N. plans to do is try and help the government prioritize its development plan.

He noted that the government is bringing back some of its citizens with expertise who have been living overseas, but “there is a huge lack of human resources capability.”

Once these requirements are met, Nambiar said, “I think there is a strong possibility that Myanmar can emerge as a tiger.”

Looking ahead, he said there is also a generational change taking place in Myanmar, including in the military, and younger leaders, even in the army, are going to face the same kind of challenges as their counterparts elsewhere in the world.