Myanmar: Who is Aung San Suu Kyi really?

Xanadu · Mar 27, 2013

Who is 'opposition' leader Aung San Suu Kyi really? Here we see her attending the annual Armed Forces Day celebration for the first time.

Because of years of propaganda today most people see her as the good side, but siding with 'royals' and attending a military parade shows a complete opposite picture.
Today she has a lot of people on her side, all these people believe they have a leader that works in their best interrest (feel safe and secure)
And this is the picture we see world wide, none of all these leaders is really for the people (all for their leaders, 'royals' or a military top or elite), they all have sided with regimes and 'royals'. Most people have no idea what this world is about, most are unaware of history (empires, dictatorships) over the last couple of thousand years. And this world is heading for once the same old ritual, rulers vs the people (most people have no idea how close they are to loose their freedom, they can't see that their power is taken by politics that is using terminology ('democracy') and propaganda (mass media)

waltky · Nov 9, 2015

Suu Kyi wins by a landslide...

Myanmar ruling party concedes poll defeat as Suu Kyi heads for landslide
9 Nov.`15 - Myanmar's ruling party conceded defeat in the country's general election on Monday, as the opposition led by democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi appeared on course for a landslide victory that would ensure it can form the next government.

"We lost," Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) acting chairman Htay Oo told Reuters in an interview a day after the Southeast Asian country's first free nationwide election in a quarter of a century. The election commission later began announcing constituency-by-constituency results from Sunday's poll. All of the first 12 announced were won by Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy (NLD).

Myanmar's National League for Democracy party leader Aung San Suu Kyi looks at supporters after speaking about the general elections in Yangon, Myanmar

The NLD said its own tally of results from polling stations around the country showed it on track to win more than 70 percent of the seats being contested in parliament, more than the two-thirds it needs to form Myanmar's first democratically elected government since the early 1960s. "They must accept the results, even though they don't want to," NLD spokesman Win Htein told Reuters, adding that in the highly populated central region the Nobel peace laureate's party looked set to win more than 90 percent of seats.

Earlier a smiling Suu Kyi appeared on the balcony of the NLD's headquarters in Yangon and in a brief address urged supporters to be patient and wait for the official results.

DEMOCRATIC JOURNEY

The election was a landmark in the country's unsteady journey to democracy from the military dictatorship that made it a pariah state for so long. It is also a moment that Suu Kyi will relish after spending years under house arrest.

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waltky · Nov 22, 2015

Granny says, "Dat's right - dat's what it's always all about...

Power shift in Myanmar is all about oil
Thursday 19th November, 2015 - Writing in the New York Times in an article entitled, "Myanmar Generals Set the State for Their Own Exit", Thomas Fuller expressed his and the media's failure to recognize the total fraud that is Myanmarese democracy. "The official results are still being tabulated," he wrote, "but all signs, so far, point to that rarest of things: an authoritarian government peacefully giving up power after what outside election monitors have deemed a credible vote."

Fuller, who said nothing about the persecuted Rohingya minority and little about the other millions of Myanmarese who were denied the chance to vote, only managed to contribute to the seemingly baffling media euphoria about the country's alleged democracy. Reporting from Myanmar also known as Burma - Timothy McLaughlin dealt with the Rohingya subject directly; however, he offered a misleading sentiment that the oppressed minority, which was excluded from the vote, can see a 'glimmer of hope' in the outcome of the elections. According to results, the National League for Democracy (NLD), under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi, has won a stunning victory over its rivals in the ruling party, by garnering 348 seats, in contrast with only 40 seats obtained by the military-controlled party that has ruled Myanmar since 1962.

There is no real basis for that supposed 'glimmer of hope', aside from a non-binding statement made by an NLD official, Win Htein, that the Citizenship Act of 1982 "must be reviewed" an Act which served as the basis for discrimination against the Rohingya. Win Htein's comments are disingenuous, let alone non-committal, at best. The Citizenship Act "must be reviewed because it is too extreme... review that law and make necessary amendments so that we consider those people who are already in our country, maybe second generation, so they will be considered as citizens," he told Reuters. His comments promote the myth that the well over one million Rohingya are 'Bengalis", who came to his Myanmar only recently as hapless immigrants.

While Myanmar, like any other ASEAN country has its fair share of immigrants, the fact is that most Rohingya Muslims are native to the state of "Rohang" (originally a kingdom in itself), officially known as Rakhine or Arakan. Over the years, especially in the late 19th century and early 20th century, the original inhabitants of Arakan were joined by cheap or forced labor from Bengal and India, who permanently settled there. For decades, tension has brewed between Buddhists and Muslims in the region. Eventually, the majority, backed by a military junta, prevailed over the minority which had no serious regional or international backers. A rising tide of Buddhist nationalism has reached genocidal levels in recent years and is targeting not only Rohingya Muslims, but also Christian and other minority groups in the country.

The Rohingya population of Arakan, estimated at nearly 800,000, subsist between the nightmare of having no legal status (as they are still denied citizenship), little or no rights and the occasional ethnic purges carried out by their neighbors. While Buddhists also paid a price for the clashes, the stateless Rohingya, being isolated and defenseless, were the ones to carry the heaviest death toll and destruction. Writing in the Ecologist, Nafeez Ahmed cited alarming new findings conducted last October by the International State Crime Initiative (ISCI) at Queen Mary University in London, which "found that the Rohingya ..face 'the final stages of a genocidal process'." "Leaked government documents show that plans to inflict 'mass annihilation' have been prepared at the highest levels," he wrote.

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waltky · Dec 7, 2015

Former junta leader resigned to Suu Kyi being future leader of Myanmar...

Myanmars ex-dictator says Suu Kyi is future leader
6 Dec.`15 - Myanmars fea(*)red former junta leader Than Shwe has endorsed his one-time nemesis Aung San Suu Kyi as a future leader of the country, according to his grandson.

Than Shwe, a postal clerk turned general who ran the country with an iron fist for nearly two decades, met with democracy champion Suu Kyi on Friday. Her party is preparing for power after Novembers massive election win. The talks mark a dramatic turnaround in fortune for Suu Kyi, who was kept under house arrest for 15 years by the 82-year-old retired general for leading the democracy movement against his army. Everyone has to accept the truth that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will be the future leader of Myanmar after winning the elections, Than Shwe was quoted as saying on a Facebook post late on Saturday by his grandson, Nay Shwe Thway Aung. Daw is a term of respect. I will support her earnestly as much as I can if she really works for the development of the country, he added, according to the post.

The former strongmans grandson said he acted as an intermediary for the talks. Win Myint, a spokesman for Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) party, confirmed the Friday meeting, adding it was the first time the pair had met since 2003. Suu Kyi, 70, is barred from the presidency by an army-scripted constitution, but has said she will govern from above the president when her party take their seats in the new year. Than Shwe ruled Myanmar from 1992 to 2011, when he handed power over to a military-backed semi-civilian government.

It is unclear if his reported comments offer support for Suu Kyis bid to change the charter, including the clause that bars her from the nations top office because her sons have foreign passports. The NLD scooped up nearly 80 per cent of contested seats in last months breakthrough election, a massive mandate to govern after nearly half a century of military rule.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1224671/myanmars-ex-dictator-says-suu-kyi-is-future-leader
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waltky · Feb 1, 2016

Myanmar starts down the road of democracy...

Myanmar Begins New Era as Full-fledged Democracy
February 01, 2016 - Myanmar began a new chapter in its history Monday as its democratically elected parliament convened its first session, formally ending over a half-century of iron-fisted military rule.

Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi led newly elected lawmakers from her National League for Democracy party into the parliamentary chambers in the capital, Naypyitaw, still basking in the glow of victory from last November's election. The NLD trounced the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party by winning 80 percent of the elected seats in both houses of parliament.

1990 elections

The session also brings to reality a moment delayed since 1990 when the military denied the NLD to take power after the party won the last democratically held elections in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma. The new parliament is scheduled to elect a new speaker and deputy speaker during Monday's opening session. Win Mynt, a close associate of Aung San Suu Kyi, is expected to be elected to the top post, while T Khun Myat, a member of the defeated Union Solidarity Party, will be named as deputy speaker. The lawmakers will also elect a new president to succeed Thein Sein, a former general who imposed a number of democratic reforms as leader of the quasi-civilian government that took power from the long-ruling military junta in 2011.

Myanmars pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, center, arrives to participate in the inauguration session of Myanmar's lower house parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar

Banned from presidency

Aung San Suu Kyi is constitutionally banned from serving in the post because her sons are British, as was her late husband. But she has vowed to rule through a figurehead president. The Nobel Peace laureate also said she will include in the new Cabinet at least one member of the military-linked USDP, as well as members from ethnic minorities who have complained of being sidelined from power.

The NLD will propose a member of the minority ethnic Karen for speaker of the upper house, and an Arakanese for his deputy. Despite its huge majority in the legislature, the ruling NLD will have to forge a working relationship with the military, which automatically controls 25 percent of all parliamentary seats under the 2008 constitution and maintains control of several key government posts, including defense, interior and border security.

http://www.voanews.com/content/myanmar-begins-new-era-as-full-fledged-democracy/3171249.html
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New era as Suu Kyis novice MPs brace for office
Mon, Feb 01, 2016 - In a modest dormitory in Myanmars capital, Naypyidaw, novice Burmese Member of Parliament (MP) Tin Thit recites a poem he has penned called No Retreat, steeling himself to enter Myanmars parliament carrying the dreams of a nation left traumatized by army rule.

A poet, editor, activist and now newly elected MP he is among hundreds of political newcomers poised to take their seats today in the nations most democratic legislature in generations, following the huge landslide win by Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) in November last year. This is our era, the newly minted NLD lawmaker said on Saturday as he prepared for a last-ditch round of parliamentary training organized by his party, brushing off concerns about his and his colleagues lack of experience. This is our responsibility. We will just do the job we have to do, he said.

The new parliament marks a momentous political shift for a nation that was held in the choke hold of oppressive junta rule for decades. Many of the NLD MPs have served prison time in Myanmars long struggle for democratic change. They are a diverse bunch, counting singers, lawyers and businessmen among their ranks. However, few have any experience of the cut and thrust of Myanmars complex parliamentary process.

Burmese military lawmakers sign in to attend the final session of parliament as it ended its five-year term in Naypyidaw

They must show the nations 51 million people that they can deliver the change that was virtually the sole message of Aung San Suu Kyis triumphant election bid. That is unlikely to be easy. While the junta handed power to a quasi-civilian reformist government in 2011, the Southeast Asian nation remains blighted by poverty and corruption. Junta-era neglect has left a legacy of ravaged education, healthcare, infrastructure and a creaking bureaucracy.

Ethnic minority divisions have also torn deep fractures across the nation and civil wars continue to ravage border areas, fought by a military that has ensured it is to retain huge political and economic powers under the new government. Our region is another world, said Cing Ngaih Mang, a newly elected MP for a small ethnic minority party from western Chin State, marveling at the grandeur of Myanmars junta-built capital. The difference in development is like comparing earth and sky, she said, adding that she had been watching parliamentary TV to brush up on protocol.

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waltky · Mar 22, 2016

Suu Kyi likely to take a background role...

Suu Kyi unlikely to take formal role
Tue, Mar 22, 2016 - PRESIDENTS PLEDGE: In his first public speech since being elected president, Htin Kyaw promised job security, despite the number of ministries being cut by one-third

Myanmar democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi is unlikely to take a formal position in the incoming government of her National League for Democracy (NLD) and is to control the administration through her position as party leader, a senior official said. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate led the NLD to a landslide win in a historic election in November last year, but a constitution drafted by the former junta bars her from the presidency because her two sons are British citizens, as was her late husband. Taking positions is not that important any more... In the United States there are many famous lawmakers in the parliament who are very influential, but they do not take any position in the Cabinet, NLD spokesman Zaw Myint Maung said on Sunday. It is the same here. She will lead the party, so she will lead the government formed by that party, Zaw Myint Maung said in the most detailed remarks from the NLD so far on how Aung San Suu Kyi plans to wield power.

Members of parliament attend a union parliament session in Naypyidaw yesterday.

Other top-level NLD politicians, including Aung San Suu Kyis confidant, Win Htein, have likened her role to that of Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. As leader of Indias Congress party, she dominated the government of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh before it fell from power in 2014, but held no ministerial position. NLD leaders have derided the constitution as ridiculous, and Aung San Suu Kyi has pledged to run the nation through a proxy president. The NLD-dominated parliament last week elected Htin Kyaw a close friend and confidant of Aung San Suu Kyi for that role, making him the first head of state since the 1960s who is not a serving or recently retired senior military officer. In the run-up to the November poll last year, Aung San Suu Kyi had made clear she intended to lead the government regardless of whether she was president, but said the Sonia Gandhi comparison was not quite accurate. She has not elaborated since.

Htin Kyaw yesterday made his first public speech since being elected, pledging job security for public servants even as the parliament cut the number of ministries by about one-third to 21. He said the reforms would save Myanmar more than US$4.1 million and those savings would be spent on healthcare, education and rural development. There is no reason for causing unemployment if the government employees take jobs in accordance with existing laws, rules and regulations, he said, without elaborating. Most military members of parliament, who hold one-quarter of the seats in the parliament, also voted in favor of the changes, results showed. I think the military also understands that they [some ministries] are not necessary. Their collaboration is an improvement in the parliament, lower house NLD lawmaker Aung Hlaing Win said.

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waltky · Mar 22, 2016

Suu Kyi to be in foreign ministers office...

Myanmar's Suu Kyi to run foreign ministry
Tue, 22 Mar 2016 - Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) party swept to victory in Myanmar's election, is given a place in the new cabinet.

Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won historic elections in Myanmar, is to take a place in the new cabinet. Ms Suu Kyi is barred from the presidency herself and had been widely expected not to take a ministry. But her name was on a list of 18 submitted to parliament by President-elect Htin Kyaw. The BBC's Jonah Fisher in Yangon says she will head up foreign affairs, energy, education and be minister in the president's office. There are no other women appointed to the cabinet, he adds. Myanmar's constitution, drafted by the outgoing military rulers, prevents Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president because her two sons have British passports. Despite weeks of negotiation, the NLD was unable to persuade the military to remove or suspend the clause.

Analysis: Jonah Fisher, BBC News, Yangon

Aung San Suu Kyi had already made it clear that whatever her title she was going to run the new government. She could have done that just by becoming minister in the president's office, sitting next to her friend and proxy Htin Kyaw and telling him what to do. But that clearly wasn't enough. Ms Suu Kyi has had four and a half months to reflect on who should steer one of her biggest priorities, education reform.

She's also had time to consider who should oversee the vital energy portfolio, and who should represent a resurgent Myanmar, also known as Burma, at summits abroad. And after all that time the answer was staring back from the mirror. Aung San Suu Kyi decided that there could be no-one else, and that she would have to directly run three of the most time-consuming ministries. Only time will tell how that works in practice. But given there are only five working days in a week these ministries could well be guided by someone who shows up for just one day in five.

Even with the most efficient support team around you, it's hardly a platform to deliver much-needed ambitious change. Fifteen of the names on the ministerial list were chosen by Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate and former political prisoner, and three by the commander-in-chief of the army. Parliament is expected to vote later in the week to confirm the posts. The NLD has a huge majority in both houses of parliament, although the military automatically occupies 25% of seats. If she does become foreign minister, under the complex political structure Ms Suu Kyi will have to stand down as an MP and refrain from all NLD activities.

Who is Htin Kyaw?
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waltky · Mar 24, 2016

Fate of political prisoners in Myanmar...

Amnesty urges Suu Kyi to free political prisoners
Fri, Mar 25, 2016 - HISTORIC CHANGE: The rights group urged Myanmars incoming government to end the cycle of repression by releasing hundreds of people in prison or detention

Amnesty International yesterday urged Aung San Suu Kyi and her partys new government to release all political prisoners when they take office next week, saying it is a historic opportunity for Myanmar to break away from the repression of the former junta rule. Myanmars legal framework reads like a textbook of repression, and authorities have in recent years increasingly used it to silence dissent, Amnesty International Southeast Asia director Champa Patel told reporters. Serious questions remain unanswered about the new governments power to improve human rights given that the constitution keeps several key institutions under the militarys control, including the ministries of home affairs which oversees the police defense and border affairs.

Amnestys report, based on interviews with human rights defenders, activists, lawyers, and prisoners of conscience and their families, documents the widespread crackdown on political opponents in the past two years. It said the government has relied on draconian laws and other intimidating tactics to silence dissent. Aung San Suu Kyi led her National League for Democracy party to a historic win in the Nov. 8 elections, and is to replace a nominally civilian, military-backed government that has been in power since 2011. Before that, Myanmar was ruled by the military since 1962. During that time, the junta kept Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for several years, and jailed hundreds of her supporters and other critics. While the government has released more than 1,100 detainees over the years, some remain in jails.

National League for Democracy Legislator Khin San Hlaing, center, arrives ahead of a regular session of the Union Parliament in Naypyitaw yesterday.

Amnesty says it knows of almost 100 political prisoners still behind bars, while hundreds of other activists are in detention or waiting for their trials to end. There was no immediate comment, either from the outgoing government or Aung San Suu Kyis party. Amnesty called on the new government to immediately release all prisoners of conscience, set up a panel to review all cases and ensure no peaceful activists are imprisoned, and to amend or repeal all laws used to crack down on human rights. The NLDs willingness to free prisoners of conscience is not in doubt, but it might not be able to do so: The Corrections Department is under the military-controlled Ministry of Home Affairs.

Even after we have the new government and parliament, they will not have the full authority to manage the country, Bo Kyi of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said. The constitution says the commander-in-chief is the most powerful person in the country. The laws themselves have also been applied in ways that add to their severity against dissenters and activists. In one such case, Htin Kyaw is serving 13 years and 10 months for distributing leaflets criticizing the government. He was charged with the same offense separately in all 11 townships where he handed out the leaflets. It would have been really graceful if [outgoing Burmese] President Thein Sein had released all the political prisoners before the end of his term, said Robert San Aung, an advocate for political activists on trial.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2016/03/25/2003642417
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waltky · Mar 27, 2016

Suu Kyi victim of journalistic ambush...

Suu Kyi angry at being interviewed by Muslim: writer
Sun, Mar 27, 2016 - ETHNIC CLEANSING: A new book said that Aung San Suu Kyi complained about a BBC interview in 2013 over the plight of the Rohingya minority

Burmese democracy veteran Aung San Suu Kyi angrily complained about being interviewed by a Muslim BBC presenter who pressed her about violence against Rohingya Muslims, a biographer said on Friday. No one told me I was going to be interviewed by a Muslim, the Nobel laureate reportedly said off air after a tense exchange with British-Pakistani news presenter Mishal Husain broadcast in October 2013. The claim was made by Peter Popham, a journalist with the Independent newspaper and author of newly published book The Lady and The Generals Aung San Suu Kyi and Burmas Struggle for Freedom.

In the BBC interview, veteran journalist Husain had pressed Aung San Suu Kyi about the plight of the Rohingya minority, who have been hardest hit by deadly bouts of communal violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi insisted the violence was not ethnic cleansing, saying: Muslims have been targeted, but also Buddhists have been subject to violence. Theres fear on both sides. Popham wrote about the outburst in an article for the Independent published online on Friday, and said it was relayed to him by a reliable source.

A BBC spokeswoman contacted by Agence France-Presse declined to comment. Aung San Suu Kyi has faced international criticism for not taking a stronger stance on the Rohingyas plight, and for failing to field any Muslim candidates in Novembers polls. She is to be foreign minister in Myanmars first civilian government for decades, her party said on Tuesday, giving the democracy champion a formal post despite being blocked from the presidency.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2016/03/27/2003642563
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waltky · Jul 1, 2016

Report failed to mention progress and development made...

Myanmar ‘sad’ over its demotion on US trafficking blacklist
Sat, Jul 02, 2016 - Myanmar called sad and regrettable a move by the US to place the country on a list of the world’s worst human-trafficking offenders.

The demotion came on Thursday when the US Department of State released its annual Trafficking in Persons report, which examines 188 governments’ efforts in combating modern-day slavery. It placed Myanmar alongside countries like Iran, North Korea and Syria, and says the Southeast Asian country has failed to meet “the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.” It also removed Thailand from the blacklist, despite what the State Department described as widespread forced labor in the country’s seafood industry. The downgrade for Myanmar appeared aimed at sending a message to the country’s government, headed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, and its still-powerful military to curb use of forced labor, sex trafficking and the recruitment of children as soldiers into the armed forces.

Aung Sun Suu Kyi has been criticized for failing to address widespread persecution of the nation’s Rohingya Muslim minority. Her government criticized the demotion as failing to recognize the country’s progress. “We are very sad that we have not been recognized for making positive changes,” Burmese presidential spokesman Zaw Htay said. “In their report, they didn’t mention the progress and development we have made for our country.” The Burmese Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the downgrade “regrettable” and urged the US not to impose restrictions that would hamper US-Myanmar relations.

It also promised to step up efforts to combat trafficking measures. “The issue of human smuggling and trafficking will be addressed vigorously in close cooperation with international partners,” it said. US President Barack Obama now has 90 days to determine whether to apply sanctions on so-called Tier 3 nations, including Myanmar. The US often chooses not to, based on its national security interests.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2016/07/02/2003650188
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Myanmar frees Buddhist monk who led Saffron Revolution, drops charges
July 1, 2016 -- A former Buddhist monk and activist who led the 2007 Saffron Revolution was released from prison Friday after last-minute criminal charges against him were dropped.

Nyi Nyi Lwin, better known by his ordination name U Gambira, was serving a six-month sentence after being convicted in January for crossing from Thailand into Myanmar without the proper documentation. Just before his scheduled release of July 1, the courts levied additional charges against him stemming from a 2012 alleged trespassing incident. If convicted on the new charges, his prison sentence would have been extended.

Amnesty International decried the new charges as a bid to keep Gambira behind bars, saying he "is a prisoner of conscience who should be immediately and unconditionally released." Following his release, Gambira said he was "very, very, very, happy now." It is not clear why the charges were dropped.

Gambira came into the public eye in August 2007 as a key leader of the All-Burma Monks Alliance. He was instrumental in organizing economic and political protests in what became known as the Saffron Revolution. After the Burmese military crushed the protests, Gambira went into hiding, was eventually caught and sentenced to 68 years in prison. He was released in January 2012 as part of a prisoner amnesty program and left the monkhood.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-N...on-drops-charges/1321467389373/?spt=sec&or=tn
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