News & Articles on Burma-Wednesday, 09 February, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Wednesday, 09 February, 2011
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An aye for sanctions
Military Generals Assume Key Ministries
British Highlighting Concerns Over Burma's Parliament
Jailed SNLD Chairman in Ailing Health
Burma Aims to Attract Investors with SEZ Law
Myanmar opposition: Sanctions work, should continue
Only four civilians on Myanmar's next cabinet lineup
No women on list to head ministries
EDITORIAL: Myanmar's parliament
Endless Fighting
Myanmar president nominates 30, mostly retired military officers, as ministers in new Cabinet
Myanmar prez nominates 30 for new Cabinet
Suu Kyi: Young people should critique the judicial system
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An aye for sanctions

Feb 8th 2011, 16:09 by R.C. | JAKARTA

EVER since national elections in early November and then the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the pro-democracy opposition, from something close to 20 years' in detention, Myanmar-watchers have been waiting with bated breath to see which way she and her party would jump on the tricky issue of sanctions. At last, it seems, we have something of an answer.

Maintaining Western countries’ sanctions against Myanmar and its military regime were for many years a rallying cry for human-rights activists and opposition groups. Recently though there have been calls from within that community to reassess the policy in the light of what some see as progress towards greater freedom and democracy—such as the elections, the meeting of a first parliament in 20 years, to say nothing of the release of Ms Suu Kyi herself. The pressure has been mounting. The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has called several times for sanctions to be lifted. More pertinently perhaps, five of Myanmar’s “ethnic-based” opposition parties recently argued for the same.

On February 7th Miss Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), issued a statement to the effect that—after a lot of consultation and discussion—they have decided that sanctions should stay. At least for the moment. The length of time it took for the NLD to say this reflects the fact that the issue has become a subject of live debate within the party. Nonetheless, the NLD was quite clear about the fact that the progress that others have claimed to see is in fact a sham; the regime, they say, should not be rewarded for doing so very little.

The NLD rebutted the charge that the sanctions serve only to impoverish the ordinary people of Myanmar—the very people that the NLD professes to represent—rather than to penalise the regime. One NLD official, Tin Oo, was quoted as saying that after extensive research the party had found “that sanctions affect only the leaders of the regime and their close business associates, not the majority of the people.” So, that would appear to be that, then.

But not quite, I think. The NLD must be aware that it will have disappointed many policymakers and business interests in the West who have been hoping to return, if only to offer some counterweight to China and Thailand in their accelerating exploitation of Myanmar’s natural resources. Accordingly, the NLD has given itself some wiggle room. Spokesmen say that the party is keen to “listen” to the people who argue that sanctions ought be lifted, and to have more discussions. We haven’t seen the last of this matter.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/asiaview/2011/02/aung_san_suu_kyi
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Military Generals Assume Key Ministries
By BA KAUNG and WAI MOE Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Three military generals were appointed on Wednesday by Burmese junta supremo Snr-Gen Than Shwe to the powerful ministerial posts of defense, home affairs, and border affairs, according to MPs in Naypyidaw.

Burma's new defense minister is Lt-Gen Ko Ko, a former chief of the Bureau of Special Operations-3 (BSO-3), while Maj-Gen Hla Min, the current BSO-3 chief, becomes the minister of home affairs. Both previously served as commanders of Southern Regional Military Command.

Maj-Gen Thein Htay, the chief of military ordnance, has been appointed minister for border affairs, considered a key position in the new government.

A former military officer turned Burmese diplomat, Wanna Maung Lwin, becomes Burma's new foreign minister.

The four ministers will automatically be members of the Nation Defense and Security Council (NDSC) alongside the president, two vice-presidents, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the deputy commander-in-chief, and the two House speakers.

With the exception of Vice-president Sai Mauk Kham, every member of the NDSC is a military officer or former officer.

Under the 2008 constitution, the commender-in-chief of the armed forces has the exclusive authority to appoint the ministers of defense, home affairs, and border affairs.

Other ministerial appointments on Wednesday include Pe Thet Khin as health minister, and Dr. Mya Aye as education minister.

Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan retains his position as minister of information. Construction Minister Khin Maung Myint also remains at his current post. Thein Nyunt is named as minister of the presidential office, Khin Yi is named as minister of science and technology, and Aye Myint is appointed minister of culture.

Thein Tun has been appointed as head of the Ministry of Telecommunications, Post and Telegraphs, a job previously held by Thein Zaw.

MP Khin Maung Yi, who represents the National Democratic Force and attended the parliamentary session on Wednesday, said that parliamentary officials distributed a list of the ministerial appointments to every MP on Wednesday, while another list of 34 appointments was handed out the day before.

A rumor leaked from the War Office on Monday suggesting that Lt-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the current joint-chief of staff (army, navy, air force), and Maj-Gen Soe Win, the head of BSO-6, would take over as commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief respectively if Than Shwe and his deputy, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, stepped down.

From Friday through to Wednesday, Burma's state-run newspapers have run Than Shwe’s previous Union Day messages with his photo on their front pages and/or alongside their mastheads.

“The talk of the town is Than Shwe’s Union Day messages with his photos,” said an editor with a private news journal in Rangoon. “I think he ordered the Ministry of Information to put them there.

“Maybe it's a message from the old psychological warfare officer reminding his soldiers that the senior-general is still number one.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=20715
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British Highlighting Concerns Over Burma's Parliament

The British government intends to highlight its concerns about the restrictions on freedom of speech and scrutiny in Burma’s new Parliament, according to Burma Campaign UK.

In response to a question in the British Parliament, MP Jeremy Browne, a Foreign Office minister with responsibility for Burma, stated that the British government has raised its concerns over the restrictive and undemocratic nature of the regime’s political process with Britain's international partners, including in recent weeks with China, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

The British government will again underline its concerns at the forthcoming session of the Human Rights Council in March, Browne said. He also stated that the British government is deeply concerned by reported restrictions on freedom of speech and scrutiny in Burma's Parliament. Published Wednesday, Feb. 09, 2011
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Jailed SNLD Chairman in Ailing Health
By KO HTWE Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The health of Hkun Htun Oo, the detained chairman of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), is deteriorating on a daily basis due to the severe weather and gout, according to family sources.

Hkun Htun Oo, 66, is currently serving a 93-year prison sentence for treason in remote Puta-O prison in northern Kachin State. It is believed that the military government sentences political prisoners to remote prisons, far away from their family, as a punitive measure.

“He [Hkun Htun Oo] cannot sleep well and urinates at least 10 times per night,” said SNLD spokesman Sai Leik. “His prostate is giving him problems. He is given no opportunity to see the doctor, and is constantly worried that his disease will manifest into cancer.”

Hkun Htun Oo (PHOTO: S.H.A.N.)
“His leg is swollen,” said sources close to Hkun Tun Oo’s family. “His daughter had to pay a 2,000 kyat (US $2) bribe to the guards to allow some food to be brought in for him.”

Several Shan leaders were arrested after attending a meeting of opposition and ethnic groups in Shan State on February 7, 2005. They were accused of high treason.

The SNLD won the second highest number of seats in Parliament during Burma’s 1990 election, which was never recognized.

Hkun Htun Oo's colleague Sai Nyunt Lwin was sentenced to 85 years and is currently confined in Kalay Prison, while Sai Hla Aung was sentenced to 75 years and is being held in Kyaukpyu Prison in Arakan State.

According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), there are 2,189 political prisoners in Burma, 225 of whom are from ethnic communities.

Meanwhile, the SNLD released a statement on Monday to coincide with the 64th anniversary of Shan National Day in which it urged the Burmese authorities to release the Shan leaders, including Hkun Htun Oo.

“We are calling for a release of all political prisoners, including the Shan leaders, and a new start to a dialogue that is transparent,” said Sai Leik. “We launched this statement on Shan National Day because we want it to be more meaningful.”

There are as yet no signs that the new government will reduce the oppression of Shan people, added the SNLD spokesman.

Shan National Day was declared on Feb. 11, 1947, after an announcement by the leader of southern Shan State, Saopha Pann Sein, who was a Shan prince. It was also on this day that Shan leaders recognized the Shan national flag and the Shan national anthem, he added.

But in recent years, the military authorities have forced the Shan community in Rangoon to celebrate Shan National Day under the name of the Festival of the Nationals Dancing and Traditional Food Festival, according to a member of the Shan Literature and Culture Association (SLC) in Rangoon.

Many members of the SLC across the country said the luck of freedom to celebrate Shan National Day was a threat to Shan traditions and culture.

Even though an ethnic Shan MP, Dr. Sai Mauk Kham, a member of the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), was on Friday appointed vice-president of the new government, few Shan observers are hopeful that he will have influence to secure the release of Hkun Htun Oo and the other detained Shan leaders.

The Irrawaddy reporter Sai Zom Hseng contributed to this story.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20720
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Burma Aims to Attract Investors with SEZ Law
By HTET AUNG Wednesday, February 9, 2011

After the two-decade failure of Burma's so-called market economy, the ruling military junta has announced a new “Myanmar Special Economic Zone Law” to attract more foreign investment in the country with an unprecedented package of benefits.

The law, which was signed into effect by junta head Snr-Gen Than Shwe on Jan. 27, will set up Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the country to attract foreign direct investment with a wide range of economic concessions, allowing businesses to operate freely in specially designated areas, according to a copy of the law obtained by The Irrawaddy.

The new SEZ law defines three specific zone types: special economic zones, export processing zones and sub-trading zones. It also classifies the roles of developers as infrastructure builders and investors to do business activities in the SEZ.

The law includes a package of benefits to attract investors, both foreign and local, who intend to set up businesses within the export-processing zones.

According to Chapter Five, Article 17 of the law—“Special Privileges of Investor”—investors will benefit from income tax exemptions for five years after starting an export business and pay just 50 percent of taxes for the next five years. Investors who reinvest export profits in the zone can apply for a further five years of 50 percent tax relief.

Moreover, after the expiration of the previous tax exemptions, large-scale businesses that are able to export more than 50 percent of their products within a year can apply for tax exemptions for that year under Article 18 of the law. (Medium- and small-scale businesses must export 60 and 70 percent of their goods, respectively, to qualify for the same exemption.)

Export-oriented enterprises can also apply for exemptions from commercial taxes and value-added tax (VAT) for their export items, while imports of raw materials, machinery and equipment are eligible for exemptions from customs duties under Articles 23 and 24 of the law.

Companies importing machines and motor vehicles will be exempt from paying customs duties and other revenues for the first five years, and will receive a 50 percent reduction for the next five years.

The law also gives enterprises set up outside of export processing zones the right to apply for tax exemptions, but only if they are operating within an SEZ.

One of the biggest challenges facing foreign investors looking to do business in Burma is the unreasonable official foreign exchange rate, which is very different from the real market rate. Another hurdle is US sanctions on the Burmese junta, which make it difficult or impossible to carry out US dollar transactions between Burmese and foreign banks.

To overcome these barriers, the law allows business enterprises within the SEZ to open bank accounts in any bank without specifying whether the bank is national or foreign.

Chapter Eight, Article 38 of the law—“Banks and Finance Management and Insurance Business”—reads: “The businesses which are operated in foreign currency in the Special Economic Zone shall have the right to open foreign accounts with any bank and carry out the matters of receipt and payment in foreign currency in accord with the stipulations.”

Although the law gives a number of benefits and rights to the business entities operating in the SEZ, they are entitled to exercise them only within the specified area. The law carefully distinguishes between SEZs and the rest of the local market through separate administrative procedures as well as income tax and revenue walls.

The last chapter of the law guarantees that the government won't nationalize businesses in the SEZ “within the permitted period.”

The incumbent Prime Minister Thein Sein, who was recently elected president in accord with Burma's 2008 Constitution, submitted to the new Parliament a list of the cabinet ministries in which he included a new ministry called “Ministry of Myanmar Industrial Development.”

Three levels of administrative bodies—a Central Body, a Central Working Body and Management Committees—will be formed to govern and manage the SEZ, according to the law.

The launch of this law comes months after the military junta revealed a plan to establish the country's first-ever SEZ and international deep-sea port in Tavoy, in southern Burma's Tenesserim Division last November. The junta gave a 60-year grant to the Italian-Thai Development Public Company Ltd., Thailand's largest construction conglomerate, to construct this multibillion-dollar mega-project under the BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) system.

Some local businessmen cautiously welcomed the law, but pointed out that Burma's business environment would not significantly improve unless the government reduces bureaucratic procedures and provides, for example, one-stop service to eliminate red tape.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20719
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Myanmar opposition: Sanctions work, should continue

By - Associated Press
5:51 p.m., Tuesday, February 8, 2011

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) | The pro-democracy party of Aung San Suu Kyi endorsed Western sanctions against Myanmar on Tuesday, saying they hurt the authoritarian regime, not ordinary citizens, and implying it’s too early to lift them.

For weeks, there have been indications that the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was questioning her longtime support of sanctions. But a four-page report issued by her party on Tuesday was the first clarification of her position and could temper any momentum to lift sanctions.

Mrs. Suu Kyi had suggested after her recent release from years of house arrest that she might be open to an easing of the measures. Her comments raised interest in the West, which has long taken its cues from her and her party on the subject.

The report is bound to anger Myanmar‘s military rulers, who have long sought to have the sanctions lifted on grounds that they hurt the people of Myanmar and have pushed the country deeper into poverty. The rulers have trumpeted elections held in November as evidence of their commitment to democracy, but the polls were widely criticized as rigged to cement the junta’s power.

The release coincided with the resumption of parliament in the remote capital of Naypyitaw following Friday’s appointment of the country’s new president, Thein Sein, who served as prime minister under the junta. His selection by parliament last week was seen as the latest example of the junta’s tightening its grip on power.

“Recently, there have been calls for the removal of sanctions,” says the report, which is based on the National League for Democracy’s (NLD) own research and consultation with economists. “It can be asserted that these measures do not hurt the public at large.”

“Targeted sanctions serve as a warning that acts contrary to basic norms of justice and human rights cannot be committed with impunity even by authoritarian governments,” says the report, which blames the country’s hardships on “misguided government policies,” not sanctions.

The United States first imposed broad sanctions on Myanmar in 1988 after the junta’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests and subsequently tightened them, banning trade and American investment in Myanmar.

Since then, the EU and other Western countries have added political and economic sanctions to punish the regime for its poor human rights record and failure to move toward democracy.

“The NLD calls for discussions with the United States, the European Union, Canada and Australia with a view to reaching agreement on when, how and under what circumstances sanctions might be modified in the interests of democracy, human rights and a healthy economic environment,” the report says.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/8/myanmar-opposition-sanctions-work-should-continue/
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Only four civilians on Myanmar's next cabinet lineup

Feb 9, 2011, 11:25 GMT

Yangon - Only four civilians were on a list of 30 potential ministers for Myanmar's next cabinet which was presented to parliament Wednesday.

Parliament, based in the capital Naypyitaw, was to vote on the all-male cabinet lineup Friday, officials said.

Twenty-six of the ministers were ex-military men, the only civilians being Tin Sann, of construction company ACE; Pyay Thet Tin, rector of the Yangon Institute of Medicine; Mya Aye, rector of the Mandalay Institute of Medicine and Win Myint, chairman of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The cabinet posts were not disclosed, but Wunna Maung Lwin, a former diplomat based in Geneva, is expected to be named foreign minister, sources said.

Parliament on Friday elected former army general Thein Sein as president. He has the power to select the cabinet and heads a powerful new security council.

The lawmakers are expected to rubber-stamp the cabinet, which is dominated by the military, which has ruled Myanmar since 1962 and will continue to do so through the elected government.

Thein Sein, 65, is also chairman of the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which won 77 per cent of the contested seats in the November elections, the first in 20 years.

The polls were criticized by Western democracies for being rigged to favour the USDP and for excluding the National League for Democracy opposition party, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Despite giving up his uniform, Thein Sein is to continue to have power over the military as president by heading the National Defence and Security Council, a new entity with far-reaching powers over both the government and military.

It is to have 11 members: the president, two vice presidents, lower and upper house speakers, army commander-in-chief, his deputy, and four ministers in charge of defence, interior, foreign affairs and border area affairs.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1618079.php/Only-four-civilians-on-Myanmar-s-next-cabinet-lineup
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No women on list to head ministries
Wednesday, 09 February 2011 17:59 Phanida

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A list of 30 prospective ministers submitted by Burma’s president to head up the country’s new government includes a business tycoon, a child specialist and a cooking oil trader–but no women.

New President Thein Sein, a former general, will lead a cabinet without a woman minister. Photo : Mizzima

New President Thein Sein, a former general, will lead a cabinet without a woman minister. Photo : Mizzima
President Thein Sein submitted the list to a joint session of the Upper and Lower houses of Parliament in Naypyidaw on Wednesday, the sixth day of the new Parliament’s sessions.

The list of ministers was heavy on current ministers who are being reappointed, with a sprinkling of new faces made up mainly of businessmen. Sources said that many of the current ministers on the list are expected to be assigned to new ministries.

Thein Sein’s list included many military officers, according to sources. Some ministers will hold two ministry positions, according to sources.

Construction tycoon Tin San, child specialist and a former rector at the Yangon Institute of Medicine Dr. Phae Thet Tin, cooking oil trader Win Myint, who is also the chairman of The Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry were among the list of new faces, according to a lawmaker in Naypyidaw.

On Tuesday, Thein Sein submitted a list of 34 ministries, which will comprise the new government.
http://mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/4861-no-women-on-list-to-head-ministries.html
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EDITORIAL: Myanmar's parliament
2011/02/09

The newly inaugurated parliament of Myanmar (Burma) convened last week in the gleaming new capital city of Naypyidaw. The event marked the official opening of the massive parliament building, but the media were not allowed near it. It was only from state-run news programs at night that the public learned about the decisions of the parliament, the first elected legislature in 20 years.

So much for Myanmar's "new start" last week. There was nothing to indicate that the nation had moved any closer to democracy.

The military regime's former prime minister, Thein Sein, was named president by the new parliament, which was elected last November. A new Cabinet will be formed soon, which the military regime claims will spell a "transition to democratic rule."

An elected administration sounds a lot better than a regime without a Constitution or parliament. But in reality, one-quarter of the seats of the new parliament are reserved for military officers. Even among the elected members, former military officers make up an overwhelming majority.

The support of more than three-quarters of the parliament is needed to amend the current Constitution, which was instituted by the military junta three years ago. It seems that the new administration is designed to legalize and perpetuate oppressive rule.

Senior General Than Shwe, chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, was not named president. Some Myanmar watchers say this at least shows some progress.

However, Thein Sein is Mynamar's fourth highest ranked military official. As Than Shwe's loyal lieutenant, he was the face of the junta.

In Myanmar, the commander of the armed forces holds greater power than the president. The commander appoints the ministers of defense, internal affairs and others, and is vested with wide-ranging powers by the president in times of emergency.

Than Shwe currently serves as commander of Myanmar's armed forces. Although the new administration's National Security Council is to appoint a new commander, nothing will change if Than Shwe is reappointed.

If the new administration is aiming at democratic rule, it must show its sincerity at home as well as abroad. The real test lies in who will be appointed to key government posts. If Than Shwe remains in his post or is allowed to keep pulling the strings, Myanmar will find it hard to convince anybody that it is moving toward democratic rule.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has demanded that the United States and European countries lift their economic sanctions against Myanmar, on the grounds that Myanmar has held national elections and released democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.

The Japanese government, too, acknowledges "some credit" is due to Myanmar for Suu Kyi's release and for the general elections, according to Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara.

But it is still too soon for Japan to demand the lifting of the sanctions or to resume full-scale aid to Myanmar. Japan must await specific actions by the new administration.

Suu Kyi won her election 21 years ago by a landslide, and she is still an extremely popular figure in her country. Unless the new administration swiftly initiates dialogue with her in earnest, there can be no national reconciliation.

The new regime must also immediately free political prisoners. There are estimated to be around 2,000 people held for political reasons.

The Japanese government must patiently work with neighboring nations to pressure the new administration to take those steps.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 8 http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201102080310.html
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Endless Fighting

February 9, 2011: The newly elected government still controls the government bureaucracy, including the courts and military. In fact, the new government is behaving much like the old one (the decades old military dictatorship), with recently retired generals still making all the decisions. Opposition parties, who are still restricted inside Burma, are calling for foreign governments to maintain sanctions, but to modify them to minimize harmful effects on most of the population. The opposition parties are also calling for war crimes investigations of the generals, for their atrocious conduct in the tribal areas. The recent elections have not changed much, and are seen as an attempt by the dictatorship to get free of the international sanctions, without giving up much, if any, power.

Along the Thai border, troops continue shooting at Karen villages or, when the villages are destroyed, the villagers. The idea appears to be, as it has been for decades, to force the Karen into Thailand, and let the Thai's deal with them. This has never been popular in Thailand, but no amount to diplomatic protests or negotiations have been able to change the situation. There are about 150,000 Burmese refugees in Thailand, about a third of them illegally.

The Burmese army is also seeking to find and destroy armed rebel groups. The rebels depend on the Karen villagers for support, which is why the army so often attacks the villages (whether the villagers are aiding the rebels or not.) That kind of indiscriminate violence provides the various Karen rebel groups with a steady supply of new recruits. The Karen rebels support themselves via smuggling (including drugs) and extortions ("revolutionary taxes"). There are Christian and Buddhist factions, but all Karen will unite to fight army incursions. The army has never been able to drive the Karen from the thinly populated and mountainous border area, and the villages keep getting rebuilt. It long ago turned into an endless war.

February 3, 2011: In the north, there has been fighting between two Mon tribal factions for the past few days. There have been several casualties, including at least one dead. Government troops are seeking both factions, who are united only in their hostility towards the government. http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/myanmar/articles/20110209.aspx
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Myanmar president nominates 30, mostly retired military officers, as ministers in new Cabinet
The Canadian PressBy The Associated Press | The Canadian Press

YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's new president has sent Parliament the names of 30 people — mostly retired military officers — he wants to appoint Cabinet ministers.

Upper house lawmaker Phone Myint Aung said Parliament will vote on whether to approve President Thein Sein's nominees when it reconvenes Friday. He spoke by telephone Wednesday from the capital, Naypyitaw.

The lawmakers earlier approved Thein Sein's proposal to establish 34 Cabinet ministries. They would replace 32 that existed under Myanmar's long-ruling junta and add ministries for the president's office and industrial development.

The submitted list did not specify what ministries each nominee would lead.

Only four of the nominees appear to be without links to the military. About a dozen were Cabinet ministers under the junta that long governed Myanmar.http://ca.news.yahoo.com/myanmar-president-nominates-30-mostly-retired-military-officers-20110209-021551-936.html
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* Myanmar prez nominates 30 for new Cabinet

Yangon(Myanmar), Feb 9 (AP) Myanmar's new president has sent Parliament the names of 30 people mostly retired military officers, he wants to appoint Cabinet ministers.

Upper house lawmaker Phone Myint Aung said Parliament will vote on whether to approve President Thein Sein's nominees when it reconvenes Friday. He spoke by telephone today from the capital, Naypyitaw.

The lawmakers earlier approved Thein Sein's proposal to establish 34 Cabinet ministries. They would replace 32 that existed under Myanmar's long-ruling junta and add ministries for the president's office and industrial development.

The submitted list did not specify what ministries each nominee would lead.

Only four of the nominees appear to be without links to the military. About a dozen were Cabinet ministers under the junta that long governed Myanmar. http://www.ptinews.com/news/1337588_Myanmar-prez-nominates-30-for-new-Cabinet -
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Suu Kyi: Young people should critique the judicial system
Tuesday, 08 February 2011 20:40 Tun Tun

New Delhi (Mizzima) – The weaknesses of the Burmese judicial system should be critiqued by Burma’s young people, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Tuesday.

National League for Democracy General-Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi walks to the NLD headquarters in Bahan Township, Rangoon, on Tuesday before a meeting with young people from across the country during which she urged them to study the weaknesses of Burma's judicial system. Photo: Mizzima

National League for Democracy General-Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi walks to the NLD headquarters in Bahan Township, Rangoon, on Tuesday before a meeting with young people from across the country during which she urged them to study the weaknesses of Burma's judicial system. Photo: Mizzima
Speaking to a group of about 200 young people from across the country at the National League for Democracy (NLD) headquarters in Bahan Township in Rangoon, she said that young people should point out the weaknesses of the country’s judicial system in order to help restore law and order.

‘We need to try to restore the country’s law and order by noting its weaknesses’, Ohn Kyaing, an NLD spokesman, quoted Suu Kyi as saying.

Young activists from Irrawaddy, Magway and Sagaing divisions and Mon and Karen states attended the meeting, in which they discussed various unlawful acts of the courts in Burma and what could be done about it.

The young people also discussed various issues with Suu Kyi including social work, education, the difficulties of access to clean water and potential conscription in the armed forces.

Suu Kyi will meet with young people again on Wednesday, party officials said. http://www.mizzima.com/news/breaking-and-news-brief/4859-suu-kyi-young-people-should-critique-the-judicial-system.html