News & Articles on Burma -Thursday, 25 August, 2011-UZL

News & Articles on Burma
Thursday, 25 August, 2011
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Deadly Clashes Continue in Northern Burma
Depayin Massacre, NLD's Status Highlighted in UN Envoy Meeting
Myanmar human rights challenges remain, UN envoy says
Burma Needs to set up IDP camps, Shan MP advised
Time not right for Thai push back
Burma’s Insein prison conditions better: UN envoy Quintana
Large demand for micro-credit in Burma
Suu Kyi says Burma president wants 'real change'
Constitutional Amendment Becomes Key Issue Under New Govt in Burma
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Deadly Clashes Continue in Northern Burma
By BA KAUNG Thursday, August 25, 2011

Despite Burmese President Thein Sein's recent call for peace talks, deadly clashes continue to flare between government forces and armed ethnic Kachin rebels in the country's troubled north.

On Wednesday, the 10,000-strong Kachin Independent Army (KIA) engaged the Burmese army in hostilities which left three government soldiers dead in an area called Namphatkar, between Kutkai and Muse townships in Shan State.

The KIA seized a number of small arms from the government troops, according to Col. Zau Raw, the Shan State regional commander of the KIA.

He said that the deadly confrontation flared following the government's deployment of troops in the area to protect convoys of military trucks—which Naypyidaw bought from China's Yunnan province in July—travelling from the Sino-Burmese border.

A day earlier, on Tuesday, low-intensity fighting broke out between the two sides in Hpakant Township in Kachin State, said a KIA official who said that further details were not yet known.

Armed clashes have been frequent between the KIA and the Burmese army since early June in Shan and Kachin states, many of the skirmishes erupting near the Tapaing hydropower plant built by China on a tributary of the Irrawaddy River. The hostilities bring to an end a 17-year ceasefire and take the northern Burmese region to the verge of a civil war. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced due to the fighting, and the hydropower plant has been shut down.

In discussions with Naypyidaw, the KIA's political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) has demanded that the government open an inclusive political dialogue with all armed ethnic groups based on the pre-independence 1947 Panglong Agreement which guaranteed ethnic minorities basic autonomy in a federal state—a promise that never materialized.

But Naypyidaw has insisted that the KIA joins a border guard force under the central command of the Burmese army, and that the KIO participate in the national political process under the terms of the 2008 Constitution drafted by the previous military regime.

While a renewed ceasefire remains inconclusive, the Burmese president recently referred to the KIA as “a mere insurgent group,” which is not representative of people in Kachin State, a statement that infuriated the Kachin rebel leaders.

Earlier this week, the government asked many of the armed ethnic groups to conduct preliminary peace talks with regional and provincial governments, saying that only after such measures had been taken would further discussions with the central government in Naypyidaw be offered.

On Monday, Thein Sein told parliament that the government will strive to reduce conflicts with armed ethnic groups and opposition forces which have not accepted the Constitution.

The hostilities in northern Burma continue despite Thein Sein's meeting with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi last Friday in Naypyidaw, which generated optimism among the opposition groups that the government was moving toward political and economic reforms.

Zau Raw said that ceasefire efforts have become increasingly difficult despite these apparent “olive branches” offered by the government which, in reality, continues to impose the Constitution upon the ethnic groups, including the KIA.

“We want to hold discussions based on the 1947 Panglong Agreement, but they want us to accept the 2008 Constitution,” he said. “Also, we want to hold discussions with the central government, not with a regional assembly.”

The US administration has said that the Burmese government must release all political prisoners in Burma, start a dialogue with opposition groups including Suu Kyi, and end human rights violations and military attacks against ethnic minorities before it considers lifting its punitive economic sanctions against the Southeast Asian nation. http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21961
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Depayin Massacre, NLD's Status Highlighted in UN Envoy Meeting
By SAW YAN NAING Thursday, August 25, 2011

Leaders of Burma's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) urged UN envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana to help them secure their party's existence, and addressed the Depayin Massacre of 2003 during their meeting in Rangoon on Thursday, said party spokesman Nyan Win.

Leading the NLD's legal team, Nyan Win said he submitted a proposal to the UN Special Rapporteur to Burma during their meeting, and that Quintana read all the documents before returning them.

The UN envoy reportedly told Nyan Win that he was not a legal expert but that he will try to find a lawyer at the UN who can offer guidance to the NLD.

“As soon as he [Quintana] arrived at the UN office, he said he will arrange a trip for a legal expert to come to Burma to discuss the case with us,” said Nyan Win.

The Depayin massacre, which left at least 50 people dead, took place in Kyee village, on the outskirts of Depayin Township in Sagaing Division, central Burma in May 2003. It was launched by pro-junta group thugs who blocked the road to attack a convoy of vehicles carrying NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters. Some women were allegedly raped by the attackers during the massacre.

The NLD leaders told Quintana that their party was faced with restrictions until it was dissolved in 2010.

On Thursday, Quintana met with several former political prisoners, including a recently released Zayar Thaw, a hip-hop singer and prominent leader of Generation Wave, at a UN branch office in Rangoon.

Myat Thu, a former political prisoner who also met with Quintana, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday: “I focused on speaking about the need for the release of political prisoners as soon as possible. At the very least, political prisoners who have been detained far from their families should be relocated and detained in prisons close to their family homes.”

After her meeting with the UN envoy on Wednesday, Suu Kyi told reporters that Quintana is a person who knows well the issues of human rights and one who is actively engaged in promoting human rights in Burma.

The envoy will hold a press conference at Rangoon International Airport before he rounds off his five-day trip on Thursday evening.

Quintana sat in on a parliamentary session in Naypyidaw, which was attended by MPs of both the Lower and Upper Houses. He listened to calls by ethnic politicians calling for the release of political prisoners, and for allegations of human rights abuses by the Burmese army in ethnic areas to be investigated.

Quintana has been a vocal critic of the Burmese government and has previously proposed a UN Commission of Inquiry to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity that have allegedly been committed by the Burmese army. http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21962
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Myanmar human rights challenges remain, UN envoy says
Aug 25, 2011, 13:47 GMT

Yangon - The new Myanmar government's human rights challenges remain despite recent steps towards rapprochement with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the United Nations human rights envoy for the country said Thursday.

'The new government has made some positive steps but the challenges for human rights remain,' visiting UN human rights envoy for Myanmar Tomas Ojea Quintana said in Yangon after completing a five-day assessment tour of the country, long deemed a pariah state in the West for its poor human rights performance.

Quintana's visit came at a time of an apparent thaw in relations between opposition leader Suu Kyi and the pro-military government.

On Friday, for the first time, Suu Kyi was invited to the capital in Naypyitaw for private talks with the new government's President Thein Sein.

'This is a big moment in Myanmar history, and there are rare opportunities for positive and meaningful developments to improve the human rights situation and bring about a transition to genuine democracy,' Quintana said in a press conference at Yangon Airport before his departure.

He urged the international community to remain engaged with the country, which has been under military rule since 1962, until a general election on November 7 brought a new pro-military government to power.

The special envoy echoed his boss' call for the new government to make further steps towards national reconciliation.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday welcomed the meeting between Thein Sein and Suu Kyi as a positive step, but called on the government to release some 2,100 political prisoners jailed by the previous junta.

The government is also under scrutiny for its dealings with the ethnic minorities, several of whom have been the target of brutal military campaigns by the former junta.

In a letter to Quintana on Wednesday, a coalition of eight ethnic rebel groups called on the UN envoy to urge that the government restrain its soldiers from rape, burning villages, looting and confiscating properties.

The letter also asked that the envoy 'request tripartite peace talks immediately' between the ethnic groups, the government and Suu Kyi.

Besides meeting with senior government ministers Quintana als met with Suu Kyi, who has spent 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest, on Wednesday.

Quintana was only recently granted a visa after being denied entry to the country since March, 2010, when he angered the then-ruling junta by urging a UN inquiry into Myanmar's human rights record.

Myanmar has been the target of economic sanctions by Western democracies since 1988, when an army crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators that left an estimated 3,000 dead.

The junta that ran the country between 1988 to 2010 has notched up one of the world's worst human rights records.

Although the current government is an elected one, it is packed with former military men.

The UN and Western nations have demanded clear signs that the new regime is committed to change, such as opening a dialogue with the opposition and ethnic minority groups that have been the target of military offensives.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1659103.php/Myanmar-human-rights-challenges-remain-UN-envoy-says
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Burma Needs to set up IDP camps, Shan MP advised
By Zin Linn Aug 25, 2011 5:49PM UTC

Sai Hsawng Hsi, elected representative from Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), said Wednesday he had raised the topic of setting up Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps near the warzone in central Shan State, during the meeting with UN Rights Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana, according to Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.).

Sai Hsawng His said that many inhabitants are either hiding in the jungles or fleeing to the border. It will be appropriate to establish IDP camps around the warzone, he advised.

More than 300 clashes have taken place in Hsipaw, Tangyan, Mongyai, Monghsu and Kehsi townships between the Burma Army and the Shan State Army (SSA) since March, according to resistance sources.

According to Burma Center Prague (BCP)’s studies on IDPs, the constant warfare and conflict in Burma has resulted in a large number of internally displaced persons (IDPs). It mentioned that number of IDPs increased mainly in eastern Burma where Karen and Shan are living. It is estimated that between the years 1996 and 2006, over 1 million people became IDPs in Burma, most of who came from ethnic minorities.

According to a repost by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, dated 19 July 2011, titled “MYANMAR: Displacement continues in context of armed conflicts – A profile of the internal displacement situation” , people displaced due to conflict in Myanmar (Burma) lack access to food, clean water, health care, education and livelihoods. Their security is threatened by ongoing fighting, including where conflict parties reportedly target civilians directly.

UNHCR used an estimate of 451,000 IDPs in Myanmar as its planning figure for 2010, while the Thailand-Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) estimated that in July 2010 at least 446,000 IDPs were living in the 37 surveyed townships (administrative sub-districts) in southern Shan, Kayah/Karenni, Kayin/Karen and Mon States and Bago/Pegu and Tanintharyi/Tenasserim Regions.

Of those IDPs, it was believed that 125,000 were living in relocation villages in government-controlled areas, 115,000 dispersed in hiding areas in the jungle, and 206,000 living in areas administered by ceasefire non-state armed groups NSAGs. The TBBC also reported that an estimated 73,000 of the IDPs in south-eastern Myanmar were newly displaced between August 2009 and July 2010, including some 26,000 people in northern Karen areas and some 8,000 in southern Mon areas (UNHCR, January 2010; TBBC, 28 October 2010, p.20).

To date, the Burma Army side is still reportedly deploying more troops to SSA- HQ Wanhai, according to local eye witnesses from Kehsi Township, Shan Herald Agency News (SHAN) said. Fighting between the two sides have been three months long since 13 March and had killed dozens of civilians including at least 300 casualties on the Burma Army side in the conflict zones. Most of the civilians were reportedly killed and injured by the Burma Army’s heavy shells, claimed the SSA.

It seems that the government is going ahead with its military might to resolve the ethnic armed rebellious problems, rather than political talks. Several political analysts believe that the military-backed Thein Sein government will not revise its oppressive guiding principle which insistently goes against the self-determination of the ethnic people.

However, President Thein Sein told members of parliament on Monday, at the first Union Parliament second regular session, that his government has already prepared for talks on peace with armed ethnic groups since the growth of the ethnic regions reliant on stability.

Then, the president ought to accept the findings of UN Rights Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana and help the UN Envoy’s restoration of human rights values in the country. Besides, government must call for a nationwide ceasefire to all ethnic armed groups in order to start a meaningful political dialogue with all stakeholders.

At the same time, government should form respective missions to tackle the domestic war refugees and IDPs problems, in reference to goodwill advice of Sai Hsawng Hsi (MP of SNDP) who raised the IDP question during the meeting with UN Rights Rapporteur.

Without addressing and honoring the ethnic people’s political desire, the new parliament-based government will be unable to stop political and civil conflict throughout ethnic areas. If so, the country will continue producing more refugees and more IDPs in the years to come. http://asiancorrespondent.com/63393/burma-needs-to-set-up-idp-camps-shan-mp-advised/
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Time not right for Thai push back
By MAHN SAIMON
Published: 25 August 2011

Surapong Kongchantuk, vice chairman of the Thai National Human Rights Commission’s sub-committee on ethnic minorities, the stateless, migrant workers and displaced persons, has said now is not yet the right time to repatriate refugees from Burma.

Kongchantuk was responding to a remark recently made by the governor of Thailand’s Tak province Samart Loifah. He had issued an order for refugee camps situated along the border in the region to make lists of their population to pre-empt a send back to Burma.

Kongchantuk however told DVB that we have yet to see tangible improvements;

“We sent a list of procedures for the concerned [Thai] government departments regarding the repatriation – that it should be voluntary and that their native country must be in a ready-state to accept them back,” Kongchantuk said.

“To decide whether the native country is ready or not should not be based on claims by the [Burmese government] alone but also needs to be inspected and approved by a UN organisation such as the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). So far, the UNHCR is yet to make any inspection about the real situation,” he added.

“This is not a case between just two countries but also concerns the international community. The Tak governor’s decision is irrelevantly premature and is causing a panic among the refugees.”

Samart Loifa made the orders after President Thein Sein’s remark on 17 August, that Burmese nationals living abroad in exile were allowed to go back to their home country.

He told the media that he was happy for Burmese refugees, who were forced to flee their homes, that they were allowed to go back to Burma and expressed a belief that this would bring peace to the Thai-Burma border region.

Saw Po Dan, chairman of Nupo refugee camp however said they had not received any order from Loifa as yet;

“There is no official order yet. [Loifa] came around our camp a couple of times in the past but he didn’t come in [the camp] – he just hung around outside and talked with camp officials. There was no clear order as yet,” said Saw Po Dan.

There are nearly 150,000 refugees living in nine refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. Whilst commentators have welcomed what appears to be a relative softening of rhetoric from Naypyidaw, others have responded to invitations back and supposed offers of dialogue with some scepticism.

Far from a decrease in violence in the ethnic areas of Burma the past year has seen an escalation in fighting as the Burmese military has pursued greater incursions into Shan, Karen and Kachin areas.

The last of which has seen around 10,000 people internally displaced and the World Food Program commence delivering food aid to over 3,000 vulnerable people near Kachin state’s capital, Myitkina last week. http://www.dvb.no/news/time-not-right-for-thai-push-back/17272
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Burma’s Insein prison conditions better: UN envoy Quintana
Thursday, 25 August 2011 13:13 Te Te

New Delhi (Mizzima) – The UN special rapporteur for human rights in Burma Tomas Ojea Quintana told a meeting of National League for Democracy (NLD) leaders that conditions in the infamous Insein Prison in Rangoon have improved.

NLD central executive committee member Win Tin said on Wednesday, “While we were talking about prisoners, he said that he inspected prisons. The prisoners’ conditions, especially in Insein Prison, are better than before. He said, prisoners told him that conditions had improved considerably.”

UN special envoy on human rights Tomas Ojea Quintana, center, leaves the home of Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon on Wednesday, August 24, after meeting with the opposition leader for about one hour. Photo: Mizzima

UN special envoy on human rights Tomas Ojea Quintana, center, leaves the home of Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon on Wednesday, August 24, after meeting with the opposition leader for about one hour. Photo: Mizzima
Quintana met with NLD central executive committee members in Aung San Suu Kyi’s home in Rangoon on Wednesday afternoon.

In the meeting, Quintana said that if all political prisoners were released, the government worries that they might stage protests again, and that’s why an amnesty was delayed, according to Win Tin. According to figures compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma, there were 400 political prisoners in Insein Prison as of May.

Before the meeting between Quintana and NLD leaders, Quintana met with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for about 30 minutes. No details of that meeting were disclosed.

After the meeting, Suu Kyi told reporters, “He [Quintana] has a genuine willingness to improve Burma’s social conditions, and he has great experience, so I am encouraged. I see that we can rely on him.”

Quintana visited Insein Prison on Wednesday morning. A source close to the prison said that he arrived about 8:30 a.m. and left about 1:30 p.m.

“When he arrived at the prison, the doors of the prison wards were closed. We could not go anywhere. About a week prior to his visit, things [some prison walls] had been painted, and the prison was cleaned. Today, we had slightly good curries [for the inmates],” said a source close to the prison.

Quintana will hold a press conference to discuss his visit on Thursday in Rangoon. http://www.mizzima.com/news/prisoner-watch/5831-burmas-insein-prison-conditions-better-un-envoy-quintana.html
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Large demand for micro-credit in Burma
Wednesday, 24 August 2011 16:08 Mizzima News

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Only about 10 per cent of the demand for small loans in Burma is being met, according to participants at a micro-finance workshop held recently in Rangoon.

The vast majority of those who do borrow are women.

The Microfinance Working Group in Burma held a best-practice workshop on August 16 to work out ways to provide more small loans to people, particularly in rural areas, according to a press statement recently released by the group.

About 70 participants attended the workshop including senior government officials, donors, UN staff, international and local NGOs and representatives from the private sector.

“In Myanmar [Burma], only 10 per cent of the total demand for micro-credit is met and the UNDP Microfinance Project is presently providing about 80 per cent of this micro-credit through PACT Myanmar, a non-profit organization,” said the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative, Akbar Usmani. “Given the huge demand, the Microfinance Working Group is well placed to help further expand microfinance support services in Myanmar.”

Usmani said he welcomed the government’s latest initiative for rural development and poverty reduction under which micro-finance is one of the major components.

Micro-finance practitioners in Burma including the former deputy governor of the Central Bank, Than Lwin, PACT Myanmar, Groupe de Recherche et d'Echanges Technologiques (GRET), Save the Children, World Vision and UNDP shared their experiences on improving livelihoods through the creation of sustainable micro-finance services for poor rural communities.

As participants at the workshop made clear, the need for credit in the rural economy is substantial. Currently, the demand for micro‐credit in the rural segment of the Burmese economy is estimated at around US$ 470 million. Due to inadequate credit from the private and public banks, the rural poor rely on relatives or friends and money lenders as well as pawn shops for small loans, according to the press release.

Micro-finance loans and services provide a sustainable option for the poor by providing a diverse range of financial services, including savings, loans and some insurance products that support hundreds of thousands of micro-enterprises.

According to the Microfinance Working Group, offering loans with no collateral requirements and at interest rates well below those charged by informal moneylenders, affordable credit has been able to address the needs of more than 400,000 poor clients in a more economical manner.

From its infancy in July 1997, through the end of September 2010, the UNDP’s Microfinance Project has grown to become one of the 23 largest micro-finance projects in the world with more than 400,000 clients and with a loan portfolio of 36 billion kyat (approx. US$ 52 million). Its loan repayment rate has constantly attained a percentage of 98 per cent or higher. Women constitute 97 per cent of its clientele.

The Microfinance Working Group was formed in 2004, by local and international NGOs, in collaboration with the UNDP. http://www.mizzima.com/news/breaking-and-news-brief/5826-large-demand-for-micro-credit-in-burma.html
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Bangkok Post
Suu Kyi says Burma president wants 'real change'

Published: 24/08/2011 at 09:32 PM
Online news: Asia

Burma's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi said Wednesday she believes the country's army-backed president wants "real positive change" amid warmer relations between the regime and its most famous critic.

Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi speaks to the press after a meeting with UN rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana at her house in Yangon. Suu Kyi said she believes the country's army-backed president wants "real positive change" amid warmer relations between the regime and its most famous critic.

Suu Kyi met President Thein Sein on Friday in her highest-level discussions since she was freed from seven years of house arrest soon after a November election that was marred by claims of cheating and the absence of her party.

"From my point of view, I think the president wants to achieve real positive change," she told reporters on Wednesday.

Suu Kyi was warned to keep out of politics in June, but has since engaged in increasing dialogue with the government, which is nominally civilian but remains dominated by former generals.

The Nobel laureate was speaking after a meeting with Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, and said the pair had covered a variety of subjects including the fate of political prisoners.

It was the first meeting between the envoy and the democracy champion, who was locked up during his last visit in February 2010.

"I am really satisfied. I am encouraged to have seen him as he is an expert in this issue," she said of Quintana.

Burma allowed the UN envoy into the country for the first time in more than a year amid signs that the government wants to improve its international image.

Quintana described his discussions with Suu Kyi as "very important, fruitful and productive", in brief comments after the meeting.

The UN envoy, who has been an outspoken critic of Burma's rulers in the past, is due to hold a press conference on Thursday at the end of a five-day visit that has included a trip to the new parliament in Naypyidaw and talks with senior regime figures.

Earlier on Wednesday, Quintana visited Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, which is believed to hold some of Burma's around 2,000 political prisoners.

After his trip to the country last year, the envoy angered Burma's ruling generals by suggesting that human rights violations in the country may amount to crimes against humanity and could warrant a UN inquiry.

He has since been refused visas to visit several times.

The international community has called for a number of reforms in Burma including the release of political prisoners, improved human rights and dialogue with the opposition. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/253296/suu-kyi-says-burma-president-wants-real-change
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Constitutional Amendment Becomes Key Issue Under New Govt in Burma
By BA KAUNG Thursday, August 25, 2011

Over the past couple of weeks, the Burmese government led by ex-general President Thein Sein has made a series of moves, including an invitation to Burmese exiles to return home and a one-on-one meeting with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, seen by many as positive signs for the country.

In a speech to the country's new bicameral Parliament on Monday, Thein Sein reiterated his desire to reduce tensions with “forces that have not accepted the Constitution yet,” including Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party and ethnic armed groups.

These gestures have generated a lot of speculation among the Burmese public and other observers as to whether Burma's nominally civilian administration has embarked on a genuine process of gradual reform.

Much of this speculation has centered on last Friday's meeting between Suu Kyi and Thein Sein. While neither side has released any details about the substance of the talks, on Tuesday a government official told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity that the two sides discussed how Suu Kyi could help in lifting Western economic sanctions, in exchange for government cooperation with her future political trips.

On Wednesday, Suu Kyi told reporters following a meeting with visiting UN human rights envoy Tomás Ojea Quintana that Thein Sein wants to achieve “real positive change”.

To skeptics, however, these developments are reminiscent of Suu Kyi's meetings with leaders of the previous military junta in early 2000. After a period of confidence-building talks, relations eventually soured as Suu Kyi's travels around the country attracted massive crowds, prompting a violent incident by pro-regime thugs that resulted in Suu Kyi's arrest in 2003.

But for now, the new government seems prepared to deal with Suu Kyi on friendly terms, as it seeks to win greater international recognition of its legitimacy, most notably through its efforts to assume the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in 2014.

The continuing detention of around 2,000 political prisoners will, however, make it difficult for Asean to accede to the Thein Sein government's ambitions for a regional leadership role, and also stands in the way of any bid to lift US sanctions.

Likewise, continuing clashes with ethnic armed groups and well-documented reports of human rights abuses by the Burmese military in conflict zones weaken any case the government may try to make that it is on a serious path to reform.

It is, however, conceivable that the government will make some concessions—releasing a few hundred prisoners and suspending its offensives in ethnic areas—that could suffice to at least win the Asean chairmanship, which would be a major step toward becoming a fully rehabilitated member of the international community.

But such moves would still fall far short of what Burma needs to achieve genuine reconciliation, because once the government has what it wants, there would be nothing to stop it from performing another about-face and turning on its opponents once again.

Only an irreversible commitment to reform on the part of the government will make any difference to Burma's prospects in the long term. And the only form such a commitment can take is a series of amendments to the military-drafted 2008 Constitution that reflect the will of the Burmese people.

“All recent actions taken by the government are merely cosmetic for us. Without the constitutional amendments, we cannot gain genuine political solutions in our country,” said Aye Thar Aung, a veteran opposition politician, voicing a view that is widely held among political players in Burma.

Thein Sein's pledge to ease tensions with “forces that have not accepted the Constitution yet” was an implicit recognition of the fact that this remains the key sticking point in his efforts to end the pariah status that has hung over the Burmese state for the past 23 years.

Thein Sein knows that before he can win international recognition for his government, he must first be able to demonstrate to the world that the Constitution—“approved” in a rigged referendum in May 2008, one week after Cyclone Nargis—is the real law of the land. But this will be impossible as long as the NLD and the ethnic armed groups continue to defy it with their very existence.

Under the Constitution, the ethnic militias have no right to exist except as “border guard forces” under Burmese military command. No longer permitted to retain their status as armed ceasefire groups, they have renewed their calls for a “second Panglong” agreement, modeled on the 1947 pre-independence pact that guaranteed Burma's ethnic minorities a substantial degree of autonomy within a federal state.

Such calls are, however, radically at odds with the provisions of the current Constitution, which aims to consolidate the military's central role in Burmese politics.

The NLD is also living in limbo, officially disbanded because of its refusal to register for last year's election, but still stubbornly clinging to life as the country's de facto main opposition party. Despite government efforts to persuade the party to restore its legal status under existing laws, it continues to insist that it should never have been dissolved in the first place.

Central to this dispute is the party's rejection of undemocratic elements of the 2008 Constitution, such as a provision that sets aside 25 percent of seats in Parliament for the military, and another that allows the army to legally declare a coup in a state of emergency.

When it comes to political topics, the government has repeatedly called on the NLD and all ethnic armed groups to “come and work under the Constitution.” This is the major reason why attempts for a renewed ceasefire with the Kachin Independence Army, Burma's second-largest ethnic armed group, have so far come to nothing.

Therefore, constitutional amendments are the key point of contention between the opposition groups and the new government.

Listening to Thein Sein, however, you would never know that such issues exist. “Today, democratization is in the process for flourishing democratic practices, so each of us are to have a strong sense of democratic spirit for the type of freedom that is in conformity with our culture and society,” he said on Monday.

This is not going to convince anyone in Burma, however, and it may not even do the trick with Asean, which has a history of giving the country's rulers more credit than they deserve. According to the latest analysis by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Thein Sein's efforts to “reach out” to Suu Kyi, without achieving any obvious results, may not be enough to persuade Burma's regional allies that Naypyidaw is sincere about engagement with the opposition.

Thus, despite some recent positive developments, real differences remain beneath the surface. Until they are addressed, superficial “signs” of change should be seen as nothing more than window dressing.
http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21960

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