General Elections in Myanmar from the Perspective of Inter-Ethnic Relations: Contest and Adaptation
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Karen-Burmese Refugees
Karen-Burmese Refugees An orientation for health workers and volunteers Developed by Christine Dziedzic, Student Project Officer Community Nutrition Unit, Annerley Road Community Health Background Information • The Karen-Burmese live in mountainous jungle regions of Myanmar (southern and eastern), and Thailand • Myanmar is located in South- East Asia – Formally known as Burma – Developing and largely rural – Bordered by China, Tibet, Laos, Thailand, Bangladesh and India Source: cyberschoolbus.un.org Community Nutrition Unit, Annerley Road Community Health P: (07) 3010 3550 Myanmar - Background InformationWorld Health Organisation (2006) • Population: 50 519 000 • Life expectancy at birth: – 61 years • Infant mortality rate – Per 1000 live births: 106 – 4.7 / 1000 in Australia (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2006) • Language: Burmese – Indigenous peoples have their own languages Flag of Myanmar – Over 126 dialects Source: cyberschoolbus.un.org Community Nutrition Unit, Annerley Road Community Health P: (07) 3010 3550 History of Myanmar • 1886: Became a province of British India • 1948: Gained independence • 1962: Military dictatorship took power – Large outflow of refugees • 1988: Martial law declared – Increased refugee numbers • State of civil war for much of the past 50 years Community Nutrition Unit, Annerley Road Community Health P: (07) 3010 3550 Ethnic Groups • Major ethnic group: Burmese • Largest indigenous population: Karen • Other indigenous races include: – Shans – Chins – Mon – Rakhine – Katchin • Ethnic tension -
Important Facts About the 2015 General Election Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation - Emref
Important Facts about the 2015 Myanmar General Election Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation (EMReF) 2015 October Important Facts about the 2015 General Election Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation - EMReF 1 Important Facts about the 2015 General Election Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation - EMReF ENLIGHTENED MYANMAR RESEARCH ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT FOUNDATION (EMReF) This report is a product of the Information Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation EMReF is an accredited non-profit research Strategies for Societies in Transition program. (EMReF has been carrying out political-oriented organization dedicated to socioeconomic and This program is supported by United States studies since 2012. In 2013, EMReF published the political studies in order to provide information Agency for International Development Fact Book of Political Parties in Myanmar (2010- and evidence-based recommendations for (USAID), Microsoft, the Bill & Melinda Gates 2012). Recently, EMReF studied The Record different stakeholders. EMReF has been Foundation, and the Tableau Foundation.The Keeping and Information Sharing System of extending its role in promoting evidence-based program is housed in the University of Pyithu Hluttaw (the People’s Parliament) and policy making, enhancing political awareness Washington's Henry M. Jackson School of shared the report to all stakeholders and the and participation for citizens and CSOs through International Studies and is run in collaboration public. Currently, EMReF has been regularly providing reliable and trustworthy information with the Technology & Social Change Group collecting some important data and information on political parties and elections, parliamentary (TASCHA) in the University of Washington’s on the elections and political parties. performances, and essential development Information School, and two partner policy issues. -
Queries Raised and Replied, Proposal Submitted, Approval Sought
Established 1914 Volume XVIII, Number 338 6th Waning of Tabaung 1372 ME Friday, 25 March, 2011 Root cause of splits The root causes that underlay the rise of fractious sectarianism and the proliferation of splits are found to be the incentives that the colonialists provided to expand their sphere of influence, the wedges of instigation and incitement that they drove in a wellplanned manner among colleagues, the arrogance born of overestimating oneself, personal rivalries and underestimating others, jealousies, suspicions and grudges. Some parties looked to foreign countries for guidance and inspiration, followed the imported ideologies and directives irrationally under foreign influence and carried out purges against fellow party members, which inevitably led to their demise. There were also many others that brought misery on themselves by aping the practices of countries with divergent development and dissimilar backgrounds. Senior General Than Shwe Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services (From speech delivered at the parade of 64th Anniversary Armed Forces Day) Senior General Than Shwe sends Four political objectives * Stability of the State, community peace and tranquil- lity, prevalence of law and order * National reconsolidation felicitations to President of Hellenic Republic * Emergence of a new enduring State Constitution * Building of a new modern developed nation in accord NAY P YI T AW, 25 March—Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and with the new State Constitution Development Council of the Union of Myanmar, has sent a message of felicitations to His Four economic objectives Excellency Mr. Karolos Papoulias, President of the Hellenic Republic, on the occasion of the * Development of agriculture as the base and all-round devel- opment of other sectors of the economy as well National Day of the Hellenic Republic, which falls on 25 March 2011. -
Q&A on Elections in BURMA
Q&A ON ELECTIONS IN BURMA PHOTOGRapHS BY PLATON Q&A ON ELECTIONS IN BuRma INTRODUCTION PHOTOGRapHS BY PLATON Burma will hold multi-party elections on November 7, 2010, the first in 20 years. Some contend the elections could spark a gradual process of democratization and the opening of civil society space in Burma. Human Rights Watch believes that the elections must be seen in the context of the Burmese military government’s carefully manufactured electoral process over many years that is designed to ensure continued military rule, albeit with a civilian façade. The generals’ “Road Map to Disciplined Democracy” has been a path filled with human rights violations: the brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters in 2007, the doubling of the number of political prisoners in Burma since then to more than 2000, the marginalization of WIN MIN, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER ethnic minority communities in border areas, a rewritten constitution that A medical student at the time, Win undermines rights and guarantees continued military rule, and carefully Min became a leader of the 1988 constructed electoral laws that subtly bar the main opposition candidates. pro-democracy demonstrations in Burma. After years fighting in the jungle, Win Min has become one of the This political repression takes place in an environment that already sharply restricts most articulate intellectuals in exile. freedom of association, assembly, and expression. Burma’s media is tightly controlled Educated at Harvard University, he is by the authorities, and many media outlets trying to report on the elections have been now one of the driving forces behind an innovative collective called the Vahu (in reduced to reporting on official announcements’ and interviews with party leaders: no Burmese: Plural) Development Institute, public opinion or opposition is permitted. -
President U Htin Kyaw and First Lady Return from Japan
STRENGTH OF THE NATION LIES WITHIN P-7 (NATIONAL) N ATIONAL BUSINEss NATIONAL NATIONAL Amyotha Hluttaw Speaker Antivenom to place China donates 813 jade lots sold at 2017 attends Pre Christmas on export market in USD 0.5m for Mid-Year Myanma Jade Celebration early 2018 peace process and Gems Emporium PAGE-3 PAGE-5 PAGE-3 PAGE-2 Vol. IV, No. 245, 1st Waxing of Pyatho 1379 ME www.globalnewlightofmyanmar.com Monday, 18 December 2017 Field survey for Maungtaw restoration PAWKI Taung Village, Mingyi Village, Myawaddy Village and Thit Tone Nar Kwasone Village in Rakhine State all held an event to promote restoration of their villages. Attending the Pawki Taung Village first were Dr. Ket Aung, Chief Minister of Kachin State, U Nyi Pu, Chief Minister of Rakhine State, ministers of respective states and donors. Attending the event at Mingyi village were Dr. My- int Naing, Chief Minister of Sagaing Region who greeted the villagers warmly. The new village will be established close to the Kamaung Seik-Taungpyo road and will contain 45 houses. Attending the event at Myawaddy Village were Dr. Lin Htut, Chief Minister of Shan President U Htin Kyaw and wife Daw Su Su Lwin being welcomed back at the Yangon International airport by officials. PHOTO: MNA State and Dr. Aung Moe Nyo, Chief Minister of Magway Re- gion. The villagers performed traditional songs for the offi- President U Htin Kyaw and cials and were given cash cer- tificates. The village will include First Lady return from Japan housing for Mro, Khami, Dainet and Chin ethnic people. -
Myanmar Buddhism of the Pagan Period
MYANMAR BUDDHISM OF THE PAGAN PERIOD (AD 1000-1300) BY WIN THAN TUN (MA, Mandalay University) A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES PROGRAMME NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2002 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to the people who have contributed to the successful completion of this thesis. First of all, I wish to express my gratitude to the National University of Singapore which offered me a 3-year scholarship for this study. I wish to express my indebtedness to Professor Than Tun. Although I have never been his student, I was taught with his book on Old Myanmar (Khet-hoà: Mranmâ Râjawaà), and I learnt a lot from my discussions with him; and, therefore, I regard him as one of my teachers. I am also greatly indebted to my Sayas Dr. Myo Myint and Professor Han Tint, and friends U Ni Tut, U Yaw Han Tun and U Soe Kyaw Thu of Mandalay University for helping me with the sources I needed. I also owe my gratitude to U Win Maung (Tampavatî) (who let me use his collection of photos and negatives), U Zin Moe (who assisted me in making a raw map of Pagan), Bob Hudson (who provided me with some unpublished data on the monuments of Pagan), and David Kyle Latinis for his kind suggestions on writing my early chapters. I’m greatly indebted to Cho Cho (Centre for Advanced Studies in Architecture, NUS) for providing me with some of the drawings: figures 2, 22, 25, 26 and 38. -
Law Relating Amyotha Hluttaw
The Union of Myanmar Chapter I The State Peace and Development Council Title, Enforcement and Definition The Law Relating to the Amyotha Hluttaw 1. (a) This Law shall be called the Law relating to the Amyotha ( The State Peace and Development Council Law No. 13 /2010 ) Hluttaw, The 13th Waxing Day of Thadinkyut , 1372 M.E. (b) This Law shall come into force throughout the country ( 21st October, 2010 ) commencing from the day of its promulgation. Preamble 2. The following expressions contained in this Law shall have the meanings Since it is provided in Section 443 of the Constitution of the Republic given hereunder: of the Union of Myanmar that the State Peace and Development Council shall (a) Constitution means the Constitution of the Republic of the carry out the necessary preparatory works to implement the Constitution, it has Union of Myanmar; become necessary to enact the relevant laws to enable performance of the legislative, administrative and judicial functions of the Union smoothly, to enable (b) Hluttaw means the Amyotha Hluttaw formed under the performance of works that are to be carried out when the various Hluttaws come Constitution for the purpose of this Law; into existence and to enable performance of the preparatory works in accord (c) Chairperson means the Hluttaw representative elected to with law. supervise the Hluttaw session until the Hluttaw Speaker and As such, the State Peace and Development Council hereby enacts this the Deputy Speaker are elected when the first session of a Law in accord with section 443 of the Constitution of the Republic of the Union term of Hluttaw commences; of Myanmar, in order to implement the works relating to Hluttaw smoothly in (d) Speaker means the Hluttaw representative elected as the convening the sessions of the Amyotha Hluttaw in accord with the Constitution Speaker of the Hluttaw for a term of the Hluttaw; of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. -
Theocracy Metin M. Coşgel Thomas J. Miceli
Theocracy Metin M. Coşgel University of Connecticut Thomas J. Miceli University of Connecticut Working Paper 2013-29 November 2013 365 Fairfield Way, Unit 1063 Storrs, CT 06269-1063 Phone: (860) 486-3022 Fax: (860) 486-4463 http://www.econ.uconn.edu/ This working paper is indexed on RePEc, http://repec.org THEOCRACY by Metin Coşgel* and Thomas J. Miceli** Abstract: Throughout history, religious and political authorities have had a mysterious attraction to each other. Rulers have established state religions and adopted laws with religious origins, sometimes even claiming to have divine powers. We propose a political economy approach to theocracy, centered on the legitimizing relationship between religious and political authorities. Making standard assumptions about the motivations of these authorities, we identify the factors favoring the emergence of theocracy, such as the organization of the religion market, monotheism vs. polytheism, and strength of the ruler. We use two sets of data to test the implications of the model. We first use a unique data set that includes information on over three hundred polities that have been observed throughout history. We also use recently available cross-country data on the relationship between religious and political authorities to examine these issues in current societies. The results provide strong empirical support for our arguments about why in some states religious and political authorities have maintained independence, while in others they have integrated into a single entity. JEL codes: H10, -
Thai-Burmese Warfare During the Sixteenth Century and the Growth of the First Toungoo Empire1
Thai-Burmese warfare during the sixteenth century 69 THAI-BURMESE WARFARE DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY AND THE GROWTH OF THE FIRST TOUNGOO EMPIRE1 Pamaree Surakiat Abstract A new historical interpretation of the pre-modern relations between Thailand and Burma is proposed here by analyzing these relations within the wider historical context of the formation of mainland Southeast Asian states. The focus is on how Thai- Burmese warfare during the sixteenth century was connected to the growth and development of the first Toungoo empire. An attempt is made to answer the questions: how and why sixteenth century Thai-Burmese warfare is distinguished from previous warfare, and which fundamental factors and conditions made possible the invasion of Ayutthaya by the first Toungoo empire. Introduction As neighbouring countries, Thailand and Burma not only share a long border but also have a profoundly interrelated history. During the first Toungoo empire in the mid-sixteenth century and during the early Konbaung empire from the mid-eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries, the two major kingdoms of mainland Southeast Asia waged wars against each other numerous times. This warfare was very important to the growth and development of both kingdoms and to other mainland Southeast Asian polities as well. 1 This article is a revision of the presentations in the 18th IAHA Conference, Academia Sinica (December 2004, Taipei) and The Golden Jubilee International Conference (January 2005, Yangon). A great debt of gratitude is owed to Dr. Sunait Chutintaranond, Professor John Okell, Sarah Rooney, Dr. Michael W. Charney, Saya U Myint Thein, Dr. Dhiravat na Pombejra and Professor Michael Smithies. -
“Pre-Election Monitoring Study in Rakhine State”
“Pre-Election Monitoring Study in Rakhine State” Table of Contents KEY FINDINGS ............................................................................................................................................... 2 1. BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 5 1.1. POLITICAL PARTY LANDSCAPE IN RAKHINE STATE............................................................................ 7 1.2. INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ON FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS .............................................................. 8 1.3. ELECTORAL SYSTEM IN MYANMAR ................................................................................................. 10 2. OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY ..................................................................................... 11 1. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................ 11 1.1. SAMPLING ...................................................................................................................................... 11 1.2. RESEARCH PROCESS ........................................................................................................................ 12 1.3. LIMITATION OF STUDY .................................................................................................................... 12 2. FINDINGS ............................................................................................................................................ -
DASHED HOPES the Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Myanmar WATCH
HUMAN RIGHTS DASHED HOPES The Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Myanmar WATCH Dashed Hopes The Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Myanmar Copyright © 2019 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-6231-36970 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org FEBRUARY 2019 ISBN: 978-1-6231-36970 Dashed Hopes The Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Myanmar Summary ........................................................................................................................... 1 Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 5 I. Background ..................................................................................................................... 6 II. Section 66(d) -
New Crisis Brewing in Burma's Rakhine State?
CRS INSIGHT New Crisis Brewing in Burma's Rakhine State? February 15, 2019 (IN11046) | Related Author Michael F. Martin | Michael F. Martin, Specialist in Asian Affairs ([email protected], 7-2199) Approximately 250 Chin and Rakhine refugees entered into Bangladesh's Bandarban district in the first week of February, trying to escape the fighting between Burma's military, or Tatmadaw, and one of Burma's newest ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), the Arakan Army (AA). Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Abdul Momen summoned Burma's ambassador Lwin Oo to protest the arrival of the Rakhine refugees and the military clampdown in Rakhine State. Bangladesh has reportedly closed its border to Rakhine State. U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee released a press statement on January 18, 2019, indicating that heavy fighting between the AA and the Tatmadaw had displaced at least 5,000 people. She also called on the Rakhine State government to reinstate the access for international humanitarian organizations. The Conflict Between the Arakan Army and the Tatmadaw The AA was formed in Kachin State in 2009, with the support of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). In 2015, the AA moved some of its soldiers from Kachin State to southwestern Chin State, and began attacking Tatmadaw security bases in Chin State and northern Rakhine State (see Figure 1). In late 2017, the AA shifted more of its operations into northeastern Rakhine State. According to some estimates, the AA has approximately 3,000 soldiers based in Chin and Rakhine States. Figure 1. Reported Clashes between Arakan Army and Tatmadaw Source: CRS, utilizing data provided by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).