News & Articles on Burma

Burma's Octopus Strangles Reform
By LARRY JAGAN Thursday, July 7, 2011

BANGKOK ­ Burma’s new quasi-civilian government is under threat from within­and a military coup may be brewing as inertia has replaced the old junta. The newly elected President Thein Sein is embroiled in a power struggle that is paralysing any progress toward political or economic change.

It has emerged that Vice-president Tin Aung Myint Oo is deliberately trying to undermine the new president and assert his influence over the new army chief, Gen Min Aung Hlaing. “He’s trying to control everything,” a Burmese businessman told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity. As a result, the president’s planned economic reforms and the release of thousands of political prisoners have been put on hold.

The vice-president represents the old guard­and their hard-line attitudes­and he wants to make sure everything stays unchanged. His mentor, the former top junta leader, Snr-Gen Than Shwe has withdrawn from the day-to-day activities of government, leaving a power vacuum which Tin Aung Myint Oo is trying to fill at the expense of the more reform-minded president.

The vice-president (commonly known in Burma as “Shid-lone,” meaning “eight words,” because his full name is Thi Ha Thu Ra Tin Aung Myint Oo) is trying to establish himself as the new dictator­or the most powerful man in the country. Everywhere he turns he tries to establish his authority, according to sources in Naypyidaw who say he uses every opportunity to usurp the president’s authority.

He has been left with few avenues of formal influence now that the trade council he headed has been dissolved, but that has not dampened his efforts to monopolize the economy. “He’s a spoiler,” said a senior government official. And if he comes out on top, the country will be returned to the Dark Ages, he added.

After every Cabinet meeting, which usually takes once a week, the ministers are summoned into his room­without Thein Sein­for tea and an ear-bashing. Sources in Naypyidaw say he tries to exert influence on government decisions behind the scenes, especially on economic matters­especially import and export licences and company registration, which he previously controlled as head of the trade council.

The commerce minister has to report to him twice a day, according to sources in the capital. Ministers were shocked recently when their budgets were arbitrarily cut by 20 to 40 percent­except Defence, of course­by Tin Aung Myint Oo. Some ministers are reportedly so upset that they are using their own personal funds to pay for new schools and health centres, a Burmese businessman recently told The Irrawaddy.

There is a major battle for control going on between the president and his vice president­one which will determine whether the government’s plans and vision set out in Thein Sein’s speech to the parliament more than three months ago will be implemented. After the president ordered the export tax to be reduced to 5 percent, the vice president intervened­with the support of the finance minister­and had it reduced to only 7 percent.

Perhaps the most critical tussle is over the role the army is to play under the new regime. Under the new army chief, it seems clear that the army is no longer involved in politics. They are very much back in the barracks. Interestingly, the military MPs in both the national houses of parliament were virtually silent during the discussions in parliament during its first session earlier this year.

Min Aung Hlaing told the military MPs­who occupy 25 percent of parliamentary seats­before the parliament started its session that their duty was to rebuild the tarnished reputation of the army through their political work. “It’s your duty to become seasoned politicians,” he reportedly said, “as you represent the future Burma.” He virtually blamed the old guard for the current mess, said one of the military MPs.

But Burma's new “Octopus,” Tin Aung Myint Oo, is unhappy with this current state of affairs. He wants the army to exert pressure on the executive and legislature in his favour. Several weeks ago, the vice-president summoned the army chief to see him and lectured him on the power structure, telling the general that he was the boss, as militarily he outranked Thein Sein. A silent Min Aung Hlaing was then reportedly assaulted with an ashtray.

But for the present, it seems the army chief remains his own man, intent on reforming the military machine, making it more professional. He is after all, according to several military sources, part of the army’s 88 generation. He definitely supports Thein Sein­at least for the moment, according to senior military sources.

This new generation of army commanders are close to Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, according to a Western intelligence source.
They dislike but respect Than Shwe, said the source, but they completely despise the vice-president.

But the Octopus is marshalling his forces. Information and Culture Minister Kyaw Hsan has emerged as one of his main allies. He recently tried to get him co-opted to the National Security Council, which is emerging as one of the most important institutions in the post-junta framework. This was unconstitutional and resisted, according to military sources in the capital.

For the moment these layers of political intrigue are dogging Burma’s movement forward­albeit to a unique form of guided democracy. With the Octopus tentacles tightly controlling business in Burma, he is slowly transforming the new hierarchies.

Even trusted old business friends of Than Shwe, such as Tay Za, are finding themselves shut out as control of the economy is being handed over to the new business leaders­criminals such as Stephen Law (aka Tun Myint Naing) of AsiaWorld and Ko Ko Gyi (who now owns Shwe Myin).

They are the new breed of Chinese mafia businessmen­and they are currently making vast profits with the Octopus’s blessing and support. After all, Tin Aung Myint Oo is himself reportedly very close to Beijing, and has profited enormously as a result. This is going to have very significant consequences for the future Burma.

But the real danger to Burma’s political future­while the power struggle between the two politicians is unresolved­is the possibility of a military coup, led by the army chief, at Than Shwe’s bidding.

Vice-president Shid-lone and his cronies remain the villain of the peace, and seem intent on continuing to paralyse any political and economic reforms that would benefit the country and the people.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21647
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Rangoon Commander Dismissed
By WAI MOE Thursday, July 7, 2011
Brig-Gen Tun Than, right, attends a ceremony held by the Myanmar Gold Traders Association. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

The former commander of the Rangoon Regional Military Command, Brig-Gen Tun Than, has reportedly been sacked for corruption, just one week after being reassigned as commander of the Southern Regional Military Command, military sources said.

Tun Than, who was expected to be promoted to the rank of major general next month, was forced to retire on Tuesday, the sources said. Maj-Gen Hla Min, the chief of the Bureau of Special Operations-3, has reportedly been acting as the commander of the Southern Regional Command since Tun Than's dismissal.

Tun Than was commander of Light Infantry Division 77 based in Pegu before he was promoted to commander of the Rangoon Regional Military Command last August as part of a major military reshuffle.

There has been no official confirmation of Tun Than's dismissal.

Recently, a general staff officer serving under Tun Than was reportedly killed in car accident in Rangoon. Two others were injured.

Tun Than was one of at least half a dozen regional military commanders who were reshuffled last week. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21646
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Army Negotiator Pushes for Ceasefire, as State Media Blames KIA for Blasts
By WAI MOE Thursday, July 7, 2011

As Burma's military continues its calls on the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) to agree to a ceasefire after nearly a month of hostilities, the country's state-run media has accused the group of carrying out a series of bombings targeting roads and bridges in Kachin State.

According to intelligence sources, Col Than Aung, the Burmese army's chief negotiator in the conflict, sent a letter to his Kachin counterpart, KIA vice chief of staff Brig-Gen Gun Maw, earlier this week urging the group to stop its warfare in the state.

“We will continue to discuss this matter until we achieve peace,” Than Aung was quoted by sources as saying in the letter.

The letter also said that both sides should refrain from carrying out attacks, including bombings, and that the KIA should release government soldiers it is holding prisoner and avoid taking up position in government buildings.

In reply, the KIA said that it appreciated the government negotiator’s concerns and agreed to repair a bridge that had been damaged by a recent explosion.

Meanwhile, Burma's state-run newspapers on Thursday accused the KIA of carrying out three bombings between June 30 and July 5 that targeted roads, railways and bridges in Kachin State.

“KIA is committing mine explosions on motor roads, railroads and bridges for killing and wounding the people in Kachin State,” The New Light of Myanmar said.

The KIA has denied that Kachin troops are targeting civilians, but has vowed to defend their “land and Kachin people” from any attack by the government army.

A 16-year-old ceasefire between the government and the KIA broke down on June 9 after Burmese troops attacked the KIA near the Chinese-run hydropower station of Ta Paing, forcing about 200 Chinese technicians and workers at the site to return to China.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21645
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Karen BGF Talks Break Down; Tensions Remain High
By SAW YAN NAING Thursday, July 7, 2011

Attempted negotiations aimed at resolving a conflict between a pro-government Border Guard Force (BGF) in Karen State and a faction that broke away from the BGF several months after it was formed last year have failed, according to Karen sources.

The talks were initiated in early July by government loyalist Chit Thu, a leading figure in the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), which was officially disbanded late last year to form the BGF. They were held at the headquarters of the breakaway BGF faction in Myaing Gyi Nyu, in southern Karen State's Hlaing Bwe Township.

The talks were aimed at easing tensions between government forces and former BGF troops led by Lt-Col Po Bi. Around 1,000 soldiers under Po Bi's command broke away from the BGF in May after deciding to remain as members of the DKBA. Po Bi now leads four battalions.

Several days ago, Chit Thu traveled to Myaing Gyi Nyu accompanied by at least 20 pickup trucks carrying BGF troops to meet with Po Bi and attempt to persuade him to rejoin the pro-government force, according to Brig-Gen Johnny, the commander of Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade 7.

The talks failed, however, because Po Bi rejected Chit Thu’s offers, said Johnny.

The move came after military officials in Naypyidaw ordered Chit Thu to conduct a meeting with the renegade Karen BGF faction led by Po Bi, said DKBA sources.

Htee Moo, a DKBA source, reported that local villagers in Myaing Gyi Nyu fear the breakdown of the talks could result in major fighting between the two Karen armed groups led by Chit Thu and Po Bi. Some villagers have already moved to villages or towns nearby Myaing Gyi Nyu, he added.

However, Po Bi and his troops have since left Myaing Gyi Nyu and taken up positions near the town, according to Johnny.

“He [Po Bi] doesn’t want to open the front line in Myaing Gyi Nyu as temples and religious halls could be destroyed if major fighting breaks out,” said Johnny.

The KNLA has also vowed to assist the Po Bi-led renegade Karen group if the government and its ally, the Chit Thu-led Karen BGF battalions, launch a major attack against them. Chit Thu still has influence over four remaining Karen BGF Battalions.

“The Burmese government wants Karens to fight against Karens, so they asked Chit Thu to negotiate with Po Bi,” said Johnny.

The DKBA split from its mother organization, the Karen National Union—the political wing of the KNLA—in 1995 and signed a ceasefire agreement with the government. The DKBA was formed into BGF battalions under Burmese army command in 2010. However, a DKBA brigade under the command of Brig-Gen Saw Lah Pwe rejected the move and has since allied itself with the KNLA.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21643
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July 07, 2011 18:58 PM

Myanmar To Send Labour Abroad Legally Through Government-to-government Channel

YANGON, July 7 (Bernama) -- Myanmar labour authorities are planning to send workers to foreign countries through government- to-government channel, Xinhua news agency quoted the local Biweekly Eleven News' report Thursday.

As part of the move, Minister for Labour and for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement U Aung Kyi had discussions with his Qatar counterpart over the labour affairs recently.

Myanmar workers turned to seek jobs mostly in Dubai, Qatar and South Korea when the country stopped dispatching workers to work in Malaysia for six months starting July 1.

At present, Myanmar workers have much interest in working in South Korea especially in the manufacturing sector at a time when South Korean government sends for over 51,000 Myanmar workers this year.

According to official statistics, the number of Myanmar workers, legally employed to work in 15 foreign countries, reached 330,311 as of 2010 since 1990 and such overseas workers had fetched for the country over US$17 million.

Myanmar citizens seeking overseas jobs are mostly destined to such countries as Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Libya, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Switzerland, Brunei Darussalam, United Arab Emirates, America, France, Germany, Qatar and Kuwait.

As part of its bid to ease domestic employment problem, Myanmar's Ministry of Labour has sought job opportunities for Myanmar workers since 1990.

-- BERNAMA http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=599754
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Asia-Pacific
Suu Kyi in rare visit outside Yangon
Crowds throng as democracy leader visits temple city of Bagan.
ALJAZEERA: Last Modified: 07 Jul 2011 09:46

Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi greeted by supporters in Bagan [EPA]

The Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is travelling for the first time outside Yangon since her release from house arrest last November.

Her trip to the ancient temple city of Bagan, with one of her sons, Kim Aris was supposed to be a private affair, but crowds of supporters flocked to the temple.

Suu Kyi in theory is free to travel where she wishes in Myanmar as she was released without any conditions. But only last week, the new military-backed government warned her and her party to cease all political activities.

Supporters of Suu Kyi say this visit is just a holiday as she also plans to visit the birthplace of her father, the independence leader Aung San.

Safety fears

The government has warned of chaos if she tries to rally public support during her visit.

Officials of Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, have told supporters to stay away, as they fear her trip could be jeapordised by clashes between pro-democracy supporters and groups linked to the military-backed government.

In 2003 she was travelling in the north of the country when thugs linked to the then ruling generals attacked her convoy.

The attack took place in Kyee Village, on the outskirts of Depayin Township. After the attack, Suu Kyi was arrested and placed under house arrest, where she remained until her release in 2010.

She will take a flight back to Yangon on Friday.

Suu Kyi has been in and out of detention since 1991, when she led her party to victory in parliamentary elections. The military, however, refused to accept the result. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2011/07/20117782826881468.html
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The Reith Lectures: Securing Freedom (Radio 4)
Antonia Quirke
Published 04 July 2011
How Aung San Suu Kyi draws lessons from the Gulag.

Aung San Suu Kyi's two Reith Lectures (28 June, and forthcoming on 9 July) are an important coup for the new controller of Radio 4, Gwyneth Williams, who managed to push the request through to all the right people in Burma specifically because of her World Service connections (Williams joined the WS in 1976 as a trainee). Further proof, if it were needed, of the high worth of those with a hands-on background at that miraculous station.

Three weeks after the invitation went in, word came back that, yes, ASSK would do it if she could have access to certain reference books - she has few books even though now officially not under house arrest; she asked in particular for Max Weber's Politics As a Vocation and Nad­ezhda Mandelstam's Hope Against Hope. The wife of the poet Osip Mandelstam, who died in 1938 in a transit camp in Siberia, Nadezhda has been an inspiration to ASSK, along with the Odessa-born poet Irina Ratushinskaya, who spent four years in a camp before being released on the eve of the 1986 summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.

At a screening of the first lecture at Broadcasting House, it was mesmerising to sit and watch ASSK speaking at length (the footage had been recently smuggled out of Burma). Traditional peach silk top. Blue flowers in her hair. A slash of orange lipstick. She is resolutely not a spin-doctored, slick operator. Two things stood out: her use of the old-fashioned word gallantry, and her repeated use of the word passion.

Though ASSK is clearly unbowed, at one point during the live Q&A down the line from Rangoon she admitted that the lights had been switched off by the authorities and she was sitting at the telephone in the dark. How fitting that she had, just minutes earlier, quoted from Ratushinskaya's prison poem that ends: "It isn't true, I am afraid, my darling!/But make it look as though you haven't noticed."

There is to ASSK an air of unrelenting affection. It reminded me of something the actress Debra Winger - who quit Hollywood before it dried her up completely - said about passion: it is the thing that keeps you soft.
http://www.newstatesman.com/radio/2011/07/suu-kyi-san-quirke-assk-aung
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Twelve media organizations call on the release of Video Journalists
By Zin Linn Jul 07, 2011 8:32PM UTC

Twelve media organizations fighting for freedom of expression and freedom of the press all around the world cosigned, today, a joint statement calling on the Burmese government to put a stop to its harassment and prosecution of journalists and calling on the release of the Democratic Voice of Burma’s Video Journalists.

An alliance of 12 media organizations on Thursday called on Government of Myanmar (Burma) to end its harsh restrictions upon journalists and to release 17 video journalists serving long prison term in military-controlled country.

The joint statement says: “Despite pledges by Burma’s new government that it has begun the transition to civilian rule, 17 video journalists (VJs) for the Oslo-based exiled media organization, the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), remain imprisoned. They are among nearly 2,100 political prisoners in Burma, a testament to the lingering hold of dictatorial rule on the country.”

Twelve media organizations call on the Burmese government to put a stop to its harassment and prosecution of journalists, who are forced to operate under strict control and surveillance. The media alliance points out evidence in the statement that despite government’s promises to freedom of the press and freedom of expression, situations continue to deteriorate in Burma on the contrary. Regulations over the Internet users are more and more rigid and journalists are forced to self-censor with greater intensity. they said in a joint statement.

Twelve media alliance urged the United Nations, the ASEAN regional bloc and the European Union to press on Myanmar to release all journalists in prison.

The DVB was tipped as one of the top nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize last year due to its documentaries secretly made by the courageous video-journalists most of them in prison.

According to Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma, which has broadcast different news video from Burma for years, its video reporters have been apprehended since 2007, when the military junta launched a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Saffron Revolution.

For example, DVB reporter Hla Hla Win, for example, was jailed in 2009 and is serving a 27-year sentence after interviewing Buddhist monks near the anniversary of the 2007 uprising. Two more DVB video-journalists have been jailed. Sithu Zeya, 21, received and eight-year sentence in December last year after police caught him taking photos of grenade attack at a stage during water-throwing festival in April 2010. Later, his father Maung Maung Zeya was also arrested and sentenced 13 years imprisonment.

The joint-statement said a number of the jailed DVB journalists were under various torture techniques during the interrogation phase to extract information about DVB’s operation and its network of undercover reporters.

The signatories of the joint statement are Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), Reporters Without Borders (RWB), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Irrawaddy, Mizzima, Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), Article 19, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Burma Media Association (BMA), Index of Censorship, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) and International Press Institute (IPI).

The Burmese government has been practicing unnecessary restrictions on media and journalists and also extra restrictions on Internet users since the information minister is unmoved from the days of the former junta.

Although the optimistic politicians and media personnel hoped for better free-press environment after the election, the scenario remains unchanged. http://asiancorrespondent.com/59506/twelve-media-organizations-call-on-the-release-of-video-journalists/
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STRAITS TIMES: Jul 7, 2011
Call for release of jailed Myanmar reporters

BANGKOK - A COALITION of media groups on Thursday called on Myanmar to end the harassment of journalists and to release 17 video reporters serving long prison sentences in the military-dominated country.

A dozen organisations, including the Democratic Voice of Burma and Reporters Without Borders, urged the United Nations, the Asean regional bloc and the European Union to press Myanmar to release all jailed journalists.

'There is evidence that despite pledges to the contrary, freedom of the press and freedom of expression continue to deteriorate in Burma, with regulations over access to the Internet tightened and journalists now forced to self-censor with greater intensity,' they said in a joint statement.

The DVB, which last year was tipped as one of the top contenders for the Nobel Peace Prize, says that since December, two of its video journalists have been jailed for up to 13 years.

They have joined the other 15 DVB reporters in detention including Hla Hla Win, who was sentenced to 27 years in jail in Myanmar, for interviewing a monk during the 2007 'Saffron Revolution' failed uprising.

The statement said some of the jailed DVB journalists may have been tortured during interrogation. -- AFP http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_688168.html
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ICRC resumes its tough task in unprincipled Burma
By Zin Linn Jul 07, 2011 4:53PM UTC

The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper says today that the Government of Myanmar (Burma) has been carrying the maintenance of prisons in cooperation with ICRC. Water and habitat Engineer Swiss Mr Eric Weissen from ICRC and two officers were allowed to visit Mawlamyine prison on 1 July. There, they inspected site chosen for sinking tube well, tube well, storage of water and construction of toilets and septic tanks.

They were conducted round by Director Soe Soe Zaw from Myanmar Correctional Department (Mon/Kayin), prison officer in-charge and engineers. According to the preliminary survey of ICRC in Myaungmya, Hpa-an and Mawlamyine prisons, solar powered water pumping system is installed by Myanmar Correctional Department under the Ministry of Home Affairs in cooperation with ICRC.

As reported by Assistance Association for Political Prisoners – Burma [AAPP-B], at least 159 political prisoners are in poor health due to the denial of proper medical care, harsh prison conditions, torture and transfers to remote prisons where there are no doctors. Political prisoners’ right to healthcare is principally denied by the successive regimes. The prison healthcare system in Burma is totally poor, especially in far-flung jails. There are 44 prisons across Burma, and at least 50 labour camps. Some of them do not have a prison hospital as well as health assistance personnel.

AAPP-B says in its June 2011 report: “The blatant insincerity and unwillingness of the current regime to address grave human rights violations was underscored in the concluding session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Throughout the dialogue, the regime made false claims as to progress made in the field of human rights while continuing to deny serious broad patterns of abuse. Burma accepts to improve relations with Special Rapporteur Quintana, but has denied him entry into the country since March 2010.”

AAPP-B also criticized the behaviors of the Burmese government in the report that if there are no widespread occurrences of human rights violations committed with impunity, as Burma claimed during the first round of the UPR in January 2011, then it should open its doors to not only the Special Rapporteur Quintana, but also to other INGOs such as the ICRC.

Burma also agreed to stop torture, but refuses to investigate allegations into torture, providing further evidence that they are only interested in providing the bare minimum so as to gain political legitimacy.

Zaw Win, Director General of the Prisons Department, brazenly lied to the international community saying there are no political prisoners in Burma. Besides, there have been no deaths in prison arising from conditions of detention, he said.

AAPP-B has documented 146 deaths as a result of ill-treatment and conditions in prison. Given the wall of secrecy surrounding prisons, the number of cases is most likely much higher. There are a total of 1,994 political prisoners in June, said AAPP Burma.

Many prisoners of conscience have been serving incredibly long prison terms in awfully ruthless conditions. Torture and ill treatment is a well known part of their incarceration and retribution.

The regime’s handling of political prisoners blatantly breaks the 1957 UN standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) carried out its last prison visit in Burma in November 2005. In January 2006 the ICRC suspended prison visits in the country, as it was not allowed to fulfill its independent, impartial mandate.

The ICRC offices were ordered to be closed in 2006. Then, ICRC released a press statement on this issue dated 29 June 2007. The statement denounced the military regime for committing human rights violations against detainees and civilians. ”The repeated abuses committed against men, women and children living along the Thai-Myanmar border violate many provisions of international humanitarian law,” said Mr. Jakob Kellenberger, ICRC president.

In addition, ICRC also demanded the Burmese government to end urgently of its abuses: “We urged the government of Myanmar to put a stop to all violations of international humanitarian law and to ensure that they do not recur”. http://asiancorrespondent.com/59478/icrc-resumes-its-tough-task-in-unprincipled-burma/
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Burma says Kachin rebels bombed railway line
By AP News Jul 07, 2011 2:18PM UTC

YANGON, Burma (AP) — Burma’s government says ethnic Kachin rebels have bombed a major railway line in the north of the country for the third time in less than a month.

The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper says the rebels attacked the train line that runs from the city of Mandalay to the Kachin state capital Myitkyina on Tuesday night.

The paper said in a report Thursday that no casualties were reported and the train track was repaired.

Fighting between the Kachin and government troops erupted last month. It displaced 10,000 people and forced Chinese technicians working at hydropower projects in the region to flee the country.

The fighting was the first recorded since a peace deal in 1994 broke down last year.
http://asiancorrespondent.com/59464/burma-says-kachin-rebels-bombed-railway-line/
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White Tiger Party Confronts Dissension
By SAI ZOM HSENG Thursday, July 7, 2011

A Central Executive Committee member of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), (aka) White Tiger Party, is refuting reports that party leaders are more focused on their own business interests than the party’s political activities, causing many party members to want a change in leadership.

Saw Than Myint told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the SNDP is operating normally and its leaders are tending to their political activities regularly; the exception being that the party chairman and vice-chairman can’t participate in party activities because they have been appointed to the state and union government, respectively.

“Our chairman was appointed to the Shan State government and the vice-chairman was appointed to the union government. That’s why they can’t be involved in the party’s activities frequently. We don’t have any plan to replace or change the persons in the position of chairman or vice-chairman yet,” said Saw Than Myint.

The chairman of the SNDP, Sai Aik Pao, is an in-law of Htay Myint, a Burmese crony who has a good relationship with members of the former military regime. Sai Aik Pao owns a salt business, and the party vice-chairman, Sai Saung Si, owns a tea plantation in northern Shan State.

In addition, the White Tiger Party has made an application with government authorities to establish a company having the name “Top White Tiger Co. Ltd,” which will focus on agriculture, mines and trading, especially with China. But Saw Than Myint said that they don’t yet have permission to start a company.

A party source in Rangoon said Sai Aik Pao controls everything that belongs to the party, and almost all of the members want to change this situation. The leadership of the party can’t provide direction and there’s no initiative by party branches, leaving many party members wanting to resign, the source said.

A SNDP party member from its Taunggyi branch said that the leaders of the party, especially the chairman and vice-chairman, are usually busy with their own businesses and their government jobs. He said they should pass the mantle of the party to people who can strongly lead, but added that party members want only a change of leadership, not separation from the party.

Many who voted for the White Tiger Party in Burma’s 2010 election have also voiced their disappointment on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. For example, one person with the username Nang Hseng Noom said on Facebook that, “the businesses of the party leaders are a slap in the face of the party, so disappointed with the activities of the leaders.”

The White Tiger Party fielded 157 candidates and won 57 seats in the 2010 election. It is recognized as one of the largest ethnic political parties in the country. Currently, it has over 120,000 party members.

According to China's Xinhua news agency, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, which is known as the junta-backed party, won 883 of the 1,154 seats contested in the election. The pro-regime National Unity Party came in second with 63 seats, followed by the White Tiger and the Rakhine (Arakan) Nationalities Development Party, with 57 and 35 seats, respectively. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21642