Tue 22 Dec 2009, Janu, Mi Yin Mon
Members of a Burmese military junta backed civilian political party that participated in a previous election attempt, have been campaigning for support from residents in the 2010 election.

According to residents from Mudon Township, since November 4th the Burmese National Unity Party (NUP), which participated in the 1990 election as the Burmese military junta’s civilian political party, has been working to win residents support.

“This group [NUP] goes from one village to after another to organize the villagers in Mudon Township. They go to one village for a day to organize the people, though it is not every day [that they go],” said a woman from Mudon township. “When they go and organize the people from any village, they go to the house, which they knew before. Then they have a discussion with these people on how to vote for them in the election.”

According to residents, during these political organizing visits, NUP members attempted to persuade residents to vote in favor of their party by telling them that if they (the NUP) win in the election or if they were the primary party in the new government, they would give people more business benefits through fewer taxes. According to one villager who attended the Township meeting in Mudon, NUP members attempted to rally Mudon residents to their party by highlighting the refusal of the New Mon State Party, the largest Mon political organization, to participate in the coming 2010 election. The Mudon resident recounted their efforts, “‘The New Mon State Party will not join the coming election. We don’t see any people here who represent for Mon people and we also are Mons. So don’t make a mistake in the election.’”

The villager continued, saying, “They [NUP members] said to the attending people that other parties also will come in the future to them and that the other parties will talk to them, and give them things to eat and drink, but [they reminded us] we have to be careful when we vote.”

According to resident, 4 months ago the NUP began campaigning in Mudon Township. However, due to the number of villages in the area, they were unable to finish, and have only recently renewed their campaign in November.

While the election was scheduled for 2010 in the 2008 ratified constitution, the official rules for the election have yet to be released. Additionally registration process for new parties has yet to be announced.

The NUP was formed on September 26th, 1988, from what had been the Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP). The party was created to provide a new civilian face for the military junta that had only recently recovered its position in a coup after the 1988 student protests.

Despite significant monetary and material support from the government, and the government arrest of opposition leaders, the NUP gained only 10 parliamentary seats of 485. The National League for Democracy won the lion’s share, taking 392. Due to the resounding failure of the NUP, the military government chose not to honor the election results.

Friday, 18 December 2009 15:20 Myint Maung

New Delhi (Mizzima) – Ethnic political leaders in Burma on Thursday welcomed leaders of the National League for Democracy party’s consideration reforming party leadership.

NLD Chairman Aung Shwe, Secretary U Lwin, central executive committee member Lun Tin and detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday, during a rare meeting arranged by the government, discussed on reforming party leadership as many of the CEC are ageing and a few ailing.

“Aung Shwe, Lun Tin and U Lwin all agreed to Daw Suu’s suggestion of reforming party leadership, which is a good sign and we welcome it. The party needs younger generation as we do not know how long our struggle will continue,” Thakhin Chan Tun, a veteran politician in Rangoon, told Mizzima.

Aye Thar Aung, secretary of the Committee for Representing People’s Parliament’ (CRPP), a group formed with members of parliament elected in 1990 elections, said, “We welcome the meeting between the NLD CEC members. We know that the CEC will be expanded with new members. It is a good sign as a first step.”

Similarly, Cin Sian Thang, chairman of the Zomi National Congress (ZNC), said, “NLD is the biggest and strongest party in Burma. Many have said aging and inactive leaders should retire. It is good to see Daw Suu paying her respects to the three elderly leaders and they agreeing to her proposal. I think it is not only for the party, it’s also good for our country.” The Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate on Wednesday was granted her request to allow her to pay respect to three of the NLD’s aging leaders Seinlea Kan Thar state guest house. The NLD leaders met for about an hour, where detained party general secretary proposed of reforming party CEC. Reportedly, all the three aging leaders agreed to her proposal.

For the past nearly two decades, the 1990 election winning party the NLD is served by the 92 year-old chairman U Aung Shwe, 88 year-old CEC member U Lun Tin and 85 year-old secretary U Lwin.

“Those ageing leaders and in frail health should retire, as they cannot carry their duties effectively. Active and capable persons should be inducted in the leadership and the elderly leaders should advise the new leaders,” Thakin Chan Tun suggested.

“The leadership should be expanded by inducting capable and smart youths replacing frail and inactive aging leaders. This is routine in any party. We hope, in this way, the party will become dynamic and can work effectively for democracy and Burma,” Aye Thar Aung said.

The three party leaders Aung Shwe, U Lwin, and Lun Tin are currently joined in the CEC by General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi, Vice-Chairman Tin Oo, who is also currently under house arrest, members Win Tin, Than Tun, Thakin Soe Myint, Hla Pe, Nyunt Wei and U Khin Maung Swe.

(Edited by Ye Yint Aung)

အဖြဲ႔ခ်ဳပ္ ေခါင္းေဆာင္ပိုင္း အေျပာင္းအလဲလုပ္မည့္အေပၚ ဦးဝင္းတင္ရဲ႕ အျမင္
ဘီဘီစီ အင္တာဗ်ဴး
ဒီဇင္ဘာ ၁၇၊ ၂၀၀၉
ေဒၚေအာင္ဆန္းစုၾကည္ကေတာ့ အန္အယ္ဒီေခါင္းေဆာင္ပိုင္းကို ျပန္လည္ျပင္ဆင္ ဖြဲ႔စည္းမယ္လို႔ ေျပာလိုက္ပါၿပီ။ ေခါင္းေဆာင္လူႀကီးေတြကလည္း သေဘာတူတယ္လို႔ သိရပါၿပီ။ ဒီကေန႔ကာလ အေျခအေနနဲ႔ကိုက္ညီတဲ့ ပါတီ ေခါင္းေဆာင္မႈကို ဘယ္လိုပံုစံမ်ဳိး ဖြဲ႔စည္းသင့္ပါသလဲ။
အန္အယ္ဒီပါတီ လက္ရွိ ဗဟိုအလုပ္အမႈေဆာင္တဦးျဖစ္တဲ့ ဦးဝင္းတင္ကို ဘီဘီစီက ဆက္သြယ္ၿပီး ေဒၚေအာင္ဆန္းစု ၾကည္ စတင္ေျပာဆိုလာၿပီျဖစ္တဲ့ ပါတီေခါင္းေဆာင္မႈ ေျပာင္းလဲမယ့္ကိစၥနဲ႔ပတ္သက္ၿပီး ဘယ္လိုသေဘာထားရပါလဲလို႔ ေမးၾကည့္ေတာ့ …
continue http://moemaka.wordpress.com/2009/12/17/u-win-tin-on-nld-reform-bbc-interview/

Yangon – Myanmar’s junta this year paved the way for their unique vision of “discipline-flourishing democracy” by making sure that the country’s chief opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was safely under detention, if not silenced. In one of the most shameful of sham trials, Suu Kyi was found guilty on August 11 of breaking the terms of her previous six years of house detention by allowing a mentally unstable US Mormon to swim into her compound-cum-prison by Yangon’s Inya Lake.
The commuted sentence was another 18 months of house arrest, just enough to guarantee the Nobel peace laureate was under the junta’s thumb as it prepares to hold a general election some time in 2010.
Predictably, the sentence sparked international outrage and renewed calls for Suu Kyi’s immediate release.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 64, whose name has become as synonymous with opposition to Myanmar’s military rule as Nelson Mandela’s has with the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, has spent 14 of the past 20 years under detention in her decaying Yangon family compound.
She was first placed under house arrest in 1989 for publicly criticizing former military strongman General Ne Win. Suu Kyi was under house arrest during the 1990 polls but, if anything, her detention helped her National League for Democracy (NLD) party win that election by a landslide.
How much more of an impact might she have if she were free during the 2010 polls?
“The military’s main objective is to keep her out of the picture during the election time which is absolutely critical to them,” said Win Min, a lecturer on Myanmar affairs at Thailand’s Chiang Mai University.
“Even under house arrest she may say something about whom she supports – I don’t think they want that to happen,” he said.
The junta has repeatedly said they will stage an election sometime in 2010 as a crucial step in their seven-point roadmap to democracy, but they have yet to issue regulations covering party registration and the election system.
Nor have they set a firm date for the polls.
Bets were previously on the election being held in May, the traditional month for polls and referendums because farmers are free and the monsoon rains have not yet started.
But with no election legislation yet in place, now Myanmar pundits are predicting polls closer to the end of the year.
“I heard the election will be on 10-10-2010. Is that true?” asked one Asian diplomat based in Yangon.
The number 10 is a symbol of completion according to Myanmar numerology beliefs.
Few in Yangon think the junta will allow Suu Kyi and some 2,100 other political prisoners to be freed before the polls, despite requests from US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, among others.
Obama, as part of his administration’s new “engagement” policy with Myanmar, has hinted at lifting economic sanctions if the junta agrees to meet certain key conditions such as freeing Suu Kyi and opening a dialogue with the opposition and other stakeholders before holding an election.
The junta is unlikely to play ball.
“They have been ruling Myanmar under economic sanctions for a long time and have proven they can survive,” said one Yangon-based political observer who requested anonymity.
“I think they will not negotiate with the lady [Suu Kyi] just to avoid sanctions for one year,” he said. “For the military, the ethnic issue is more important than the lady and the NLD.”
Under the 2008 constitution, some 37 ethnic minority armies, which the junta calls “ceasefire groups,” must be turned into border guards as part of the preparations for the election.
The ethnic minority groups are also encouraged to set up political parties to contest the polls.
So far only only three groups have complied, and there are fears that some of the largest groups, such as the Wa, will refuse and perhaps block polling in their areas.
“It seems to me that both sides, the regime and ethnic groups, do not have a clear plan for the next step,” said Aung Din, director of the Washington-based US Campaign For Burma.
“I am sure that the refusal of these ethnic groups to the border guard plan is the main reason for the regime’s delay in announcing the election schedule,” he said.
earthtime news

Sincere response expected from Than Shwe to Suu Kyi

by Mungpi
Wednesday, 16 December 2009 14:54

New Delhi (Mizzima) – The Burmese junta has partially granted detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s request to meet ailing party leaders on Wednesday, a senior member of her party said.

Win Tin, a central executive committee (CEC) member of the National League for Democracy, on Tuesday told Mizzima that authorities are arranging a meeting between detained party General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi and ailing party chairman Aung Shwe, Secretary U Lwin and CEC member Lun Tin on Wednesday.

“We don’t know where they will be meeting but it looks like the three ailing party leaders will be brought to a guest house, possibly Seinle Kantha, where Daw Suu will also be brought,” Win Tin said.

The meeting is being arranged in response to the Nobel Peace Laureate’s request to the junta supremo Snr Gen Than Shwe last month. Aung San Suu Kyi, in her second letter sent in November requested Than Shwe to allow her to pay her respects to the ailing party leaders, a meeting with the NLD CEC including detained party vice-chairman Tin Oo.

The pro-democracy leader, in her letter, also said, she wanted to meet the Senior General in order to further discuss activities related to easing sanctions for the interest of the people of Burma.

Asked if the development could be interpreted as a positive sign and a softer approach by the government, Win Tin said, “I do not think it is a positive sign because this is a partial grant to Daw Suu’s request. And it is not being allowed in the way she had asked for. She wanted to visit the house of the three ailing party leaders.” If the government was sincere, it would have been easier for them to allow Aung San Suu Kyi to pay visits to the three NLD leaders at their respective homes instead of bringing them to a location as they are ill and weak, he added.

The veteran journalist said the meeting was the easiest request by Aung San Suu Kyi to be granted and it does not hurt the junta’s interest. But he said, he doubts if the junta would be willing to grant her other requests of allowing a meeting with the NLD CEC including Tin Oo, who is also under house arrest since May 2003.

“I don’t know if the government will allow Daw Suu to meet the CEC as her request includes meeting Tin Oo. And as for her request to meet Than Shwe, I think it is very unlikely though it would be most welcome if he changes his mind and starts meeting Daw Suu,” Win Tin said.

Earlier, Win Tin told Mizzima that he wants the Burmese junta chief to seriously consider Aung San Suu Kyi’s proposal for a meeting with him and take his time to analyze before coming up with any response, as it is a matter that would have an impact on Burma’s political future.

“He should consider all aspects including the peoples’ future. It is not a matter of just ‘Tatmadaw’ and Daw Suu, it is a matter that concerns the whole country,” he added.
mizzima news

Nava Thakuria: On the International Human Rights Day (December 10), a number of civil society and advocacy groups from Burma and other parts of the world came together with consensus in demanding a genuine political reconciliation before the proposed general election the Southeast Asian country and to release all political prisoners including the pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

In a combined statement, over hundred organizations based in different parts of the globe urged for an inclusive dialogue with key pro-democracy stakeholders, ethnic nationalities and also a comprehensive review of the 2008 Constitution designed by the military rulers of Burma. It also asked for immediate cessation of systematic human rights abuses and criminal hostilities against ethnic groups, political activists, journalists and civil society workers in the country.

“We, the reaffirm the necessity for genuine political reconciliation before the 2010 elections and call on the international community to take immediate action to ensure viable democratic change occurs in Burma. The people of Burma are entitled to have a genuine choice and the international community has an obligation to ensure that the people get this choice,” said in the statement endorsed by influential organizations like Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (Altsean-Burma), Burma Partnership, Burma Campaign UK, Burma Centre Delhi, Burma Lawyers Council, Burmese American Democratic Alliance, Ethnic Nationalities Council, Shwe Gas Movement, Women League of Chin-land etc. Even though the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 21) said that the ‘will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government’, the military regime named State Peace Development Council continues to use coercive measures to hold onto power.

“Activists, community leaders, journalists, and monks continue to be arrested and harassed for voicing independent thought. Villages continue to be subjected to crimes against humanity under the regime’s brutal policy of controlling ethnic communities. The regime continues to manipulate the political sphere in order to secure their victory in the 2010 elections – based on the 2008 Constitution that was crafted by the military regime in order to perpetuate impunity and prolong their hold on power,” the statement added.

The groups were in apprehension that ‘if the election is allowed to go ahead without these changes, it would only serve to institutionalize one-party rule, with military still holding the strings of power’.

Even in the unlikely event that the elections are free and fair, they will not bring any real change to Burma because the fundamentally flawed Constitution that allocates vast powers to military, lacks any checks and balances, allows for the ongoing discrimination and persecution of ethnic nationalities, gender discrimination, and lacks protection of human rights, the statement asserted.

The statement, which was also supported by Actions Birmanie – Brussels, All Burma Democratic Lusei Women Organization, Arakan League for Democracy (Exile – India), Arakan Liberation Party, ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples, Austrian Burma Center, Burma Aktion Germany, Burma Campaign Australia, Burmese Women’s Union, Chin Students and Youth Federation, Chin Women Organization, Danish Burma Committee, Dictator Watch, All Burma Federation of Student Unions, Foundation for Media Alternatives (Philippines), International Federation for Human Rights, Karen Women’s Organization, Kuki Women Human Rights Organization, Naga National League for Democracy, People’s Forum on Burma (Japan), Student Federation of Thailand etc concluded urging ‘the international community to be united in their support for the will of the people of Burma, and act with firm resolve not to allow this sham election to proceed until national reconciliation is realized’.

Meanwhile on the same day, ignoring the warning from the military junta, the National League for Democracy organized a meeting at their main Rangoon office to celebrate the International Human Rights Day on December 10, stated in a release from the office of Burma Partnership Secretariat.

Similarly, in Rangoon, the All Burma Monks’ Alliance, 88 Generation Students, and All Burma Federation of Student Union released a statement urging the international community not to recognize the 2010 elections unless there has been sustainable political dialogue with democratic opposition and ethnic nationalities, and national reconciliation beforehand.
narinjara

CHIANG MAI, Thailand: As Myanmar gears up for rare elections due next year, eyes are turning to the fate of the country’s ageing military strongman, Than Shwe, and a possible succession, exiled activists say.

Described by critics as reclusive, paranoid and deeply in thrall to astrology, the 76-year-old “Senior General” has ruled the country with an iron grip since 1992, but is now in the twilight of his career.

A new constitution approved in a widely criticized 2008 referendum says that the State Peace and Development Council—the junta that Than Shwe heads—must hand over power to a new national assembly after the elections.

Than Shwe may take over the new presidential position provided for by the constitution to maintain his hold on power, according to opposition activists living in exile in Thailand.

But after constantly striving to increase his power, he now faces underlying resentment from within the regime, the activists say.

When he eventually quits, “Than Shwe will make sure his future is safe,” said Naing Aung, secretary general of the Forum for Democracy in Burma.

She added, however: “Than Shwe has only close circles with him. He is an isolated man.”

Aung Naing Oo, a Myanmar political analyst in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, predicted it would be “interesting to see how he leaves politics because he cannot leave right away.”

“If he retains a formal position, it means he is not leaving. If he doesn’t, then he will be protected for quite some time” by keeping his aides close to him, he said.
Than Shwe will be well aware of the fate of several previous leaders since the military took control of Myanmar in 1962.

Former dictator Ne Win, who ruled the country between 1962 and 1988, died under house arrest in 2002 and was not granted a state funeral, while several members of his family were sent to jail. The official press hardly mentioned his death.

Than Shwe himself presided over a purge of the military intelligence service that ended with the sentencing of former prime minister Khin Nyunt to 44 years’ house arrest in 1994.

“He may not want to retire, but under the constitution he may have to. He will put someone he really trusts like his son,” said Win Min, an academic at Chiang Mai university and pro-democracy activist.

Win Min said that until Than Shwe played his hand, it would be impossible to predict successors in the largely opaque Myanmar military hierarchy.

“Unpredictability is his strategy. You don’t know what he is going to do. He is a control freak,” he said.

In 2005, Than Shwe moved the capital almost overnight from Rangoon to the purpose-built city of Naypyidaw to satisfy his dreams of grandeur—and also to protect himself against supposed threats to his rule.

The elections, meanwhile, have been tailored to favor the junta.

The constitution reserves a quarter of all seats for the military, while opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained for most of the past two decades since her National League for Democracy won the last polls in 1990.

Yet critics say that Than Shwe will still have to deal with some new faces, even if they are just in the military.

“With a new constitution, whether you like it or not, you’ll have new leadership,” Aung Naing Oo said. “I don’t think anyone can be as bad, as manipulative as Than Shwe. The new system will open up a little bit.”

A complex power struggle is likely between Than Shwe’s circle and the new military officials who will be keen to use their electoral legitimacy, analysts said.

But Than Shwe’s fate will for the most part remain in his own hands.

“Than Shwe will be directing things from behind the curtain,” said Khuensai Jaigen, exiled leader of the Shan Herald Agency for News, a news service for the Shan ethnic minority.

Changes “will not come right away. People will not be in a hurry to change things like Obama after Bush,” he said ironically.

“At first, the successor will be careful. He’ll try to change things a bit until he’s sure he can be confident. Then there might be drastic changes.”

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/world/7759-myanmar-junta-chiefs-future-still-uncertain?

More Charges for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?

Posted in Asia with tags Burma 2010 Election, Burmese Junta, Daewoo, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Gen. Than Shwe, NLD, Propaganda, Tata Motors on December 10, 2009 by buffalohair

Exodus from Burma Continues

Posted in Asia with tags Biololgical/Chemical Warfare, Burma, Child Soldiers of Burma, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, DKBA, eugenics, Karen, KNU, NLD, Than Shwe, United Nations Child Soldier Prevention Program on December 9, 2009 by buffalohair

National League for Democracy (NLD) central executive member Win Tin and Arakanese leader Aye Thar Aung reaffirmed in a Burmese language letter to a conference being held by Burmese exiles in Tokyo this week that the roadmap to breaking Burma’s political deadlock lies in the release of political prisoners, a review of the 2008 Constitution and genuine political dialogue.

Aye Thar Aung wrote that the 2010 election under the 2008 Constitution will not bring democracy and ethnic rights to Burma.

Genuine dialogue between the military junta, ethnic leaders and NLD leaders has to take place before the election, he said. He called the 2008 Constitution “one-sided” and said both cease-fire and non-cease-fire ethnic groups have rejected it.

Win Tin added that releasing pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and having international observers monitoring the election are keys to making progress in the political crisis. The NLD leader reaffirmed that if the junta followed these conditions and acknowledged the result of the 1990 election, the NLD would participate in the election next year.

Both Win Tin and Aye Thar Aung warned the 2008 Constitution and the proposed 2010 election will threaten peace and stability if the junta proceeds with its plans without agreement from other parties.

Their comments have revealed nothing new since they were based on similar declarations made by the NLD at Shwegonedaing in April.

Many Burmese people as well as Burma observers agree that genuine dialogue between all stakeholders in Burmese politics offers the best path to resolution of the political situation in Burma. However, no genuine dialogue has taken place inside the country in more than 20 years.

Under the leadership of Suu Kyi, the NLD called for dialogue with the military junta shortly after the party was formed on September 27, 1988. The junta did not respond.

In the early 2000s, there were some meetings and dinners attended by leaders including Suu Kyi and Snr-Gen Than Shwe, but observers said the meetings were for show only and resulted in increased tensions rather than greater dialogue.

Following international condemnation of the junta over crackdowns on mass demonstrations in September 2007, the junta appointed Labor Minister Aung Kyi to hold meetings with Suu Kyi.

The two met a few times between October 2007 and January 2008 but then the meetings stopped.

The meetings only resumed in October after Suu Kyi sent a letter to Naypyidaw requesting permission to meet with Western diplomats to learn about the condition of sanctions on Burma.

On Nov. 11, Suu Kyi sent another letter to the junta requesting a meeting with Than Shwe, but the junta chief has yet to reply.

Many in Burma and abroad are optimistic that something positive will happen in the coming months ahead of the 2010 election. Given lessons from the past and recent events, however, others are skeptical that progress will be made.

Writing about positive change in Burma in Britain’s Guardian news blog on Wednesday, British ambassador Andrew Heyn said: “the optimism is offset by fears that this might be a repeat of the window dressing, so often seen before, that is designed to obscure the reality of a regime conducting business as usual… Burma has seen many false dawns and no one is getting too excited.”
Irawaddy

Burma: Under military dictatorship—Half the century

1988: Current junta came to power—Gunned down 3000 peaceful demonstrators

1990: Junta held the election—Aung San Suu Kyis party NLD won landslide—Junta refuses to recognize it

1993: Junta draft the constitution—Hand-picked delegations—It took 14 years

2008 May: Cyclone Nargis struck Burma—250, 000 died & 2.5 million homeless—Adopt the constitution unilaterally

Aung San Suu Kyi, Democratic and Ethnics groups say— NO !

WHY ???

Please see the 2008 Constitution Discussion video at Burma Democratic Concern (BDC)s bdcburma channel at youtube.

COMING SOON !!!

Invitation for the 10 December 2009 Demonstration in UK

by Salai Han Thar San
Tuesday, 24 November 2009 21:49

New Delhi (Mizzima) – The Burmese military junta’s priority is to get on with its planned 2010 elections rather than looking at easing western sanctions, leaving little chance of the junta supremo Snr Gen Than Shwe responding to detained opposition leader’s latest proposal, a senior member of her party said.

Win Tin, a Central Executive Committee (CEC) member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), on Tuesday told Mizzima that the chances of Than Shwe responding to the Nobel Peace Laureate’s letter, requesting a meeting with him, is slim as the military clique seems to be far too preoccupied with its planned elections.

On November 11, the detained Burmese democracy icon, through her party spokesperson Nyan Win, sent her second letter to Than Shwe requesting a face to face meeting to follow up on the work to help ease western sanctions.

Nyan Win on Tuesday told Mizzima that Than Shwe has not responded to the letter, which also requested permission to allow the pro-democracy leader to pay her respects to aging party leaders and to allow her a meeting at her home with the party CEC.

The senior opposition leader on Tuesday said, Burma’s military supremo Snr Gen Than Shwe is unlikely to respond to the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s proposal sent earlier this month, as the junta’s priority is its elections rather than easing sanctions.

Win Tin said, the military clique is unlikely to responds to the proposal as the 2010 elections are on the top of its agenda, compared to looking at easing western sanctions and engaging with the United States. “Sanctions do not constitute real problems for them [junta], as it does not hurt them much but creates slight difficulties in their relationship with the international community. But the elections are very important to them,” Win Tin said.

Aung San Suu Kyi on September 25 sent her first letter to Than Shwe offering to cooperate in easing sanctions. The junta responded to her proposal by granting her request to meet diplomats from the United States, European Union and Australia.

Besides, the junta also allowed the detained Burmese democracy icon to meet the junta’s Liaison Minister Aung Kyi and also the visiting US high-level delegation led by Assistant Secretary for Asia Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell.

The letters and the meetings came following the United States’ announcement of a new policy of engaging the generals in Burma while maintaining existing sanctions.

Nyan Win, while saying that so far there was no reply, said he is optimistic that something positive will turn up.

But Win Tin said, “This election will guarantee the rule of the military because it will be held based on the 2008 constitution. And the new Parliament and the new government will be controlled by this constitution that will guarantee the military’s rule for many years to come in Burma.”

ယခုႏွစ္ ဧၿပီလ(၂၉)ရက္ေန႔က ျမန္မာျပည္တြင္းရွိ အမ်ဳိးသားဒီမိုကေရစီအဖဲြ႔ခ်ဳပ္မွ ထုတ္ျပန္ထားခဲ့ေသာ ”ေ႐ႊဂံုတိုင္ေၾကညာစာတမ္း“ကို ဂ်ပန္ႏိုင္ငံရွိ ျမန္မာဒီမိုကေရစီအင္အားစုမ်ားမွ အျပည့္အ၀ေထာက္ခံေၾကာင္းႏွင့္ အဆိုပါေၾကညာစာတမ္း၏အေရးႀကီးပံုကို ဂ်ပန္အစိုးရႏွင့္တကြ ဂ်ပန္ႏိုင္ငံရွိ လူမႈအေျချပဳအဖဲြ႔အစည္းမ်ား၊ ဂ်ပန္ႏိုင္ငံေရးပါတီမ်ား၊ ဂ်ပန္အလုပ္သမားသဂၢမ်ားအပါအ၀င္ ဂ်ပန္လူထုႏွင့္ ဂ်ပန္ႏိုင္ငံရွိ ႏိုင္ငံျခားသံ႐ံုးမ်ားပါ သေဘာေပါက္လက္ခံလာၿပီး အားေပးေထာက္ခံမႈရရွိေစရန္ရည္႐ြယ္၍ ႏွီးေႏွာဖလွယ္ပဲြတရပ္ က်င္းပျပဳလုပ္မည္ဟုသိရွိရသည္။
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