Opinion

Wednesday, 17 August 2011 Mizzima News

Whether to go back home or not mainly depends on the existence of democracy and human rights and it depends on whether we can build a federal union that we have called for.

As far as I understand it, these things cannot be achieved under the rule of Thein Sein’s government or under the 2008 Constitution. Therefore, what he said has no significant meaning to us regardless of what he said.

By AUNG MOE ZAW

Thursday, August 12, 2010

By the first week of August, 40 political parties had registered for the upcoming Burmese elections and others were still waiting for their applications to be approved.

One of the most recent parties to be registered was a Kachin political party called the Unity and Democracy Party of Kachin State (UDPKS), while three other Kachin political parties are still waiting to hear if their applications are successful.

By AUNG MOE ZAW

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

It is popular today to say that Burmese civil society can be built without a struggle despite the present environment created and controlled by a military regime to ensure that people live according to their rules.

It is popular today to talk of engaging the regime which itself has refused to engage with the political party that won the last election and for whom meaningful engagement comes in twenty minute pseudo meetings with UN envoys.

By KHIN MAUNG TINT and AUNG MOE ZAW

Irrawaddy News Magazine (Thursday, July 1, 2010)

By Zaw Zaw Htun

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Burma has been in political, social and economic crises for many decades. It can be argued that the questions of two major political issues, democratization and establishment of a federal state, are the root causes of Burma's long history of armed conflicts as well as of the country's crises in present days.

Moreover, due to the military regime's practice of brutal oppressions against any opposition and mismanagement of the country's economy with massive corruption, nepotism and cronyism, the Burmese people from all walks of lives have been facing with severe socio-economic hardship while being denied their political and civil rights.

By AUNG MOE ZAW

Monday, October 5, 2009

While some people’s hopes may be raised at the news of the recent meeting between Aung San Suu Kyi and Maj-Gen Aung Kyi, the junta's liaison minister, others will observe it with a wait-and-see attitude. Others still may argue that this is just another version of the same old game that the regime has played many times before.

All will ponder on the motives behind the decision of the regime to talk to Suu Kyi at this stage.

Could it be that Rangoon is worried about possible unrest due to the political and socio-economic conditions? Is it that China, Russia and India have joined with EU members in calling for the release of the pro-democracy leader and other political prisoners, and are applying pressure for more inclusive participation in the 2010 election?

By AUNG MOE ZAW

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The fighting that broke out on August 27 between the Burmese regime’s army and the Kokang militia clearly signals the fragility of the ceasefire agreements that have been in place in Burma’s border regions for the past two decades. It also raises concerns of a return to a full-scale civil war unless the regime seriously works together with the ethnic armies, compromising its position as necessary in order to achieve an inclusive political process.

There is an undercurrent of tension flowing between the ceasefire organizations and the regime due to the flawed writing and approval process of the 2008 constitution. The regime’s desire to transform the ceasefire armies into border security guards, thus bringing them directly under the control of the national army, will almost certainly further these tensions and lead to more fighting.

By AUNG MOE ZAW

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is guilty and her sentence is three years hard labor. That was the judgment handed down by a court in the compound of the notorious Insein Prison on August 11th, 2009. As a result, the military regime in Burma may believe that it has fulfilled its aim of excluding her and the pro-democracy forces from the country's political process.

There should be no doubt that Snr-Gen Than Shwe and the junta have no intention of reconciling with either Suu Kyi or any of the pro-democracy movement and ethnic forces for the interest of the various peoples or the nation.

They have made that blatantly clear time and time again, and now, this latest verdict is a loud resounding "No!" to domestic and international calls for reconciliation and an inclusive political process.

By AUNG MOE ZAW

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is guilty and her sentence is three years hard labor. That was the judgment handed down by a court in the compound of the notorious Insein Prison on August 11th, 2009. As a result, the military regime in Burma may believe that it has fulfilled its aim of excluding her and the pro-democracy forces from the country's political process. There should be no doubt that Snr-Gen Than Shwe and the junta have no intention of reconciling with either Suu Kyi or any of the pro-democracy movement and ethnic forces for the interest of the various peoples or the nation.

They have made that blatantly clear time and time again, and now, this latest verdict is a loud resounding "No!" to domestic and international calls for reconciliation and an inclusive political process.

By AUNG MOE ZAW

Irrawaddy News Magazine (Friday, June 12, 2009)

Fast on the heels of the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi comes the SPDC's offensive against the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Karen people. Unfortunately, these are calculated acts by the regime against the forces for democracy and ethnic liberation. Quite simply, the regime hates Suu Kyi and the regime hates the KNU. For the Burmese junta, these are the enemies: these forces of reconciliation, these forces for reconciliation.

The KNU is one of the key partners in the future national reconciliation process for Burma because of its long history of determination to heal ethnic divisions, be inclusive and its consistency in pursuing freedom, rights and equality. Sidelining the KNU in the process toward a new Burma will not benefit any community in Burma.

If the regime were truly committed to free and fair elections and to positive change in Burma, it would be consulting with the KNU and would have brought them on board from the very beginning. Instead the regime systematically attacks the Karen villages.

By AUNG MOE ZAW

Irrawaddy News Magazine (Friday, June 12, 2009)

Fast on the heels of the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi comes the SPDC's offensive against the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Karen people. Unfortunately, these are calculated acts by the regime against the forces for democracy and ethnic liberation. Quite simply, the regime hates Suu Kyi and the regime hates the KNU. For the Burmese junta, these are the enemies: these forces of reconciliation, these forces for reconciliation.

The KNU is one of the key partners in the future national reconciliation process for Burma because of its long history of determination to heal ethnic divisions, be inclusive and its consistency in pursuing freedom, rights and equality. Sidelining the KNU in the process toward a new Burma will not benefit any community in Burma.

If the regime were truly committed to free and fair elections and to positive change in Burma, it would be consulting with the KNU and would have brought them on board from the very beginning. Instead the regime systematically attacks the Karen villages.

By AUNG MOE ZAW

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Burma’s military regime announced on February 9 that a national referendum would be held in just three months’ time. The referendum will ask the people to vote for or against a constitution that the regime has spent the last 14 years writing.

The unexpected move comes just over a week after Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), warned her party to “prepare for the worst”. While the opposition was left to wonder what “the worst” might actually be and how they should prepare for it, the regime was already acting. With its announcement of a national referendum, the regime has strategically backed the opposition into a corner.

By issuing Decree 1/2008, which declares plans to hold a referendum later this year, and Decree 2/2008, which sets 2010 as the year for general elections, the regime has made it clear that they have effectively abandoned any inclusive dialogue process. Not only have they shut out the domestic opposition; they have also sidelined UN efforts to bring an end to the political crisis in Burma by unilaterally going ahead with step four of their own road map.