Releasing the roughly 2,000 political prisoners would quell doubts. (more…)

“It is encouraging that political prisoners have been released, but over a thousand are still not free.” (more…)

From a distance, the recent landmark visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Burma looks nice and should be welcome. It gives the impression that Burma is closing ranks with the rest of the Asean members and the international community after decades of isolation as a pariah state. (more…)

If Myanmar’s regime was looking for approval from the superpower as it goes down the road of political reform, it has got one now, even if this is somewhat cautious and with conditions attached. The visit of Hillary Clinton was the first by a United States Secretary of State since John Foster Dulles’ in 1955, and for this reason, it carried symbolic value. In 1988, the U.S. downgraded diplomatic relations with Myanmar after a military crackdown on pro-democracy activists; it still does not have an Ambassador there. After the junta rejected the 1990 election victory of Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy and placed her under arrest, Washington imposed economic sanctions. But the perestroika President Thein Sein set in motion earlier this year has clearly changed the way the world looks at Myanmar now. The Thein Sein regime’s decision to introduce political reforms was born out of the realisation that it needed to end its isolation and make connections with the world outside China, the ASEAN countries, and India, which have remained engaged with it over most of the last two decades. That Ms Suu Kyi is participating in these reforms, in a measured way, has given the process much credibility. Ms Clinton was careful to describe her visit to Myanmar as “a first date, not a marriage.” She stressed that further steps, including the lifting of sanctions, would depend on “real” progress towards democratic reforms, including an unconditional release of all prisoners. Washington also wants the regime to cut military ties with North Korea. Still the announcement of projects worth $1.2 million in education and health sectors is a major step forward. American restrictions on international financial assistance to Myanmar have also been eased. (more…)

Exactly one year after her release from nearly two decades of house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi seems be on the threshold of a new role in Myanmar, still in opposition to the military-backed civilian regime, but no more standing outside the political system that it has set up. Earlier this month, the government changed the rule that required political parties to “preserve” the military-drafted 2008 Constitution; they are now expected to “respect and obey” it. This change has paved the way for Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy to register as a political party. NLD leaders are likely to meet later this month to take the call. Indications are that the regime is thinking of setting some 600 political prisoners free. If it does so, it will make the decision easier for the NLD. The party boycotted last year’s elections, but it is now widely expected that Ms Suu Kyi will contest an election in December, and thus enter Parliament. On the first anniversary of her release on Monday, the Nobel laureate told journalists that the Myanmar regime had taken some steps towards political reform. She described recent developments in the country as “eventful, energising and, to a certain extent, encouraging.” One of these was a statement by the Speaker of the Parliament’s Upper House, Aung Khin Myint, that he recognised the results of the 1990 election. The NLD swept the 1990 polls, and it was following that victory the junta put Ms Suu Kyi in what turned out to be the first of long spells of detention for the next two decades. (more…)

IN March last year, the National League for Democracy faced probably the toughest decision in its history: whether to contest the country’s first election in two decades or cease to exist as a legal entity. (more…)

You would think that in a country as overwhelmingly agrarian as Burma, the plight of the rural poor would receive far more attention than it does. Agriculture accounts for more than 40 percent of Burma’s GDP and supports around 70 percent of its population. And yet, since President Thein Sein vowed in his inaugural address to Parliament in March to do something about the persistent poverty of those who toil in the fields, precious little has been said about this issue by those in high places. (more…)

If one cuts through the hype about change in Burma, about how the supposedly civilian administration in Naypyidaw is turning away from its repugnant policies of the past, concrete evidence of new thinking and a new approach by the regime headed by President Thein Sein is relatively slim. Yes, there has been dialogue – an encouraging series of meetings by senior officials – with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as international officials. But with a regime as vicious and untrustworthy as the one that has ruled Burma since the massacres in 1988, it is worth remembering that actions speak a lot louder than words. (more…)

Although Burma and Norway are far apart in terms of distance, geography and culture, many Burmese people feel that there is a special connection between the two countries. (more…)

The time has come for the National League for Democracy (NLD) to decide whether it should register as a legal political party under the Union Election Commission.
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Myanmar has begun to witness a series of positive changes and developments following the Hluttaw sessions gathering momentum. (more…)

FOR MANY YEARS advocates of engagement with Burma’s dictators have argued that economic sanctions, which are intended to promote democratic change in that Southeast Asian nation, could boomerang by forcing the regime into China’s welcoming arms. Even advocates of sanctions, like this page, have acknowledged the risk, since China’s Communist Party has no qualms about dealing with dictators and is hungry for Burma’s natural resources and its access to the Andaman Sea. (more…)

The United States hopes this recent release is only the beginning of a time-bound process that results in the unconditional release of all political prisoners. (more…)

The release of several hundred prisoners in Myanmar last week was another token gesture from the military junta, trying to convince the world of its intention to introduce some form of democracy in the country. As welcome as the gesture is — since any move in that direction in Myanmar at this stage is almost progress — we still have to take it with a grain of salt. (more…)

THERE is some basis for scepticism surrounding Myanmar’s recent release of 300 political prisoners. The move still leaves about 2,000 behind bars. There is no assurance that it is not a shadow play to secure the 2014 Asean chairmanship. In the months ahead, hardliners in the military will also resist any form of political reform that would compromise their positions. Weary Myanmar watchers will also point out that previous reform and openings were only followed by subsequent crackdowns. (more…)

The Burmese government has released a significant number of political prisoners in the latest sign that reformers have seized the initiative. On Wednesday, between 100 and 300 political prisoners were set free as part of an amnesty covering as many as 6,000 inmates. Among them were prominent opposition leaders such as Zarganar, a comedian and commentator jailed in 2008 for criticising the then junta’s disastrous response to Cyclone Nargis. (more…)

Work on a controversial and costly dam in Northern Burma has been suspended. (more…)

The decision to halt the Myitsone dam could be a sign that, after nearly two decades of international isolation, reformists are gaining the upper hand. (more…)

IN THE UNENDING debate between engaging and isolating dictators, those favoring engagement invariably manage to discover inside autocratic regimes “reformers” whose brave efforts will be squelched if the outside world does not reward them. (more…)

It’s hard to tell what exactly is happening with our neighbours at the moment _ and academics, journalists and professional Burma-watchers seem just as bamboozled as the rest of us. Are we seeing real change under Burma’s newly “elected” civilian government, or is it the old wolf slipping seamlessly into sheep’s clothing? (more…)