Although the Burmese military doesn’t want camps established for those recently displaced by clashes between government troops and the Kachin Independence Army, a cabinet official for the government has insisted that camps should be set up if necessary.
A group of former members of the well-known 88 Generation Peace and Open Society activist group is looking to quell criticism of their attempt to enter electoral politics, planning to refile an application to register as an official political party with a name change.
Lead Story News Parliament Politics
According to an agenda for the Lower House’s 22 March parliamentary session, lawmakers in the chamber are due tomorrow to select a speaker to replace Win Myint, who abruptly stepped down from the post on Wednesday.
Burma’s bicameral parliament today unanimously approved a bill to establish “a Union based on the principles of democracy and federalism”.
Conflict Ethnic issues Lead Story News
A clash between soldiers from the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and Battalion 16 of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) reportedly erupted over the weekend near Mahn Aung village in Ye Township, Mon State. The skirmish flared eight miles away from the village.
Ko Ko Kyi said he believes his party could pose a challenge to the two major parties, the NLD and the USDP.
The New Mon State Party and Lahu Democratic Union signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) on Tuesday, fulfilling a pledge that the two ethnic armed groups made last month to accede to an accord initially inked by eight non-state armies more than two years ago.
International Relations Lead Story Media News
A Reuters investigation into the killing of Rohingya Muslims in Burma prompted demands from the US State Department for a credible investigation into the bloodshed there and calls for the release of two journalists who were arrested while working on the report.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Peace Process
The New Mon State Party and Lahu Democratic Union will sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement on 13 February, with their accession to the accord marking one of the most substantive breakthroughs in Burma’s peace process since the National League for Democracy took power nearly two years ago.
Changes to government leadership are afoot in some parts of Burma as multiple ministers appointed by the National League for Democracy at the state- and region-level have tendered their resignations in recent days.
Foreign Affairs Lead Story News
India has mobilised around 60,000 police and paramilitary troops in a sensitive border state ahead of the publication of a list of citizens it says will be used to detect and deport illegal immigrants, mainly Muslims, from neighbouring Bangladesh.
A political party formed by members of the “88 Generation” is one step closer to becoming a reality this week, as organisers of the effort submitted an application to the Union Election Commission (UEC) on Tuesday seeking official recognition.
The Union Election Commission rejects a proposal by Burmese nationalists seeking to establish a political party with an explicit goal of furthering their agenda, with the electoral gatekeeper saying its decision was made based on the country’s Political Parties Registration Law.
Arakan Lead Story News Rakhine
Kyaw Zaw Oo, a member of the Arakan National Party’s Central Executive Committee, has become the latest politician to the defect from the increasingly enfeebled ethnic Rakhine political party, which saw its chairman resign last week.
The Arakan National Party will hold a meeting of members of its Central Executive Committee to discuss the resignation letter submitted by its chairman, Aye Maung, who officially signalled his intention to leave the party earlier this week.
In a development certain to shake up the political arena in Rakhine State and beyond, the leader of the Arakan National Party has submitted a letter of resignation, throwing one of Burma’s most prominent ethnic political parties into further disarray.
The Union Election Commission announces that a member of the Shan State legislature from the Union Solidarity and Development Party will be unseated, with the National League for Democracy runner-up in a by-election held earlier this year taking his place.
The chair of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party has said the party will renew efforts to unify Burma’s two most prominent ethnic Shan political parties, the other being the regionally dominant Shan Nationalities League for Democracy.
A court in Sittwe Township has sentenced Khaing Myo Htun, a deputy information officer for the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), to 18 months’ imprisonment for remarks his organisation made last year that were critical of the Burma Army.
Arakan Lead Story News Politics
Two defections this week by sitting lawmakers formerly pledging fealty to the Arakan National Party (ANP) have made clear that divisions within one of Burma’s most formidable ethnic political parties continue to fester.
Lead Story News Refugees Rohingya
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh could die due to a lack of food, shelter and water, given the huge numbers fleeing violence in Burma, an aid agency warned on Sunday, as authorities began moving people to camps to streamline the distribution of help.
The BBC’s Burmese-language news service has severed ties with Burma’s MNTV, with the former citing “interference” from the state broadcaster, saying it had constituted “a serious breach of trust with our audiences.”
In a surprise move, Commander-in-Chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing and top officials from the Arakan National Party (ANP) met in Naypyidaw on Wednesday, according to the Office of the Commander-in-Chief.
Following the recent resignation of the KIO and other members, the UNFC now consists of just five groups: the NMSP, SSPP, KNPP, LDU and ANC.
Foreign Affairs Lead Story News
The failure of China’s efforts to bring India on board with its “new Silk Road” initiative shows the depths to which relations between the two countries have fallen over territorial disputes and Beijing’s support of Pakistan.
2017 by-elections Lead Story News
Shortcomings in education and awareness campaigning dampened voter interest in the 1 April by-election and resulted in lower turnout than Burma’s 2015 general election, the Myanmar Election Observation Network says.
Lead Story Mon News Peace Process
Mon political parties, monks and members of civil society in the southeastern state are urging the New Mon State Party, a Mon ethnic armed group, to sign Burma’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement.
The move comes shortly after the AMRDP had released a statement refusing to recognise a “unification committee” representing both political parties.
Bullet Points Ethnic issues News Politics
Thousands of civilians remain displaced by the conflict between a DKBA splinter group and the joint Tatmadaw-Border Guard Force contingent in Karen State.
The Mon State legislature on Wednesday approved the appointment of Dr. Aye Zan as the state’s new chief minister, less than a week after the resignation of his predecessor was formally accepted by the Union government.
