Burma // Current TV

Burma releases several high-profile prisoners

Burma has released a number of its high-profile dissidents following an announcement... more

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Suu Kyi confirms she will run for parliament

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has confirmed that she will run for a seat... more

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Suu Kyi expects full democratic elections in her lifetime

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has told the BBC that she expects her... more

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William Hague to urge reform on visit to Burma

William Hague is visiting Burma, the first British foreign secretary to do so for more... more

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Aung San Suu Kyi party to register for Burmese elections

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party has decided to register to take part in elections in Burma.

The decision, which had been widely anticipated, signals the pro-democracy party's confidence in recent political reforms by the military-aligned government, which took power after the country's previous military rulers upheld a promise to hold elections in November 2010 and relinquish power.

The US president, Barack Obama, said he saw "flickers of progress" in Burma and would dispatch Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, to explore new ties.

He said the recent release of political prisoners, the relaxing of media restrictions and signs of legislative change were "the most important steps toward reform in Burma that we've seen in years".

Obama, in Indonesia for the Association of South-East Asian Nations summit, said he had spoken to Aung San Suu Kyi for the first time and she had told him she supported more US engagement with Burma.

Many western governments have expressed doubts that Burma's government is committed to democratic change.

The NLD refused to register for the elections last year because of a government-imposed ban on members who had served time in prison, which would have prevented Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior figures from running. The restriction was lifted this year.

Senior members of the party met on Friday and agreed it was time to re-enter national politics. "Personally, I am for re-registration," Aung San Suu Kyi said in her speech to the delegates.

Any party that registers itself is required to run for at least three seats in the still unscheduled byelections for the 48 vacant seats in parliament, and Aung San Suu Kyi said she was in favour of contesting all 48 seats. The legislature comprises 224 members in the upper house and 440 members in the lower.

A statement said the NLD had "unanimiously decided to re-register as a political party … and will run in the elections". It will be the first electoral test of the NLD's popularity, and that of Aung San Suu Kyi, in more than two decades.

The NLD won a 1990 election by a landslide, but the military refused to cede power and, for the following two decades, suppressed the party's activities and put many of its members in prison.Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party has decided to register to... more

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When Evidence of a Clandestine Nuclear Program Is Good News

If Burma's nascent nuclear-weapons program is met with international condemnation... more

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4 months ago
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Free all political prisoners in Burma!

After an election held in Burma last year, power was supposedly transferred from the... more

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5 months ago
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Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) Current Daily News

EU မဟာမင္းႀကီးနဲ႔... more

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Aung San Suu Kyi 'meets Burma president'

Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has met the country's new leader,... more

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Burmese helping UK riot clean-up

UK riot clean-up: Burmese people are helping Britain (2011)

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6 months ago
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Best Friend volunteer arrested and detained… for activism

A former Fulbright scholar who has studied human rights in Guatemala, Ghana, and... more

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Burma Democratic Concern (BDC): Myo Yan Naung Thein on Min Ko Naing

Burma's Myo Yan Naung Thein on Min Ko Naing who earns respect from people of... more

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8 months ago
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Dozens killed in Burma (Myanmar) amid clashes over Chinese dams

"Fighting over hydropower projects ends 17-year ceasefire between Burmese government and Kachin militia.

A bloody outbreak of fighting that has ended a 17-year ceasefire between Burmese government forces and a tribal militia was partly caused by the expansion of Chinese hydropower along the Irrawaddy river, conservationists claim.

Dozens of people in northern Burma have reportedly been killed in the clashes between government troops and the Kachin Independence Army. Thousands more are trying to flee across the border after fierce fighting erupted this month around the construction sites of two Chinese-financed dams in the region.

Amid growing fears that the conflict could escalate, the Burma Rivers Network said China's massive hydropower investments had widened the gulf between the government – which wants to benefit from cross-border electricity sales – and Kachin independence groups, which fear the dams will bring environmental, cultural and social disruption.

"The conflict is closely related to the dams. The government has sent in troops because it wants to gain control of a region that hosts major Chinese investments in hydropower," Sai Sai, of the Burma Rivers Network, told the Guardian.

Details of the fighting remain sketchy. The authorities have yet to acknowledge the conflict. The Irrawaddy magazine – which is published online by overseas critics of the Rangoon government – said stability in northern Burma had deteriorated rapidly with several explosions in the Kachin state capital, Myitkyina, the government closure of Sino-Burmese trading routes and the destruction of at least three bridges.

Burma Rivers Network said power transmission pylons at Dapein dam had been toppled, the fighting had spread to Shweli dam and Kachin forces had vowed to widen the conflict to all areas under their control. The death toll is said to be close to 50.

Dams are by no means the only cause of tension in the region. The uneasy standoff was shaken last year when the Kachin Independence Army rejected a proposal to fall under central government control as a border guard force. Since then the two sides have jostled over territory.

But China's plans to finance, build and generate electricity from at least seven dams in the region may have given the government a greater economic and diplomatic incentive to take control of strategically important areas that have long been in the hands of Kachin forces. According to Burma Rivers Network the investment is worth $3.6bn and will result in annual power sales of $500m.

The state-controlled firm behind the projects – China Power Investment – refused to comment. "We don't accept any interview on our overseas projects. Every company has their own business secrets," said a spokesperson from the Hong Kong-listed corporation."

cont"Fighting over hydropower projects ends 17-year ceasefire between Burmese... more