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Showing posts from November, 2015

Army Chief Reiterates Race, Foreign-Free Candidate Criteria

RANGOON — In an address on Tuesday to officers and rank-and-file members of the military in Sittwe, Arakan State, commander-in-chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing reiterated a familiar nationalist refrain widely interpreted as a call against voting for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma’s Nov. 8 general election. “Because [you] will make a choice soon regarding politics, it is important that [you] make the right choice,” Min Aung Hlaing told the audience while accompanying President Thein Sein on a tour of Arakan State just four days ahead of the general election. “The leader of the country should be the one who will develop the region and the country; is imbued with the four outlooks [a reference to familiarity with politics, economics, administration and defense]; understands the Tatmadaw [Burma Army]; is able to righteously and systematically take care of your own race and religion; and is not associated, with or under the influence of, foreigners, foreign countries or fo

USDP Splashes Out on Flashy Rally in Arakan State

RANGOON — The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) splashed out on a raucous rally in western Burma’s Arakan State on Monday, with just days left to spend campaign cash before a Nov. 8 general election. Locals in Kyaukphyu told The Irrawaddy that the rally’s estimated thousands of attendees were given cash-in-hand to party with parliamentary hopefuls, which entailed musical performances complete with scantily clad models. A USDP candidate for the state parliament, Thaung Win, said some 7,000 people were invited from more than 30 villages, but denied that they were offered money to attend. The candidate explained that villagers were provided with transportation and a small stipend for their lunch. “We can’t cook for them, so we provided cash, accommodation and vehicles,” Thaung Win said. “We only paid them 1,000 kyat [US$0.78] for lunch.” Some participants claimed, however, that party members were given between 3,000 and 5,000 kyat, while unaffiliated observers