Banglar Bir
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2006
- Messages
- 7,805
- Reaction score
- -3
- Country
- Location
Myanmar marks Martyrs’ Day amid growing tensions between the military and the government
Larry Jagan, July 21, 2017
What a difference a year makes. Last year, the anniversary of martyrs’ day marked an amazing rapprochement between Myanmar’s military leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and Aung San Suu Kyi – effectively the country’s civilian leader.
This year – the 70th anniversary of the assassination of the national independence hero, General Aung San, comes at a time when relations between country’s military and the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi – Aung San’s daughter – are increasingly tense.
Last year the army chief paid an unprecedented visit to the Lady’s home in Yangon, by the Lake, to pay his respects to the family of the assassinated national hero General Aung San — in 1947 — in what appeared to be more than a symbolic gesture. This was the first time he had met her in her home, and the significance was not lost on analysts and observers.
Indeed, according to senior military sources it represented the dawn of a new relationship between the two – some four months after the National League for Democracy (NLD) took power, after its landslide election victory in November 2015. The army chief – though he did not necessarily like Aung San Suu Kyi – understood that it was of mutual benefit to develop an effective working relationship, according to senior retired military officers who are still in touch with the Min Aung Hlaing.
But in the run up to this year’s anniversary, severe cracks have begun to appear in their relationship. The assassination of Ko Ni – the prominent Muslim lawyer and the Lady’s legal advisor – in January marked the beginning of this deterioration. Rumours abound about former military officers possible involvement in the lawyer’s death.
Although prominent members of the NLD did not voice these suspicions, it did initiate a fierce debate within the upper echelons of the party about how to handle the delicate relations with the military. The most senior member of the party – and its patron – Tin Oo (also a former army commander under General Ne Win), strongly cautioned his colleagues against provoking the military.
Of course changing the current constitution is actually the real bone of contention between them – and remains the big issue. In the past few months the rift between the military and the NLD has become increasingly pubic. Several months ago, the NLD’s strongman and official spokesman, Win Htein speculated that the army might be behind attempt to destabilize the government, after speculation that President Htin Kyaw was on the verge of resigning. This was posted on a fake Facebook account named “NLD Central News”.
The military were quick to respond, accusing him of tarnishing the image and reputation of the Tatmadaw, as the Myanmar military is called. Win Htein shrugged off the slight, good humoredly: “I did not accuse anyone directly. Their response has no effect on me, it feels like they are throwing flowers at me,” he said in response. And the incident was soon forgotten.
But in the past week though the military are again on the offensive: this time over remarks made by the Yangon chief minister, Phyo Min Thein made at a NGO seminar to help integrate the former political prisoners back into the society, sponsored by USAID. In his remarks, he warned that the country was still only slowly moving towards becoming a full-fledged democracy.
“There are no civil-military relations in the democratic era. The military should be under civil administrative rule and the commander-in-chief ‘s position is the same as a director-general in accordance with protocol. But we are now dealing with the [commander-in-chief] as head of state. This is not democracy,” Phyo Min Thein told the seminar.
The office of the commander in chief was quick to respond: “Phyo Min Thein’s reckless and confrontational comment on the Tatmadaw and its commander-in-chief is damaging the government’s goal of national reconciliation and the process of building a long-term relationship between the government and Tatmadaw, and the people and Tatmadaw. Therefore, the Yangon chief minister is deemed a person creating obstacles,” said the statement.
More ominously for future relations though, the statement said that Phyo Min Thein is not suitable for “constructive and long-term” relations and the Tatmadaw. And the crux of their complaint: his comment that there are “no civil-military relations in a democracy” was confrontational and clearly shows his misunderstanding of the important role of the Tatmadaw in Myanmar’s nation building.
The NLD were quick to respond, with the party’s central executive committee giving the chief minister a written warning, and after a confidential meeting with the State Counselor – who is also his political mentor – he apologized. While open confrontation has been averted – for the time being – the underlying issue remains the constitution and moves to change it.
Under the 2008 Constitution, the army holds 25% of the seats – in all parliaments, the national and regional houses, has a veto over constitutional changes, appoints one the 3 vice presidents and controls three key ministries – border affairs, defense and home affairs. For the army this is sacrosanct, for the moment at least.
The military have warned the NLD that they would not contemplate constitutional change in the first two years of the NLD government and not before all the ethnic armed groups sign the National Ceasefire Agreement. Constitutional change though is only on hold – awaiting the outcome of the peace process (or the 21st Panglong), and agreement on the principles of federalism.
On the eve of this year’s anniversary of Martyrs’ Day, the NLD issued a statement urging the public to take lessons from Martyrs’ Day and strive for the emergence of a new constitution that would be in harmony with the qualities of national reconciliation, equal rights and peaceful coexistence.
At the actual ceremony a senior NLD leader Nyan Win said: “When we talk about national reconciliation today, it means to take power by peaceful means, not with guns. The martyrs fell as the result of someone who took this differently. We all should take it as a lesson.”
Obviously the NLD, although keen for constitutional change, are strongly committed to doing it peacefully and through building a consensus. They want to avoid an acrimonious conflict with the military at all costs. But the battle lines have been clearly drawn – and the debate is sure to intensify, the closer he next national elections in 2020 come.
[Larry Jagan is a journalist and Myanmar specialist, based in Yangon. He is also the author of several books and many academic articles on Myanmar. He has spent more than forty years covering the Asia region. He was Asia editor for the BBC World Service for more than a decade.]
http://southasianmonitor.com/2017/0...ay-amid-growing-tensions-military-government/
Larry Jagan, July 21, 2017
What a difference a year makes. Last year, the anniversary of martyrs’ day marked an amazing rapprochement between Myanmar’s military leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and Aung San Suu Kyi – effectively the country’s civilian leader.
This year – the 70th anniversary of the assassination of the national independence hero, General Aung San, comes at a time when relations between country’s military and the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi – Aung San’s daughter – are increasingly tense.
Last year the army chief paid an unprecedented visit to the Lady’s home in Yangon, by the Lake, to pay his respects to the family of the assassinated national hero General Aung San — in 1947 — in what appeared to be more than a symbolic gesture. This was the first time he had met her in her home, and the significance was not lost on analysts and observers.
Indeed, according to senior military sources it represented the dawn of a new relationship between the two – some four months after the National League for Democracy (NLD) took power, after its landslide election victory in November 2015. The army chief – though he did not necessarily like Aung San Suu Kyi – understood that it was of mutual benefit to develop an effective working relationship, according to senior retired military officers who are still in touch with the Min Aung Hlaing.
But in the run up to this year’s anniversary, severe cracks have begun to appear in their relationship. The assassination of Ko Ni – the prominent Muslim lawyer and the Lady’s legal advisor – in January marked the beginning of this deterioration. Rumours abound about former military officers possible involvement in the lawyer’s death.
Although prominent members of the NLD did not voice these suspicions, it did initiate a fierce debate within the upper echelons of the party about how to handle the delicate relations with the military. The most senior member of the party – and its patron – Tin Oo (also a former army commander under General Ne Win), strongly cautioned his colleagues against provoking the military.
Of course changing the current constitution is actually the real bone of contention between them – and remains the big issue. In the past few months the rift between the military and the NLD has become increasingly pubic. Several months ago, the NLD’s strongman and official spokesman, Win Htein speculated that the army might be behind attempt to destabilize the government, after speculation that President Htin Kyaw was on the verge of resigning. This was posted on a fake Facebook account named “NLD Central News”.
The military were quick to respond, accusing him of tarnishing the image and reputation of the Tatmadaw, as the Myanmar military is called. Win Htein shrugged off the slight, good humoredly: “I did not accuse anyone directly. Their response has no effect on me, it feels like they are throwing flowers at me,” he said in response. And the incident was soon forgotten.
But in the past week though the military are again on the offensive: this time over remarks made by the Yangon chief minister, Phyo Min Thein made at a NGO seminar to help integrate the former political prisoners back into the society, sponsored by USAID. In his remarks, he warned that the country was still only slowly moving towards becoming a full-fledged democracy.
“There are no civil-military relations in the democratic era. The military should be under civil administrative rule and the commander-in-chief ‘s position is the same as a director-general in accordance with protocol. But we are now dealing with the [commander-in-chief] as head of state. This is not democracy,” Phyo Min Thein told the seminar.
The office of the commander in chief was quick to respond: “Phyo Min Thein’s reckless and confrontational comment on the Tatmadaw and its commander-in-chief is damaging the government’s goal of national reconciliation and the process of building a long-term relationship between the government and Tatmadaw, and the people and Tatmadaw. Therefore, the Yangon chief minister is deemed a person creating obstacles,” said the statement.
More ominously for future relations though, the statement said that Phyo Min Thein is not suitable for “constructive and long-term” relations and the Tatmadaw. And the crux of their complaint: his comment that there are “no civil-military relations in a democracy” was confrontational and clearly shows his misunderstanding of the important role of the Tatmadaw in Myanmar’s nation building.
The NLD were quick to respond, with the party’s central executive committee giving the chief minister a written warning, and after a confidential meeting with the State Counselor – who is also his political mentor – he apologized. While open confrontation has been averted – for the time being – the underlying issue remains the constitution and moves to change it.
Under the 2008 Constitution, the army holds 25% of the seats – in all parliaments, the national and regional houses, has a veto over constitutional changes, appoints one the 3 vice presidents and controls three key ministries – border affairs, defense and home affairs. For the army this is sacrosanct, for the moment at least.
The military have warned the NLD that they would not contemplate constitutional change in the first two years of the NLD government and not before all the ethnic armed groups sign the National Ceasefire Agreement. Constitutional change though is only on hold – awaiting the outcome of the peace process (or the 21st Panglong), and agreement on the principles of federalism.
On the eve of this year’s anniversary of Martyrs’ Day, the NLD issued a statement urging the public to take lessons from Martyrs’ Day and strive for the emergence of a new constitution that would be in harmony with the qualities of national reconciliation, equal rights and peaceful coexistence.
At the actual ceremony a senior NLD leader Nyan Win said: “When we talk about national reconciliation today, it means to take power by peaceful means, not with guns. The martyrs fell as the result of someone who took this differently. We all should take it as a lesson.”
Obviously the NLD, although keen for constitutional change, are strongly committed to doing it peacefully and through building a consensus. They want to avoid an acrimonious conflict with the military at all costs. But the battle lines have been clearly drawn – and the debate is sure to intensify, the closer he next national elections in 2020 come.
[Larry Jagan is a journalist and Myanmar specialist, based in Yangon. He is also the author of several books and many academic articles on Myanmar. He has spent more than forty years covering the Asia region. He was Asia editor for the BBC World Service for more than a decade.]
http://southasianmonitor.com/2017/0...ay-amid-growing-tensions-military-government/
