Govt Backtracks on Voting Rights

Just over a week after Myanmar’s Union Parliament passed a law granting temporary identity card holders the right to vote in a constitutional referendum slated for later this year, the government revoked those rights on Feb. 11.

Adoring crowds turned out at the birthplace of the late Gen. Aung San on Feb. 13 to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth at an event attended by his daughter, opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Some estimated that more than 10,000 people gathered in the small town of Nat Mauk, in Magwe Region, shuffling in from various parts of the country to honor the late independence hero, often affectionately referred to as “Bogyoke.”

“Not only the government, but also the citizens, need to fulfill their own duties,” she said, asking listeners to be discerning about leadership and to support those who “rule with love and faith.”

“Remembering my father and honoring him by trying our best to have unity, peace and honesty, to be a country with genuine democracy, is better than paying tribute at a mausoleum,” she said to the sea of flag-waving supporters.

Celebrations began in Nat Mauk on Feb. 7, with sermons by some of the nation’s most revered monks, including Sitagu Sayadaw and Ashin Sanadika. — Zarni Mann

According to a president’s office statement, temporary identity cards, popularly known as white cards, will expire on March 31.

President’s Office Director U Zaw Htay said in a Facebook post that “according to the announcement, the white card holders’ right to vote in the constitutional [referendum] is automatically revoked.”

The move came only hours after hundreds of people gathered in Yangon to protest the passage of a law on Feb. 2 that would have allowed all citizens, foreign registration card holders and white card holders over the age of 18 to vote in the national referendum.

On Feb. 16, Myanmar’s Constitutional Tribunal also ruled that the law was in violation of the Constitution—a moot point after the president’s Feb. 11 directive.

The majority of white card holders are Rohingya Muslims, residing in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, who were mostly stripped of citizenship after the passage of a 1982 law. Many were awarded white cards more than two decades ago. —Nyein Nyein

Amnesty: Investigate ‘Illegal Activity’ at Monywa

Amnesty International has called for an investigation into two international firms over their conduct in three adjoining copper mine projects, including the controversial Letpadaung mine.

A new report from Amnesty, released on Feb. 10, documented forcible evictions, health impacts and the excessive use of police force in quelling protests.

The report also suggested that Canadian company Ivanhoe Mines deliberately circumvented economic sanctions in divesting its stake in the Sabetaung and Kyisintaung copper mines, while accusing Chinese company Wanbao of directly engaging in evictions and crop destruction in collusion with authorities.

“Since its inception and throughout its various changes in ownership the Monywa project has been characterised by serious human rights abuses and a lack of transparency,” said the report. “Thousands of people have been forcibly evicted by the government with the knowledge, and in some cases the participation of foreign companies.”

The Letpadaung mine, a joint venture between the military-backed Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited and Wanbao, a subsidiary of China’s state-owned defense manufacturer Norinco, has been an ongoing source of conflict between local farmers, authorities and project workers for more than two years.

“The Letpadaung mine is increasingly being perceived as a test case of the government’s commitment to its own reform process,” Meghna Abraham, Amnesty’s deputy director of global thematic issues, told The Irrawaddy. —Sean Gleeson & Saw Yan Naing