Opinion

By Banya Hongsar, Canberra, Australia : The shameful Burmese election is over. The nation’s dream to elect a civilian government has diminished.  Armed fighting between government troops and ethnic militias began on the Thai-Burma border this week and Burma is looking again at a bleak future.

Nai Ngwe Thein (Chairman of All Mon Regions Democracy Party) We don’t know how many seats we will win yet. We estimated that we would win more parliament seats, about 22, but there has been a lot of cheating. On election day (November 7th), the USDP played dirty.

By: Banya Hongsar, Canberra, November, 2010 : On November 7th, Burma will be holding a national election after 22 years of military rule that has placed the nation under insecurity and subsequent poverty. Public security is the crucial issue facing the Burmese government in the post election period. Unless poverty …

Nai Banya Hongsar : Editor’s Note: We would like to introduce our readers to the third installment in our “Burma Tranformed”. In this installment our writer discusses the role of Burmese monks in Burma’s future national reconciliation process.

Banya Hongsar, Canberra : November 7th is just in a few days. This day will be interpreted as one of either darkness of light in Burmese political history. However, it is time to think beyond the November 7th general elections in the country, and consider instead what lies in store …

By: Banya Hongsar, Canberra : Burma’s people hope that Aung San Suu Kyi will be released on the 13th of November, as announced by the ruling military government, after being in long-term house arrest in Burma for over 15 of the past 20 years . This is good news for …

By: Banya Hongsar, Canberra, and September 2010 : Ethnic minority based political organizations who failed to surrender their armed wings to the Burmese military government have been categorized  as illegal since September 1st, after the leaders of many cease-fire ethnic minority organizations refused to register their organizations as candidates in …

Editor’s Note: Published here is the second installment of IMNA’s “Burma Transformed” commentary series, a discussion of various political, social, and human-rights related issues set within the context of Burma’s upcoming elections. In this segment, the writer discusses the past and future of Mon-Karen alliances and political relations.

Banya Hongsar, Canberra The Burmese military men exercise their power over Burma, and the new constitution was drafted with their vision in mind. Our new constitution was written by those who strongly believe that this method of rule is best.   The constitution lacks both a rule of law and any …

By Loa Htaw: All political opposition parties across Burma must indeed support each other in the 2010 elections. The National League for Democracy (NLD), the ethnic minority armed groups, and newly formed political parties across Burma that are running in the elections must fight for a federal democratic country by …