Burma sees return of private newspapers

[TotallyOz]

Private daily newspapers are being sold in Burma for the first time in almost 50 years, as a state monopoly ends.

 

Sixteen papers have so far been granted licences, although only four were ready to publish on Monday.

 

This is another important milestone on Burma's journey away from authoritarian rule, the BBC's Jonathan Head reports from the commercial capital, Rangoon.

 

Until recently, reporters in Burma faced some of the harshest restrictions in the world.

 

Private dailies in Burmese, English, Indian and Chinese, which had been commonplace in the former British colony, were forced to close under military rule in 1964.

 

Subsequently, journalists were frequently subjected to surveillance and phone-tapping, and were often tortured or imprisoned. Newspapers that broke the rules were shut down.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21991899

[Bob]

I'll start to believe the Burmese military thugs really mean to allow some reasonable level of democracy when the constitution is amended as follows:

 

(1)  First, to eliminate the provision that guarantees the military 25% of the seats in both the upper and lower houses of parliaments.

 

(2)  Second, to eliminate the provision they inserted solely for Aung San Suu Kyi that prevents anyone who's married a foreigner to become president/prime minister of the country.

 

To make either change, some military votes will be required as they also provided that the constitution cannot be amended absent a vote in favor by more than 75% of the members of parliament. 

[Guest fountainhall]

Whilst I agree with Bob's goal, I see it as a longer term objective. You cannot expect instant full democracy. Where that happens, it generally ends up in a fair degree of chaos and infighting between rival parties because in most cases the institutions necessary for democracy to flourish have not been rooted in. We just have to look at Iraq and a host of other countries.

 

The fact is that a free press is one step on quite a long ladder. As the editor of one of the newspapers which came out yesterday said on seeing all 80,000 ** copies sold out -

 

"We've been waiting half a century for this day," said Khin Maung Lay, chief editor of the new daily Golden Fresh Land . . . "It shows how much people long for private daily newspapers. This morning, I was in tears seeing this."

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/01/burmese-private-newspapers

 

** Still no-one in charge has seen the MANY requests that posters are unable to type EIGHTY without that stupid icon appearing!!

[Bob]

Timing is a bit important here with the next general election - for all seats of parliament - occurring in 2015.  The amendments (or at least the one allowing Aung San Suu Kyi to run) need to happen by the end of next year. 

 

If somehow they got rid of the "25% military hold" on both houses of parliament, it is more than likely that Suu Kyi's party, the NLD, would win 90%+ of the seats in both houses of parliaments - which is why I predict that this change won't come until much later.  If/when it happens, it'll happen only because the military allowed it.