A different take on democracy.

Here is a link to an article from 'the Myanmar times', announcing the election of president Thein Sein. The article describes how Sein won the election by a margin of 200 votes, and the intricacies of Burma's constitution, for example, the article states how the president is not allowed to serve more than two terms in a row, both lasting five years.

I found this article surprisingly unbiased, as it talked not only about the military party, but also about the other democratic parties who were running for seats in the election last November. Also, there is a somewhat skeptical tone to the article when it discusses Burma's newly found 'democracy'. However, despite being relatively unbiased and unlikely to be propaganda from the military, we cannot totally trust the article as a source of information, as it is widely known that media and foreign correspondence in Burma is highly censored.

http://www.mmtimes.com/2011/news/561/news56109.html 

A new leader, no real change.

After 50 years of military rule, Burma finally has a new ruler. Unfortunately, this leader is Thein Sein, a longtime ally of the previous military ruler, Than Shwe. Both Thein Sein and his two vice presidents are members of the USDP, the military backed party. Sein, who has been a part of the military government since 1997, will be able to choose his own officials and ministers in the government, however, i suspect that these will simply be more of the same military generals from the old junta. 

This is another example of how the Burmese government is putting on a fake air of change to the international community, and simply replacing leaders and regimes with more of the same.

Than Shwe out of the running.

Last week it was revealed that Than Shwe, a military general who has been Burma's leader since the late 1980's, is not in the list of presidential nominees for the countries new government. Although he is not going to be president, it is highly unlikely that he will relinquish much power, and i expect that he will continue to have an important role in the governance of the country, or at least a leading military position. Aung San Suu Kyi is undecided as to how this turn of events will play out in Burma, as even if he is not president, being in charge of the military will give him as much power as the president, if not more. I feel that really, leaving Shwe will not really affect the country hugely, as no matter what, the military and himself will always play a dominant role in the governing of Burma. 

The actual nominees for the presidency consist of two USDP backed candidates, and two more candidates from parties representing ethnic minorities. The fifth candidates name has not been released to the public. I feel that while it is a good sign that the parliament put forward two candidates from parties representing ethnic minorities, especially due to their previous mistreatment in Burma, it is highly unlikely, if not impossible, that one of them will ever be elected president,