Suu Kyi’s party wins big in Myanmar polls

Supporters of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party celebrate with a cut-out figure of Myanmar state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon on November 10, 2020. (AFP)
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Updated 15 November 2020
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Suu Kyi’s party wins big in Myanmar polls

  • The NLD, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, secured 396 out of 473 seats

YANGON: Myanmar’s ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party has won enough seats in parliament to form the next government, according to the country’s election commission, even as the military-backed opposition called for a re-run of Sunday’s polls.

“The results are clearly pointing that NLD is a winning party. It so far wins 83 percent of the seats we have approved. So they clearly have rights to be in charge of union government for five years again,” Union Election Commission spokesperson Myint Naing told Arab News.

The NLD, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, secured 396 out of 473 seats — more than the 322 needed to win Sunday’s vote — and claimed a “landslide” win that “eclipsed” the victory seen in the 2015 elections.

“We have a bigger and greater victory this time. We just need to win 322 seats in Pyidaungsu Hluttaw,” NLD spokesperson Aung Shin said, using the Burmese term for the 642-member national legislature where 166 seats are reserved for military representatives as per the constitution.

However, the main opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) — which won 30 out of 240 seats in the national legislature — contested the results, and called on the Union Election Commission (UEC) and the military to hold an election that is free, fair, unbiased and free from unfair campaigning,” citing “irregularities” in the electoral process.

“There were many irregularities, such as the advance vote arriving late to polling stations, and voter turnout in some polling stations surpassing the actual voter list,” USDP spokesperson Nandar Hla Myint said at a press conference in Yangon on Thursday.

He urged the public to submit “evidence of the fraud” so that the USDP could challenge the UEC “through legal procedures.”

He added: “If the UEC is really independent, it should, in cooperation with the military, hold a fresh election that is credible, free and fair.”

Myint was unavailable for comment when contacted by Arab News on Saturday.

The UEC, however, dismissed the “baseless accusations,” rejecting the opposition’’ call to hold fresh polls.

“There is no reason to hold a fresh election because of the baseless accusations against the commission. We practice the ultimate transparency in every single step of electoral procedures. So we challenge them to complain legally if they have any evidence of fraud,” Naing said.

More than 6,900 candidates from 92 political parties and independent campaigns contested the election this year, according to the US-based Carter Center.

The UEC’s statement was backed by local and international observer groups, including the Carter Center, which said there were “no major irregularities” in Sunday’s polls, based on their invigilation of polling stations across the country.

“The UEC took commendable steps to allow for greater participation in a challenging environment,” the Asian Network for Free Election, which observed 225 polling stations, said, adding that the “polling and counting operations were conducted diligently and transparently.”

However, the network said that Myanmar’s legal framework for elections continues to be “fundamentally undemocratic,” with 25 percent of all seats reserved for the military and “the disenfranchisement of large sectors of the population, including ethnic Rohingya and all members of religious orders.”

Suu Kyi’s handling of the Rohingya crisis has been a litmus test for the NLD leader who is well-liked within Myanmar, but has faced intense criticism over her treatment of the Muslim minority group.

Myanmar excluded more than 1.1 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh from voting on Sunday, including hundreds of thousands who fled from persecution at the hands of the Myanmar military in the Buddhist-majority country.

The Rohingya endured decades of abuse and trauma in Myanmar, beginning in the 1970s when hundreds of thousands sought refuge in Bangladesh.

Between 1989 and 1991, an additional 250,000 fled when a military crackdown followed a popular uprising and Burma was renamed Myanmar.

The latest Rohingya exodus to Bangladesh resumed in August 2017 following a military crackdown on the ethnic minority group in the country.

Sunday’s elections are Myanmar’s second since the end of the military dictatorship.

The military, which was once considered the backbone of the USDP party, however, seemed to distance itself from the opposition USDP’s stance.

In a statement released on Tuesday, it said that the elections had been conducted “successfully,” and urged all parties to “respect the results.”

“The results are clear, and we are soldiers. We have nothing to do with elections. Now we are prioritizing the peace talks to accomplish the mission of building peace throughout the country,” military spokesperson Zaw Min Tun told Arab News on Saturday.

He added that the military had also formed a committee to “speed up peace talks” with ethnic rebel groups after the process got stalled for several months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, Shin said that once the government is formed, the NLD’s priority would be to work toward “building peace.”

“Peace is one of our first priorities. We need peace so that we can move the country forward. We have been trapped in a vicious cycle for a long time. So it is time to get out of it and move forward. To do this, we definitely have to bring an end to the civil war,” the spokesperson said.

In a surprise move on Friday, the NLD also requested all ethnic parties “to join them in building a federal union” to end the conflict.

The peace gesture was the first of its kind extended by the NLD since it came to power in 2015.

“There were misunderstandings between us and ethnic parties, and we would like to make it clear that we didn’t betray them. We would continue working with them because we always understand that we could not achieve our goal of building a federal union without their cooperation,” Shin told Arab News.

However, party leaders said it was “too early” to comment on the NLD’s offer and their “sincerity” toward ethnic minorities in the country.

“We welcome their offer because they are mighty. But we also witness their behavior of betraying us over the past five years. So it is too early to comment,” an anonymous ethnic party leader told Arab News.

Saturday’s poll results could also usher in renewed hope for the country’s troubled western region of Rakhine, which has been rocked by ongoing armed conflicts since 2018.

An uptick in fighting between the military and the Arakan Army (AA) — an ethnic rebel group in Rakhine — has left more than 300 civilians dead and thousands displaced in the region, resulting in the “world’s longest Internet shutdown” until August when the government finally lifted restrictions following local and international criticism.

It also led to the cancelation of elections in nine out of 17 townships in Rakhine due to security concerns, disenfranchising more than 1 million voters.

On Thursday, the AA declared a unilateral cease-fire until the end of the year so that by-elections could be held in constituencies. The group also urged the military to “halt ongoing offensives” in Rakhine.

The AA could not be reached for comment when contacted by Arab News on Saturday.

The military, for its part, welcomed the AA’s call for a cease-fire, and avoided using the term “terrorist” a the statement issued on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Pe Than, a winning candidate of the Arakan National party — the largest ethnic party in Rakhine state — said he hoped for the by-elections to be held “as soon as possible” as “war could be avoided.”

“Without elections and without their voices in parliaments, people will not trust the political system in the country. Some might even turn to armed resistance and revolution,” he told Arab News.

“So I hope there would be elections to give their representatives the ability to debate in parliament. War could be avoided if they have the rights to make their voice heard.”


Trump envoy says Putin open to ‘permanent peace’ deal with Ukraine

Updated 55 min 14 sec ago
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Trump envoy says Putin open to ‘permanent peace’ deal with Ukraine

  • Donald Trump has been pressing Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a ceasefire but has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin
  • Despite a flurry of diplomacy, there has been little meaningful progress on Trump’s main aim of achieving a Ukraine ceasefire

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s special envoy said Monday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was open to a “permanent peace” deal with Ukraine, following talks seeking to end the more than three-year war.
Trump has been pressing Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a ceasefire but has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin, despite repeated negotiations between Russian and US officials.
On Friday, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Saint Petersburg – their third meeting third since the Republican leader returned to the White House in January.
Witkoff said during a Fox News interview televised Monday that he sees a peace deal “emerging,” and that two key Putin advisers – Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev – were in the “compelling meeting.”
“Putin’s request is to get to have a permanent peace here. So beyond the ceasefire, we got an answer to that,” Witkoff said, acknowledging that “it took a while for us to get to this place.”
“I think we might be on the verge of something that would be very, very important for the world at large.”
He added that business deals between Russia and the United States were also part of the negotiations.
“I believe there’s a possibility to reshape the Russian-United States relationship through some very compelling commercial opportunities, that I think give real stability to the region too,” he said.
Despite a flurry of diplomacy, there has been little meaningful progress on Trump’s main aim of achieving a Ukraine ceasefire.
Putin last month rejected a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for a full and unconditional pause in the conflict, while the Kremlin has made a truce in the Black Sea conditional on the West lifting certain sanctions.


Xi’s Vietnam trip aiming to ‘screw’ US, says Trump

Updated 15 April 2025
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Xi’s Vietnam trip aiming to ‘screw’ US, says Trump

  • Xi Jinping is in Vietnam as part of a Southeast Asia tour that will include Malaysia and Cambodia
  • Beijing trying to position itself as a stable alternative to Trump as leaders confront US tariffs

HANOI: China’s President Xi Jinping paid tribute to Vietnam’s late revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh on Tuesday, his last day of a trip to Hanoi that President Donald Trump said was aiming to “screw” the United States.
Xi is in Vietnam as part of a Southeast Asia tour that will include Malaysia and Cambodia, with Beijing trying to position itself as a stable alternative to Trump as leaders confront US tariffs.
The Chinese leader called on his country and Vietnam Monday to “oppose unilateral bullying and uphold the stability of the global free trade system,” according to Beijing’s state media.
Hours later, Trump told reporters at the White House that their meeting was aimed at hurting the United States.
“I don’t blame China. I don’t blame Vietnam. I don’t. I see they’re meeting today, and that’s wonderful,” he said.
“That’s a lovely meeting... like trying to figure out, how do we screw the United States of America.”
China and Vietnam signed 45 cooperation agreements on Monday, including on supply chains, artificial intelligence, joint maritime patrols and railway development.
Xi said a meeting with Vietnam’s top leader To Lam on Monday that their countries were “standing at the turning point of history... and should move forward with joint hands.”
Lam said after the talks that the two leaders “reached many important and comprehensive common perceptions,” according to Vietnam News Agency.
On the final day of his visit, Xi laid a red wreath emblazoned with his name and the words “Long live Vietnam’s great leader President Ho Chi Minh” at the late leader’s mausoleum in central Hanoi.
He is also due to attend the launch of the Vietnam-China Railway Cooperation, which will help manage an $8-billion rail project – announced this year – to link Vietnam’s largest northern port city to the border with China.
Xi’s trip comes almost two weeks after the United States – the biggest export market for Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse, in the first three months of the year – imposed a 46 percent levy on Vietnamese goods as part of a global tariff blitz.
Although the US tariffs on Vietnam and most other countries have been paused, China still faces enormous levies and is seeking to tighten regional trade ties and offset their impact during Xi’s first overseas trip of the year.
Xi will head to Malaysia later Tuesday and then Cambodia on a tour that “bears major importance” for the broader region, Beijing has said.
Xi earlier urged Vietnam and China to “resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment.”
He also reiterated Beijing’s line that a “trade war and tariff war will produce no winner, and protectionism will lead nowhere” in an article published on Monday in Vietnam’s major state-run Nhan Dan newspaper.
China and Vietnam, both ruled by communist parties, already share a “comprehensive strategic partnership,” Hanoi’s highest diplomatic status.
Vietnam has long pursued a “bamboo diplomacy” approach – striving to stay on good terms with both China and the United States.
The two countries have close economic ties, but Hanoi shares US concerns about Beijing’s increasing assertiveness in the contested South China Sea.


China accuses US of launching ‘advanced’ cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games

Updated 15 April 2025
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China accuses US of launching ‘advanced’ cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games

  • The attacks had ‘the intention of sabotaging China’s critical information infrastructure, causing social disorder, and stealing important confidential information’

BEIJING: Chinese police in the northeastern city of Harbin have accused the United States National Security Agency (NSA) of launching “advanced” cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games in February, targeting essential industries.
Police added three alleged NSA agents to a wanted list and also accused the University of California and Virginia Tech of being involved in the attacks after carrying out investigations, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua on Tuesday.
The NSA agents were identified by Xinhua as Katheryn A. Wilson, Robert J. Snelling and Stephen W. Johnson. The three were also found to have “repeatedly carried out cyberattacks on China’s critical information infrastructure and participated in cyberattacks on Huawei and other enterprises.”
It did not specify how the two American universities were involved.
The US Embassy in China did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
The detailed allegations come as the world’s two largest economies spiral deeper into a trade war that has already spurred travel warnings for Chinese tourists going to the US and halted imports of US films into China.
“The US National Security Agency (NSA) launched cyberattacks against important industries such as energy, transportation, water conservancy, communications, and national defense research institutions in Heilongjiang province,” Xinhua said, citing the Harbin city public security bureau.
The attacks had “the intention of sabotaging China’s critical information infrastructure, causing social disorder, and stealing important confidential information,” it added.
Anonymous servers
Xinhua said the NSA operations took place during the Winter Games and were “suspected of activating specific pre-installed backdoors” in Microsoft Windows operating systems on specific devices in Heilongjiang.
In order to cover its tracks, the NSA purchased IP addresses in different countries and “anonymously” rented a large number of network servers including in Europe and Asia,” Xinhua said.
The NSA intended to use cyberattacks to steal the personal data of participating athletes, the news agency said, adding that the cyberattacks reached a peak from the first ice hockey game on February 3. The attacks targeted information systems such as the Asian Winter Games registration system and stored “sensitive information about the identities of relevant personnel of the event,” Xinhua said.
The US routinely accuses Chinese state-backed hackers of launching attacks against its critical infrastructure and government bodies.
Last month, Washington announced indictments against a slew of alleged Chinese hackers who targeted the US Defense Intelligence Agency, the US Department of Commerce, and the foreign ministries of Taiwan, South Korea, India, and Indonesia.
Beijing denies all involvement in overseas cyber espionage.
After years of being accused by Western governments of cyberattacks and industrial espionage, in the past two years several Chinese organizations and government organs have accused the United States and its allies of similar behavior.
In December, China said it found and dealt with two US cyberattacks on Chinese tech firms to “steal trade secrets” since May 2023, but did not name the agency involved.


Britain boosts aid for victims of Sudan conflict at conference

Updated 15 April 2025
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Britain boosts aid for victims of Sudan conflict at conference

  • British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the war had been going on for far too long “and yet much of the world continues to look away”

LONDON: Britain said on Tuesday it would provide 120 million pounds ($158 million) more in aid to people in Sudan, which it said faces the worst humanitarian crisis on record, as it hosted a conference marking the two-year anniversary of the conflict.
The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the army and Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, shattering hopes for a transition to civilian rule.
The conflict has since displaced millions and devastated regions like Darfur, where the RSF is now fighting to maintain its stronghold amid army advances in Khartoum.
Rather than mediating directly in the conflict, Britain said Tuesday’s conference in London would be a chance to improve the coherence of the international response to the crisis, although Sudan criticized the fact its government was not invited for the talks.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the war had been going on for far too long “and yet much of the world continues to look away.”
“We need to act now to stop the crisis from becoming an all-out catastrophe, ensuring aid gets to those who need it the most,” he said in a statement, adding that the combatants had shown “an appalling disregard” for Sudanese civilians.
Britain is co-hosting the London conference with the African Union, the European Union, France and Germany. Egypt, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates are among the other attendees.
Sudan’s foreign minister has written to Lammy to complain, saying Sudan should have been invited, while criticizing the presence of the UAE and Kenya.
Sudan has accused the UAE of arming RSF, a charge the UAE denies but UN experts and US lawmakers have found credible. Sudan has also recalled its envoy to Kenya after it hosted talks between the RSF and its allies to form a parallel government.
Bankole Adeoye, African Union commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, said “achieving peace in Sudan depends on valuing every voice and everyone playing a role in building a prosperous Sudan.”

AID CUT
Britain said 30 million people desperately needed aid and 12 million people were displaced, with famine spreading through Sudan. Lammy announced a separate 113-million-pound aid package in November, and in January he visited Sudan’s border with Chad.
However Britain’s support for victims of the conflict comes as the government has slashed its foreign aid budget to pay for increased defense spending.
Although Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed to continue aid to civilians in Sudan, one of three priorities along with Gaza and Ukraine, his development minister resigned, saying Britain’s aid priorities would be impossible to maintain and the cuts would ultimately harm Britain’s reputation abroad.
On Tuesday, lawyers acting for Sudanese victims submitted a 141-page dossier outlining alleged war crimes committed by the RSF to the UK police’s special war crimes unit, with a request to pass the file to the International Criminal Court, which has jurisdiction over atrocity crimes in Darfur.
By sending the file via the UK police rather than directly to the ICC, the lawyers said they hoped to provide an impetus for the two jurisdictions to work together more closely on accountability for Darfur.

 

 


El Salvador’s Bukele says he will not return man the US mistakenly deported

Updated 15 April 2025
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El Salvador’s Bukele says he will not return man the US mistakenly deported

  • Case of Maryland resident wrongfully deported dominates visit

WASHINGTON: El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said at the White House on Monday he had no plans to return a man mistakenly deported from the United States, suggesting that doing so would be like smuggling a terrorist into the country.
His remarks came during an Oval Office meeting where multiple officials in President Donald Trump’s administration said they were not required to bring back Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego Garcia, despite a US Supreme Court order saying they must facilitate the Maryland resident’s return.
Abrego Garcia’s case has drawn attention as the Trump administration has deported hundreds of people to El Salvador with help from Bukele, whose country is receiving $6 million to house the migrants in a high-security mega-prison.
The US government has described his deportation as an administrative error. But in court filings and at the White House on Monday, the administration indicated it does not plan to ask for Abrego Garcia back, raising questions about whether it is defying the courts.
Bukele told reporters he did not have the power to return Abrego Garcia to the US
“The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” Bukele said, echoing the Trump administration’s claim that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang.
Bukele’s comments came shortly after US Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the same meeting that the US needed only to “provide a plane” if Bukele wanted to return Abrego Garcia.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have denied the allegation he is a gang member, saying the US has presented no credible evidence.
The US sent Abrego Garcia to El Salvador on March 15. Trump called reporters asking whether the administration would follow the order for his return “sick people.”
“The foreign policy of the United States is conducted by the president of the United States, not by a court,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during the Oval Office meeting.

Mega-prison
Trump said he would send as many people living in the US illegally to El Salvador as possible and help Bukele build new prisons.
The US on Saturday deported 10 more people to El Salvador it alleges are gang members.
The migrants El Salvador accepts from the US are housed in a facility known as the Terrorism Confinement Center. Critics say the prison engages in human rights abuses and that Bukele’s crackdown on gangs has swept up many innocent people without due process.
Bukele told Trump he is accused of imprisoning thousands of people. “I like to say that we actually liberated millions,” he said.
The US president reacted gleefully to Bukele’s comment. “Do you think I can use that?” Trump asked.
The State Department last week lifted its advisory for American travelers to El Salvador to the safest level, crediting Bukele for reducing gang activity and violent crime.
Lawyers and relatives of the migrants held in El Salvador say they are not gang members and had no opportunity to contest the US government assertion that they were.
The Trump administration says it vetted migrants to ensure they belonged to gangs including Tren de Aragua and MS-13, which it labels terrorist organizations.
Last month, after a judge said flights carrying migrants processed under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act should return to the US, Bukele wrote “Oopsie... Too late” on social media alongside footage showing men being hustled off a plane at night.

Tuesday hearing
An immigration judge had previously granted Abrego Garcia protection from being deported to El Salvador, finding that he could face gang violence there. He held a permit to work in the US, where he had lived since 2011.
The US Supreme Court last week upheld a lower court ruling directing the administration to “facilitate and effectuate” his return. But it said the term “effectuate” was unclear and might exceed the authority of the district court judge.
A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. Legal experts said Judge Paula Xinis may press the Trump administration to determine if it signaled to Bukele that he should refuse to release Abrego Garcia, which could amount to defiance of the court order’s language to “facilitate” his return.
While the Supreme Court in its decision ordered Xinis to clarify her order “with due regard for the deference owed to the executive branch in the conduct of foreign affairs,” some legal experts said Trump is likely defying the court by undermining Abrego Garcia’s release.
“All that is total claptrap as applied to a case like this, where the only reason why the foreign country is holding the person is because the US pushed them to do it and made an agreement under which they would do it,” George Mason University constitutional law professor Ilya Somin said.
“It’s very obvious that they could get him released if they wanted to.”
Trump told reporters on Friday that his administration would bring the man back if the Supreme Court directed it to do so.