ENGLISH VERSION http://www.irrawaddy.org/election/feature/ruling-party-mps-return-guns-alleged-drug-ties-to-2015-race BURMESE VERSION http://mobile.irrawaddy.org/article/2015/11/03/98511.html

1. This November, several pro-government militia leaders elected in Burma’s 2010
election are seeking a return to office on the Union Solidarity and Development Party
ticket.
by SEAMUS MARTOV / THE IRRAWADDY | 07 Oct 2015
 
This November, several pro-government militia leaders elected in Burma’s w idely discredited 2010 parliamentary poll
are seeking a return to office on the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) ticket, a further reminder that
guns still very much have a place in the country’s political arena.
The recently finalized candidate list from the Union Election Commission (UEC) includes several such incumbents
connected to militias that, w hile legal, are allegedly involved in Burma’s lucrative illicit drugs trade.
Officially know n in the Constitution as “people’s militias” (pyithu sit in Burmese), these armed groups have significant
autonomy in certain parts of the country w here, for many years, the central government has used them to solidify its rule
by proxy. Burma is home to, by one estimate, more than 50 such militias; groups that are left to self-finance their
activities through natural resource concessions, checkpoint tolls and, according to their critics, drug trafficking.
As the country’s largest and most drug-plagued region, Shan State has proven fertile ground for these groups to
proliferate, and w ith this in some cases has come the establishment of virtual fiefdoms, a development that critics say
could not have happened w ithout the complicity of their allies in the military.
M e e t Yo ur M ilitiam e n-M Ps
T Khun Myat, an ethnic Kachin from northern Shan State’s Kutkai Tow nship, is running this year to retain his seat in the
Low er House of Parliament, w here he serves as chairman of that chamber’s Bill Committee, a body tasked w ith drafting
new legislation and amending or repealing law s considered out of date. His role as head of the influential parliamentary
committee is notew orthy as T Khun Myat has been identified as the leader of a Kutkai-based people’s militia in a special
series of reports by the Shan Herald Agency for New s (S.H.A.N.). The Thailand-based new s group’s 2011 Shan Drug
Watch report, “Druglords in Parliament,” accused T Khun Myat and his militia of being “involved in protection and
transportation of drug shipments passing through” the group’s territory.
According to the report, T Khun Myat is often described as a friendly and approachable fellow by those w ho know him.
“Hard to believe he’s involved in drugs, if w e didn’t know his subordinates,” the report quotes a field researcher as
saying.
A 2010 article also published by Shan Herald quoted a source from Kutkai claiming that T Khun Myat had been a
shareholder in the now -defunct Myanmar Mayflow er Bank (MMB). Leaked US cables obtained by WikiLeaks suggest that
the US Embassy in Rangoon w as highly suspicious of the bank: “MMB’s links to narco-traffickers, and their money-
laundering activities, are indisputable,” w rote a US diplomat in 2005, shortly after Burmese government authorities
ordered MMB and another bank shut dow n under a cloud of suspicion.
The allegations against T Khun Myat and his militia, w hich have also been reported by the Bangkok Post and Al Jazeera,
do not seem to have negatively affected the affable politician much, if at all: He remains chairman of the Bill Committee
and in September 2012 led a parliamentary delegation to Washington, D.C., to take part in a w eeklong governance
training course facilitated by Johns Hopkins University’s prestigious Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International
Studies (SAIS).
During the delegation’s visit to Capitol Hill, T Khun Myat and his parliamentary colleagues met then Senator Jim Webb,
now competing to be the Democratic Party’s next US presidential nominee, and Republican Senator James Inhofe. The
Kachin militia leader also took part in similar high-level parliamentary delegations that visited Japan in 2013 and India
tw o years earlier.
ELECTION 2015
Ruling Party MPs Return Guns, Alleged Drug Ties to 2015 Race ELECTION 2015
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2. tw o years earlier.
A descendent of a prominent Kachin traditional ruling Duw a family, the “T” at the beginning of T Khun Myat’s name
appears to come from his family clan name Tangbau. It has been used to differentiate him from another w ell-know n
Kachin named Khun Myat Lahtaw , a businessman and hotel ow ner w ho helped negotiate a 1994 ceasefire betw een the
government and Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) that has since collapsed.
 Voters are frightened by his words. They are worried if they don’t give the votes to the party, they
m ight be in trouble when the elections are over.”
Another Shan State politician listed in the Shan Drug Watch report is ethnic Kokang-Chinese law maker Ho Xiaochang, a
former deputy commander of the Kunlong Special Combat Police Force w ho is seeking re-election to his seat in the
Low er House, w here he currently represents Kunlong Tow nship for the USDP. According to the report, Ho had enough
influence w hile serving in the special police unit that he w as able to personally appeal to then military supremo Snr-Gen
Than Shw e to have a jailed subordinate freed just months after he w as arrested for shooting dead a low -level customs
official. Ho’s apparent negotiating skills could prove useful in w hat is expected to be a fractious parliamentary session
follow ing the Nov. 8 election.
The official parliamentary biography of USDP cadre Wilson Moe, an ethnic Lahu from eastern Shan State, lists under
career history his service as a senior member of an unnamed pyithu sit from 2002 to 2009. According to Shan Herald,
this militia w as the Nampong-Loi Taw Kham People’s Militia Force led by Yi Shay, a former lieutenant-general for the
notorious drug w arlord Khun Sa. Last December, Thailand’s Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) included Yi
Shay’s name on a list of 10 drug suspects that the ONCB w ants Burma to arrest. Wilson Moe is running again for a seat as
a member of the Upper House in Shan State constituency No. 7.
Another militia leader turned parliamentarian identified by the Shan Drug Watch report is Keng Mai, an ethnic Kachin
and alleged chief of the Mong Paw Militia, w ho sits in the Shan State assembly representing Muse’s constituency No. 2.
His election came follow ing a campaign that, according to Shan Herald, involved serious intimidation.
“Voters are frightened by his w ords,” an election w atcher from the Sino-Burmese border told the new s group in 2010.
“They are w orried if they don’t give the votes to the party, they might be in trouble w hen the elections are over,” the
unnamed individual added.
It remains to be seen how his parliamentary bid w ill go this time around, w ith Keng Mai now facing more opponents and
an electoral environment subject to much greater scrutiny by civil society groups, political parties and the international
community. In 2010, Keng Mai w ent up against three competing parliamentary aspirants, w hile this year he faces four
including the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), w hich has not shied aw ay from raising alleged electoral
malfeasance in the first month of the official campaign period.
Though not a member of the USDP, one paramilitary leader turned sitting law maker has already resorted to strong-arm
tactics in neighboring Kachin State. On Sept. 22, longtime Kachin militiaman Zakhung Ting Ying w rote a letter ordering
NLD candidates not to campaign in areas under the control of his New Democratic Army–Kachin (NDAK), a group that
officially transformed into a Border Guard Force in 2009.
Follow ing a formal complaint from the NLD, the state’s election subcommission intervened to allow the opposition
party’s candidates to campaign in the area know n as Kachin State Special Region No. 1. It remains to be seen if Zakhung
Ting Ying w ill actually allow a free and fair vote to take place in a remote corner of Kachin State that has long been his
personal fiefdom.
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Elsew here Myint Lw in, elected in 2010 to the Shan State assembly for a seat know n as Kutkai constituency No. 2, is an
ethnic Kokang-Chinese identified by Shan Drug Watch as yet another USDP politician involved in the drug trade. A
longstanding member of the pro-government Ta Moe Nye militia, Myint Lw in is closely connected to the leaders of tw o
other Shan State militias that emerged from Khun Sa’s once pow erful Mong Tai Army and w ere “heavily involved in drug
production and trade,” the report said.
A subsequent Shan Herald article described Myint Lw in as head of the Ta Moe Nye militia, as did a 2012 report from the
Transnational Institute (TNI), w hich noted that he controls a firm w ith a similar name, Ta Moe Nye Chan Thar Company,
and is heavily involved in the resource extraction sector in Shan State. Those business activities, according to TNI,
appear to have benefited from Myint Lw in’s close ties to former junta strongman Than Shw e, a relationship that began in
the 1970s w hen the latter w as stationed in northern Shan State.
The Kachin ethnic affairs minister for Shan State, Duw a Zot Daung, w as elected to his position in 2010 on the USDP
ticket. According to a recent report by the Asia Foundation, he is linked to the Mongko (Moneko) Militia, another group
active in northern Shan State, by w ay of his son Naw Hkam, w ho reportedly commands the group. Duw a Zot Daung is
again running for the ethnic affairs post in November, but this time as an independent.
N o table A bse nce s
While at least five sitting USDP law makers w ith ties to militias are set to recontest the Nov. 8 poll, others appear to have
opted to forgo a shot at parliamentary politics this time around.
Three farm ers cultivating po ppies in an area under the co ntro l o f the Pansay m ilitia in Shan State.
(Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)
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4. Kyaw Myint, head of the Pansay militia and sitting member of the Shan State parliament representing an area that
includes his northern Shan State fiefdom, is not listed as running again for his seat in Namkham Tow nship.
A report released by the Palaung Women’s Organization (PWO) in October 2011 alleged that Kyaw Myint and his militia
w ere heavily involved in the drug trade. “Now militia leader Kyaw Myint has become an MP, he has more pow er to deal in
drugs,” PWO w arned in a press statement coinciding w ith the release of its report.
Kyaw Myint’s militia w as also named in the 2011 Shan Drug Watch report, allegations that w ere repeated by local
villagers during a visit by The Irraw addy to Namkham earlier this year. Ethnic Palaung anti-drug activists told an
Irraw addy reporter that the territory of Kyaw Myint’s Pansay militia covered 20,000 acres, stretching from the border
tow n of Muse to Kutkai some 30 kilometers to the south.
It appears that Kyaw Myint, w hose militia has often fought alongside Burma Army units based in Shan State during
clashes w ith the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in recent years, may be too preoccupied fighting to maintain his
group’s territory to run for office again. Since 2012, the TNLA has w aged a self-described w ar on drugs that has seen its
soldiers repeatedly raid areas under the Pansay militia’s control to destroy poppy crops.
Liu Guoxi is another sitting USDP law maker listed in the Shan Drug Watch report w ho does not appear to be running for
his seat in the Upper House constituency of Shan State-11. The former Burmese Communist Party official, w ho after that
group’s collapse w as secretary of the Shan State Special Region No. 1 in Kokang, w as described by the Hong Kong-based
Far Eastern Economic Review as a “drug kingpin” in the 1990s. He w as also mentioned in the US State Department’s
annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report from 1999 as someone believed by the US government to be
involved in the drug trade. Liu w as aw arded his seat in 2010 after running unopposed.
According to Shan Herald, Liu’s relative Zhao Dechang, w ho allegedly served as a “member of the cartel set up by” Liu,
w as elected to the Shan State parliament in 2010 after also running unopposed in the constituency of Kongyan No. 2. He
is running again under a Burmanized version of his name, Kyauk Tae Chan.
The current Kokang Special Region chairman Bai Souqian, w ho w as elected in the 2010 election from Laukkai
constituency No. 1 after also running unopposed, is absent from the UEC candidate list as w ell. Bai, w hose home in
Laukkai w as reported by state media as having been shelled during clashes in February w ith forces loyal to his former
comrade Peng Jiasheng, w as described in the 2011 Shan Drug Watch report as someone involved in the drug trade. It
appears that he does not actually need to run for his office in order to maintain his position as chairman of the Kokang
self-administered zone, a post appointed by the central government.
As of January 2013, Bai Souqian’s son Bai Yingneng w as serving as the USDP party secretary in Kokang, and it w ould
appear that he hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps; an individual named Bai Yingneng (listed alternatively as Khin
Maung Lw in) is slated as the USDP candidate running for a seat in the Shan State parliament to represent the
constituency of Laukkai No. 2.
All bets are off on forecasting the outcome of Burma’s highly anticipated general election, but this much seems certain:
The interplay of guns, drugs and pow er w ill— as it has for decades— continue to factor into Burma’s political milieu.
Editor’s note: T Khun M yat has also been spelled Ti Khun Myat, T. Hkun Myat and Khun Myet. H o Xiaochang is also
known as U Haw, Haw Laosang, Haw Shauk Chan and Haw Kwan. Yi Shay is also known by the Thai name Chaiwat
Pornsakulpaisarn. Ke ng M ai has also been spelled Kein Maing. M yint Lw in is also known as Wang Guoda and Wan Kwe
Tar. Kyaw M yint is known also as Win Maung and Li Yongqiang. Liu G uoxi is also known as Hlyu Kwe Shi and Lu Kwet
Shu. Bai Souqian is also known as Pei Hsauk Chen, Pae Sao Chein, Pei Sauk Chein, Bay Hsaw Chei, Phe Xiao Chain and
Bae Saw.
TOP PHOTO - (REUTERS )
Bai Souqian, identified in this Reuters photo as Phe Xiao Chain, speaks to journalists in Laukkai, capital of Burma’s Kokang Special Region, on Sept. 8, 2009.
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SEAMUS MARTOV / THE IRRAWADDY
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5. SEAMUS MARTOV / THE IRRAWADDY
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2 COMMENTS
S H pa
October 20th, 2015
It is a disg race to read this w hen it co m es to including U T. Hkun M yat alo ng w ith C hinese, he is a Kachin Natio nal w ho
dedicate his w ho le life fo r Kutkai and stands fo r no t o nly Kachin but fo r all the natio nalities living in Kutkai. He is a
Kachin and o ne capable and educated m an w ho can penetrate am o ng burm ese.
W hen it co m es to credibility do n’t w rite o r publish w itho ut having pro o f o r kno w the credible so urce. W here is m edia
ethic I believe yo u kno w that m uch as yo u can w rite pretty w ell. Sham e o n Seam us M arto v fo r pro ving that he do esn’t
kno w him in 5 line. I have RFA and Shan Harald vo luntarily and the answ er w as they have no pro ve but they kno w .
W hat in the w o rld is w ro ng w ith yo u stupid peo ple.
Fact U Kyaw W in (M ayflo w er) and T. Khun M yat has no business relatio ns. His sister m arried to U Kyaw W in’s bro ther (
A w ell respected C hristian Fam ily). Khun M yat Lahtaw is fro m M yitkyina (Seam us m ust be w riting w hatever he w ants
and g et the paycheck w itho ut do ing pro per research). T. Khun M yat destro yed m any drug s facto ries and bo m b
ex plo ded in his ho use in assassinatio n attem pt funded by drug lo rds.
This co uld be co m ing fro m the sam e so urce w ho m i do n’t need to m entio n to spread m o re hatred am o ng peo ple o f
kutkai betw een o ne race and ano ther. M aybe it is unfo rtunate to be Kachin Leader in Shan State. Nex t tim e ask
peo ple w ho really kno w s him .
Yo u m ay o r m ay no t po st but at least no w yo u kno w .
Seam us can w rite to m e if he is m entally w ell.

Reply
Re spo nsible audie nce
October 21st, 2015
To Edito r,
W ith all due respect, I have to repo rt that there is a terrible m istake in translatio n o f o ne o f yo ur articles.
The article is “Ruling Party M Ps Return Guns, Alleg ed Drug Ties to 2015 Race” by Seam us M arto v, published o n 07 O ct
2015. The Burm ese translatio n w as published o n 20 O ct 2015. There is a m istake in translatio n o f this article in the
sectio n abo ut T Khun M yat. The o rig inal Eng lish versio n reads “It has been used to differentiate him fro m ano ther
w ell-kno w n Kachin nam ed Khun M yat Lahtaw ,” but in Burm ese translatio n, “
Khun M yat Lahtaw
… !”
I kno w there are tw o different and to tally unrelated individuals, Khun M yat Lahtaw and T Khun M yat. Khun M yat
Lahtaw is a w ell-reno w ned g entlem an fro m Yang o n and T Khun M yat is fro m Kutkai, Shan State. Seam us M arto v
seem s to kno w that. But the translato r m ade it co m pletely o ppo site. It sho uld no t happen fo r a credible new s m edia.
It m ig ht hurt the reputatio n o f an inno cent perso n.
I am no t here to m ake any arg um ent ag ainst alleg atio ns o n T Khun M yat; neither do I co nfirm these alleg atio ns. I just
w ant to po int o ut the m istake so that yo u can m ake co rrectio n in tim e and prevent unnecessary co nfusio n and
po ssible defam atio n o f the inno cent perso n.
Fro m
Respo nsible audience

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