New Burmese Political Journal Appears

By SAW YAN NAING

A new political journal, Northern Star, has appeared in Burma with the aim of covering political issues and the military government’s planned general election in 2010, a Rangoon-based journal, The Voice, reported on Monday.

Thiha Aung, aka retired Maj Win Tin, the chief editor of Northern Star, told The Voice that the journal’s goal is to follow the state constitution drawn up by the military regime and to cover the process of the multi-party election which is scheduled for sometime in 2010.

Thiha Aung was quoted as saying, “Now, the government has already introduced the ‘seven-step roadmap’ to democracy. We will report that there is no alternative way except the roadmap and encourage people to support this most appropriate way.”

Writers who contributed articles to the Northern Star include former leading members of the opposition National League for Democracy.

Thiha Aung was previously the deputy chief editor of Myanma Alin—the Burmese version of The New Light of Myanmar, an English-language newspaper.

The Northern Star journal will focus on political issues and analyses rather than hard news, in order to encourage people to become involved in the general election.
The journal also will write about the process of forming political parties and contesting positions in the 2010 general elections, said Thiha Aung.

He said the journal will cover international news, such as the aftermath of America’s presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some international reports will also be translated into Burmese, he said.

Thiha Aung said that he wrote many articles and commentaries on the junta’s National Convention under different pen names.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said the Burmese government is providing journalism classes for Burmese reporters on how to cover the 2010 election.

One journalist in Rangoon said the teachers included Western instructors. Only university graduates were chosen to attend the training, she said.

On Monday, The New Light of Myanmar reported that the Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association conducted a journalism training course attended by 47 students. The 10-week course opened on February 2, according to the report.

In 2008, more than 30 local and national Burmese journals and magazines were unable to pay license fees and closed down.