Thursday, 24 December 2009 19:49 Mungpi
New Delhi (Mizzima) - The Burmese military junta’s decision to purchase armament from Russia may have been triggered by their fear of budget constraints under the new government to be elected in 2010, an analyst said.
Win Min, a Burmese analyst based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, said the junta’s decision to purchase MiG 29 Fulcrum D fighter jets from Russia at a time when they should be busy preparing for next year’s elections, could be driven by its fear of budget constraints under the new government that will largely restrict them in their wild pursuit of weapons.
On Wednesday, Russia’s business daily Vedomosti told Mizzima, that Russia has signed a contract to deliver 20 MiG-29 K/KUB and about 8 to 10 Mi-35 attack helicopters, worth a total of US$ 640 million. The delivery will commence in 2010.
The arms purchase news comes days after the Nobel Peace Winning Economist Joseph Stiglitz’s visit to the military-ruled country, where he had advised the military government to reduce their spending on the military but to invest on education as the Burmese economy needs education to revive.
Stiglitz also advised the junta to use revenue, from the sale of natural resources including oil and natural gas, for opening a new era for the country, but warned that if they are not used wisely “valuable opportunities would be squandered.”
But Win Min said he believes the junta is acting on its worry that “it may not be able to buy this way after the 2010 elections under the new government’s budget constraints.”
The junta is also expanding the government-owned enterprises including the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings and the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) to ensure that the military has its own budget, which cannot be controlled by parliament, even after a new government is formed after the 2010 elections, Win Min added.
The UMEH is run by the Defence Ministry’s Directorate of Procurement and is engaged in almost all joint ventures. The MEC funnels revenue from private enterprise into defence spending while the UMEH provides opportunities for secondary incomes for military personnel and their families.
Win Min said, “generally all armed forces want new weapons like all kids want toys,” but it is sad to see that the Burmese military junta, despite expert advice given by Prof Stiglitz to reduce defence spending and to increase investments on education and health, is only concerned about its insatiable needs of purchasing new toys.
Protesting against the weapons transfer contract, nearly a dozen Burmese pro-democracy activists in New Delhi, India held a rally on Thursday afternoon in front of the Russian embassy.
“Burma has no enemy and there is no need to purchase weapons. And these weapons will only be used to intimidate and suppress the Burmese people,” Salong, a member of the Shwe Gas Movement, told Mizzima.
Shouting slogans - “We want peace, not MiG-29’ “Hey Russia we want peace” - the activists said, the Burmese junta, instead of spending on development projects, is spending revenue earned from the sale of oil and natural gas to purchase armaments.
According to the Vedomosti, the Burmese junta had also purchased 12 MiG-29 K/KUB fighter jets in 2001. Burma had also imported US$ 2 billion worth of weapons since 1989, mainly from China.
Burma’s military rulers, which has ruled the country for the past two decades, is known to spend less than 3 per cent of its GDP per annum for health and education while the military spending is about 40 per cent.
Another reason for the junta purchasing the fighter jets, Win Min said could be the junta’s wish to strengthen its air force on the borders generally and on the Chinese and Bangladesh in particular.
“The military might want to improve its air force on the borders generally, but especially on the China and Bangladesh borders, since they want to threaten the ceasefire [armed] groups, especially Wa [United Wa State Army] to agree to their proposal of transforming into the border guard force,” Win Min said.
He added that the purchase of MiG-29 Fulcrum D could also be “to have better bargaining power with Bangladesh on their disputed maritime areas, which has natural gas.”
Thursday, December 24, 2009
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