Maldivian autocrat’s family’s illegal ‘oil trade’ allegedly worth $800 million

Manorama Online

By Sumon K. Chakrabarti

2011 does not bode well for autocrats, past and present. In January, the Jasmine Revolution swept away Tunisian autocrat Zine el Abidine Ben Ali; Egypt’s Mohamed Hosni Mubarak has promised to leave. Protests are growing louder in Algeria, Yemen, Jordan and Syria. But one former autocrat is quietly trying to make a comeback, just two and a half years after being unseated.

Asia’s longest ruling head of state, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, wants to be back. A self-confessed Mubarak fan, the Cairo-educated Gayoom ruled the Maldives for 30 years. Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed’s response to Gayoom bid was an ominous one-liner: “It will not be wise.” Nasheed had defeated Gayoom in the country’s first ever democratic elections in 2008. Why does Gayoom want to come back and what was Nasheed hinting at?

The answer, apparently, lies in Singapore. In March 2010, the Maldives commissioned Grant Thornton to investigate the hidden assets of Gayoom, his family and associates. Grant Thornton is a global network of 2,600 independent financial consultancy firms. In 2008, the Maldives auditor general had blamed Gayoom for using government funds and national institutions for personal benefit. In mid-2010, the Singapore Police began an official criminal investigation into the Gayoom family’s money laundering operations, now estimated to be somewhere in the region of $800 million.

THE WEEK accessed a copy of the Grant Thornton investigation report submitted to Nasheed’s office. The report names Abdullah Yameen Abdul Gayoom, the former president’s half-brother, as the kingpin of the money laundering operation. It also names a key player in the operation—Myanmar’s military junta, the State Peace and Development Council.

The Gayooms links with Myanmar Generals

The Gayooms had links with Brigadier-General Lun Thi, the Myanmar minister of energy, and with Vice-Senior General Maung Aye, the second highest-ranking member of the junta. The bridge between the Gayooms and Aye was Aung Ko Win, a Myanmar businessman who heads the Kanbawza Bank and Kanbawza Football Club.

The Gayooms received additional help from Aung Thaung, the Burmese minister of industry-1. Thaung’s son Major Pye Aung is married to Aye’s daughter, Nandar Aye. Another Burmese business couple, Tun Myint Naing aka Steven Law and wife Cecilia Ng, were also linked to the Gayooms. Law is the son of Lo Hsing Han, the heroin baron. The Han family runs Asia World Co. Ltd, which, among many other ventures, runs the Rangoon port.

The US treasury department’s office of foreign assets control had accused Law of being part of his father’s drug empire and had blacklisted his companies. Cecilia has been under the scanner for allegedly laundering the Burmese junta’s money through shadow ventures in Singapore.

So what did the Gayooms, the junta and the shadowy businessmen together do? The Maldives receives subsidised oil from OPEC nations, thanks to its 100 per cent Sunni Muslim population. The Gayooms bought oil, saying it was for the Maldives, and sold it to Myanmar and on the international black market. As Myanmar is facing international sanctions, the junta secretly sold the Burmese and ‘Maldivian’ oil to certain Asian countries, including a wannabe superpower.

One of the four cabinet ministers with whom the Grant Thornton report was shared told THE WEEK. “What is now becoming clear is that oil tankers regularly left Singapore for the Maldives, but never arrived here,” he said. “We are a tiny nation, our oil consumption is very less. The State Trading Organisation Plc [STO] of the Maldives used to buy oil, mostly from OPEC nations, and sell it in the black market or to Myanmar.”

The STO was established in 1964 to stabilise prices of essential commodities. The Maldivian government holds 92.29 per cent stake in the STO and the rest is held by the public. For smoother trading, a subsidiary company, STO Maldives (Singapore) Pvt Ltd, was set up in 1997.

STO Singapore’s mandate was initially limited to purchasing petroleum products for the Maldives. Later, the company was authorised to trade in petroleum. Majority of its sales were to the STO and to Myanmar, except in 2002, when bulk of the revenue came from Malaysia.

STO Singapore bought fuel from Shell Eastern Petroleum Pvt Ltd, the Singapore Petroleum Company Ltd and Petronas, and then sold it to STO or to third parties. The allegation is that the Gayooms used STO Singapore for their oil diversion and money laundering racket.

Sources in the Singapore Police said their investigation has confirmed “shipping fraud through the diversion of chartered vessels where the oil cargo intended for the Maldives was sold on the black market creating a super-profit for many years.”  

In the report to Nasheed, Grant Thornton said it could only access financial information from 2002 to 2008 from the three hard-drives given to it by the President’s Commission, which probes the allegations of corruption and misappropriation of assets. No digital data before 2002 was available and the paper trail was hazy.

While Gayoom was president, his half-brother Yameen was minister for tourism and civil aviation, and, in 1990, he was made chairman of STO and minister for trade. He stepped down as STO chairman in 2005, but STO Singapore’s debit notes show payments made on account of Yameen in 2007 and 2008.

Yameen was allegedly aided by Ahmed Muneez, former MD, STO Singapore, and by Mohamed Hussain Maniku, former MD, STO. Maniku was MD from 1993 to 2008, and currently represents the Maldives in Washington, DC.

The Grant Thornton report said: “The debit notes were created as a result of receiving funds from Mr Yameen deposited at the STO head office, which were then transferred to STO Singapore’s bank accounts. This corresponded with a document received from STO head office confirming the payments were deposited by Yameen into STO’s bank accounts via cheque. In conversation with Mr Muneez, this was to provide monies for the living expenses of his [Yameen’s] son and daughter, both studying in Singapore. Their living expenses were distributed by Mr Muneez.” This arrangement ended just before Gayoom lost power.

A bureaucrat in the President’s Office in Male said that it was highly unusual for a former chairman to use a company’s bank accounts for personal money transfer. He said: “Yameen had previously requested Gayoom to send letters to foreign leaders and ministers with regard to oil production and sale.”

The first red flag regarding the Gayooms’ underhand deals was raised by KPMG Sri Lanka, which took over STO’s audits from PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2004. A KPMG note in 2004 said: “A company incorporated in Singapore by the name of Mocom Trading Pte Ltd in 2004 has not been disclosed under Note No. 30 to the Financial Statements. There was no evidence available with regard to approval of the incorporation. Further, we are unable to establish the volume and the nature of the company with the group.”

In 2005, KPMG raised the same objections and said: “The name of the company [Mocom Trading Pte Ltd] has been struck off on 20th April 2006.” Mocom Trading Pte Ltd led directly to the Burmese junta and businessmen mentioned earlier in this story.

Mocom Trading was set up in February 2004 as a joint venture between STO Singapore and Mocom Corporation Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian corporation. The JV was floated to sell oil to Myanmar. Authorised capital was $10,00,000. Number of shares? Four. Shareholders were Kamal Bin Rashid, a Burmese national; Raja Abdul Rashid Bin Raja Badiozaman, a Malaysian, and Fathimah Ashan and Sana Mansoor, both Maldivians. All four shareholders were directors, and there was a fifth director—Muneez.

Muneez told investigators that Mocom Corporation was one of the four companies which had the right to sell oil to Myanmar through a tender process. The other three were Daewoo, Petrocom Energy and Hyundai. Later, Mocom Corporation floated the joint venture with STO Singapore.

According to the contract, STO Singapore was to supply Mocom Trading with diesel. But since Mocom Corporation held the original contract, the company was entitled to a commission of nearly 40 per cent of the profits. The commission was to be deposited in a United Overseas Bank account in Singapore—a US dollar account held solely by Rashid. So, the books would show that the commission was being paid to Mocom, but Rashid would pocket it. This is just one of the many examples of the STO’s books being cooked.

In another example, STO Singapore and Mocom Trading duplicated sales invoices to Myanmar. The invoices showed the number of barrels delivered and the unit price. Both sets of invoices were identical, except for the price per barrel. The unit price on the STO Singapore invoices was around $5 more than the unit price on the Mocom Trading invoices. This was done to confuse auditors. The sum total of all Mocom Trading invoices to Myanmar Petrochemical Enterprises was $4,57,51,423, whereas the sum total of the invoices raised by STO Singapore was $5,14,23,523. The difference?  $56,72,100.

Gayoom’s fall in 2008 had a direct link to the fortunes of STO Singapore. Its revenues had jumped dramatically in 2001-2002, after which annual sales hovered around 100 million Singapore dollars. From 2006 onwards sales started falling. In 2009, it dropped to 17 million Singapore dollars, its lowest returns to date.
Investigators have found instances where bills of lading were unsigned by the ship’s master. The bill of lading is a very crucial document as it is a detailed receipt given by the carrier to the person consigning the goods.

The Gayooms and Muneez had devised strategies to fool even the best of investigators. “They forgot that one small glitch can blow the lid off a perfect con job,” said Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, special envoy of the president of the Maldives.

Chakrabarti, CNN-IBN’s chief national correspondent, is writing a book on the Gayoom regime and its fall.

Rescuing democracy from malaise a challenge

thestar online

Diplomatically Speaking
By Dennis Ignatius

The tumultuous events that shook Egypt are apparently causing jitters elsewhere. In Malaysia, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak surprisingly saw the need to warn against similar moves here.

Few believe that the conditions that prompted mass demonstrations in Egypt presently exist in Malaysia. For one thing, Malaysians are vastly better off economically than the Egyptians. For the most part, Malaysians enjoy a level of comfort and consumerism that is the envy of most of the developing world.

True, Malaysians have become decidedly unhappy with rising living costs, the concentration of wealth and opportunity in the hands of a few well-connected people, and widespread corruption. For now, however, these concerns are far from the point where they could conceivably find expression in a “day of rage”.

The most important difference, however, that mitigates against an Egyptian-style revolt here is that we already have in place a democratic system that gives the people the power to effect change through the ballot box.

The lessons we must learn from Egypt are of another kind: that democracy is a precious right that people in other nations have had to fight and die for. It must never be taken for granted or allowed to wither through neglect or indifference.

And therein lies the nub of our problem: our democracy, and the key institutions associated with it, has been in slow decline for some years now.

Malaysia is increasingly viewed as a “flawed” democracy. The recent Economist Democracy Index ranked Malaysia 71 out of 167 countries, behind even Indonesia, Namibia, Thailand and Papua New Guinea.

Rescuing our democracy from the malaise that has beset it is a key challenge, and arguably our most important task.

Democracy is more than simply casting a ballot once every few years; it is a way of life, a frame of mind, an attitude of heart, where citizens actively and tangibly participate in the political life of their nation through a myriad of different ways – turning out to vote, engaging political representatives and holding them accountable, participating in dialogue and debate, staying informed on issues and making informed decisions, standing up for fundamental rights, etc.

Passivity is the great enemy of democracy. The people themselves must be the guardians of their own freedom.

Fortunately, Malaysians appear to be increasingly vocal participants in the democratic process. They have not been afraid to take to the streets to peacefully express their displeasure or to support causes they believe in.

They are speaking out and challenging long established taboos. They have shown that they are ready to take a chance on the unknown and even elect political neophytes to office if it will help to improve the overall democratic climate in the country. Civil society groups are also more active, well organised and better supported.

All this augurs well for our democracy, though we still have some way to go. Democracy is, after all, always a work in progress. If our democracy is to prosper, democratic transformation and change must become a priority.

Intrinsic to this is an end to the culture of impunity. For too long, public officials who abuse their position have managed to evade justice. There is a sense that those with privilege and good connections are above the law. This is harmful to democracy.

Citizens of a democracy also need to be on guard against demagoguery and those who pander to narrow racial or religious sentiment. There is already too much of this in Malaysia and it is detrimental to our democracy. Character, principle and dedicated service should matter far more than racial or religious considerations.

As well, citizens of a free nation must be in the forefront of defending the democratic institutions, including a free press, an independent judiciary and a responsive parliament, that give substance to their democracy.

The curtailment of press freedom, for example, has weakened our democracy. Only a free and fearless press can keep governments accountable and citizens well informed. It is not a luxury we can do without; it is necessary for the survival of our democracy.

Our justice system also needs to be overhauled. The reputation of some of our judges has been tarnished and their impartiality questioned. Our police force is plagued by corruption and seen as abusive and disrespectful of the rights of citizens.

Last but not least, our Parliament must be transformed into the true heart of our democracy instead of being little more than a rubber stamp. Many of our elected representatives appear to owe little or no allegiance to the people who voted for them. If we are to give meaning to our democracy, we must demand more of those we elect to represent us.

George Bernard Shaw once quipped that democracy ensures that we shall be governed no better than we deserve. Malaysia deserves better and it is up to the people to ensure that we get it. That is what the people at Liberation Square are discovering.

> Datuk Dennis Ignatius is a 36-year veteran of the Malaysian foreign service. He has served in London, Beijing and Washington and was ambassador to Chile and Argentina. He was twice Undersecretary for American Affairs. He retired as High Commis­sioner to Canada in July 2008.

Local Burmese celebrate traditions now forbidden in Myanmar

By Melissa Tait, Record staff

Feb 21, 2011

KITCHENER — Celebrating Chin National Day in Kitchener is bitter sweet for Victor Khambil.

In Burma — now called Myanmar — Chin traditions like the bamboo dance and harvest dance are forbidden, but at King Edward Public School on Saturday the Chin dances, costumes and song filled the gym.

Chin National Day commemorates the date of Burmese independence from Britain in 1948, but it has more meaning to Khambil and other Chin refugees.

“It’s our chance to show our children who are born here that we are a distinct people,” Khambil said.

Khambil, 37, fled Burma as a refugee, arriving in Kitchener in 2004.

Like many other ethnic Chins he still has family members in Myanmar, where he said the Chin people are persecuted for their nationality and Christian religion.

The Southeast Asian country is controlled by a military junta. The Chin — a minority nationality of 500,000 — are not allowed to observe their cultural traditions, learn their own language in school, or observe Christian faith, Khambil said.

In 1988, the junta killed 3,000 students during uprisings against the government, Khambil said. Today, he thinks there is a possibility the unrest seen in Middle East countries could spread to Myanmar to inspire their own uprising.

The country is heavily isolated from the outside world, but Khambil thinks rising frustration within the junta, and easier communication because of the internet can lead to change.

Internet use is heavily restricted, but “somehow (Burmese) get through it,” Khambil said.

Khambil said they celebrate their culture here, because at home in Myanmar, “with the military, there is nothing we can enjoy.”

Chin National Day 021.JPG Members of the Chin community, an ethnic group from Myanmar, perform a bamboo dance during the Chin National Day in Kitchener, Saturday.  Mathew McCarthy/Record staff

mtait@therecord.com

Doctors call for UN inquiry into Chin State abuses in Burma

A group of doctors working on human rights issues is lobbying the United Nations to conduct an official inquiry into crimes against humanity in the western Burma China State.

Physicians for Human Rights has just released what they say is the first survey of the scale of abuses against the ethnic Chin people finding widespread forced labour and cases of killings, torture and rape. The group trained volunteers from health and community organisations within Burma to survey hundreds of families in Chin State hoping to document anecdotal reports of human rights abuses.

Myanmar's military government is guilty of crimes against humanity in Chin State, targeting minority Christians, says the US-based NGO, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) in a new report.
"There is little humanitarian information on Chin State because it is remote with no infrastructure or easy access from neighbouring India. It is a neglected region," said Richard Sollom, a PHR deputy director and principal author of Life Under the Junta, released on 19 January.
PHR surveyors documented almost 3,000 separate incidents of abuse among 621 households (3,281 people) from 2009-2010, including forced labour, rape, torture, abduction, arbitrary execution, arrest, and forced conscription of children.

59 Human Rights Party members arrested

thestar online

KUALA LUMPUR: Police arrested 59 members of the Human Rights Party in Perak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Negri Sembilan on Sunday ahead of an upcoming anti-racism rally.

They were nabbed at roadblocks as party members went on a roadshow to promote the rally.

Six were arrested in Perak, 27 in Negri Sembilan, five in Selangor and 21 in Kuala Lumpur, according to the Bukit Aman Media Centre.

However, the party claimed in its website that 75 members had been arrested.

The Human Rights Party had announced it would hold a massive rally to urge the government to ban the controversial Interlok novel from the literature reading list for secondary students.

According to the party’s website, the Feb 27 march from the Petronas Twin Towers to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters was themed “Solidarity against Umno’s racism.”

Following the march, they plan to lodge a police report to compel the government to withdraw the book from classrooms.

The Interlok novel, introduced as a component for the Malay literature subject for Form Five students, courted controversy when Indian groups claimed that it contained inaccurate and disparaging information about the community.

After a series of protests, including by MIC, the government agreed to amend the disputed portions of the book but insisted on using it in schools.

While MIC agreed with this decision, several other groups are demanding that the book be completely withdrawn.

Malaysia asylum crackdown violates rights, says Amnesty

Radio Australia News
By Gavin Fang

Amnesty International has accused Malaysia of human rights violations against asylum seekers as it cracks down on people smuggling.

Refugees in Malaysia face detention and caning, and Amnesty says Australia which provides money and training to the country's maritime police is complicit in the ill-treatment.

Malaysia is a key transit country and asylum seekers are known to hide in the coastal villages before heading south by boat towards Indonesia and Australia.

Commander Khoo Teng Chuan of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency says the Malacca Straits, off Port Klang, are a key location in people smuggling.

"This is one of the areas where they will bring the people out," he said.

"So basically what the boat will do, [it] will come here, embark the illegal migrants and then they will leave from here."

In October, Australia gave Malaysia's maritime enforcement agency, about a million dollars of hardware including patrol boats and hi-tech search equipment to catch people smugglers.

But it's not just the organisers who can be arrested - asylum seekers are also detained and face up to six strokes of the cane.

Burmese refugee Mawia spent several months in a detention camp in conditions he describes as inhumane.

"I was sentenced to three months in prison and two strokes of the cane," he said.

"It was the most terrifying and difficult period in my entire life."

Amnesty International and Malaysian human rights groups say thousands of asylum seekers have been caned - a punishment they describe as torture.

Amnesty International's Graham Thom says Australia is complicit in the ill-treatment.

"Australia certainly has a responsibility to make sure that is training and the way that it is facilitating people being detained are not going to then face human rights violations in Malaysia," he said.

But Malaysian authorities are unswayed.

Dato Che Hassan Bin Jusoh, Director of Enforcement with the MMEA, says heavy penalties are needed to act as a deterrent.

"It's harsh, but you see people when they are in the survival situation, they don't care whether you are being punished, whether they are being killed," he said.

"You see when they come here they are taking the risk."

Window dressing in Myanmar?

The Daily Star

Many in Bangladesh would be surprised to know that Myanmar had an election last November and its first Parliament in twenty years was opened last Monday in the new capital, Naypyidaw.

Is this because we are reluctant to know about Myanmar or there is something more than meets the eye?

Forty-five years ago, the military had seized power in a coup there. Ever since, the regime has suffered from the fear that the world is conspiring to depose the junta by force. The USA, by imposing sanctions on Myanmar, also added to this fear of possible interference by unfriendly foreign forces in their internal affairs. The regime, therefore, made the people look inward.

The military regimes during this time also had to deal with a number of armed insurgencies by ethnic minorities within the country. Successive juntas, therefore, found it convenient to indulge in their pathological obsession with secrecy. They shut out their people from the world, and the world was also kept dark about their land and the people.

Other than slight opening to Thailand and China, all neighbours including Bangladesh were kept ignorant of what was happening inside Myanmar. Hence, there has been scant interest on our part about that country.

Take the case of shifting their capital from Yangon to Naypyidaw. The authorities quietly took this important decision and selected a site near the main road and rail line that links Yangon and Mandalay, deep in the jungles. They built a city there from scratch and let the people know about it in 2005 when, at the cost of $5 billion, the construction was complete. The cash starved country got the money from selling its timber, gems and natural gas.

Many do not know that the bright lights we see in Bangkok city is powered by this gas, which had been extracted from the Andaman Sea in Myanmar and piped and sold to Thailand. The cities in Myanmar however remain dark and desolate for want of electricity.

Like in many nations in the Arab world, the people of Myanmar have also not tasted democracy for decades. Twenty years back, however, the people were allowed to vote in an election. They voted overwhelmingly for Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of the founder of modern Myanmar, Aung Sung. But the army prevented her from taking power. Since that time she has been intermittently kept in jail or under house arrest.

It is only recently that the military government framed a new constitution with the purpose of introducing a political system that could perpetuate their grip on power. The constitution reserves 25% of all the seats in a bicameral legislature for the armed forces. It also stipulates that any future change in the constitution would require the votes of 75% of all the members from the two chambers.

The army retains the power to amend the constitution by using its casting vote. The constitution also lays down that three of the key cabinet posts -- interior, defense and border affairs -- will have to be held by serving generals.

It is in this backdrop that the military government finally allowed elections to be held last November. About 29 million people who were eligible to vote were then asked to choose representatives to sit in the two houses of parliament and to 14 regional assemblies.

More than 3,000 candidates contested for 1,160 seats in all these assemblies. The post of president of the country and those of two vice presidents were left to these representatives to choose from among themselves.

The elections were participated by 37 political parties, except the party headed by Ms. Aung Sung Suu Kyi. She was barred from contesting as she was convicted under the regime's law, for her past activism. Ms. Suu Kyi and her party the National League for Democracy (NLD), therefore, boycotted the polls. A splinter group from that party however joined the polls. The results of the elections showed that the pro junta political party called the NUP secured 80% of the seats in all the bodies.

Questions have been raised whether the elections were free and fair. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon commented that the polls were insufficiently inclusive and transparent. Since foreign observers were not allowed into the country, an independent assessment of the election was also not available.

The playing field was, however, tilted in favour of the pro-junta party much ahead of the elections. It knew about the schedule of the elections and could field candidates in all the constituencies. The other parties were notified much later and they had too little time in their hand before the elections to nominate candidates. Also they could not raise funds in the short time in hand for their election expenses.

Because of the provision of advance voting for government officials and members of the armed forces, candidates from other parties who had received the largest number of votes in a constituency subsequently found themselves defeated as officials and armed forces personnel had voted in advance for the pro-junta candidates.

Three things have however happened due to the elections in Myanmar. The junta had:

* Made the people turn out in large numbers to cast their votes. For the first time in many years the people were given a whiff of democracy;

* Made these elections the start of a process of moving towards a future democratic order;

* By barring Ms. Suu Kyi from participating in the elections, they failed to get international legitimacy for the political process initiated by them.

The election has, however, sprouted new opposition parties working within the political framework allowed by the junta, and are reportedly keen to bring some changes in the existing political system. These leaders are likely to stay in the political space so created and use it for the next elections in five years time.

So what about Ms. Suu Kyi? Now that she has been sidelined by the junta will she just fade away into obscurity?

When she was under house arrest she was the world's most famous political detainee. Now that she has been released, the world is eagerly waiting to see what she is likely to do.

There is no doubt that this 64 year old lady with impeccable English and a fresh flower in her hair, remains the most feared by the generals. She is the only one who can bestow any degree of international legitimacy to any political process in Myanmar. She is also the only one till today who can galvanise a new generation of youth in that country. These are two assets which she still commands and the junta remains cagey because of them.

So, as the generals dress their windows and spruce up their political act, Ms. Suu Kyi with her simplicity and charm continues to mesmerise her people and the people of the world. She is, therefore, likely to yet write the final chapter of the story of Myanmar's political emancipation.

Ashfaqur Rahman is a former Ambassador and Chairman of the Centre for Foreign Affairs Studies. E-mail: ashfaq303@hotmail.com

Myanmar parliament convenes for 1st time in 22 years

JAPANTODAY

NAYPYITAW — Military-ruled Myanmar convened its first sessions of parliament in 22 years on Monday. Hundreds of parliamentarians elected Nov 7 gathered in the administrative capital Naypyitaw for simultaneous, closed-door sessions of the House of Representatives, the lower house, and the House of Nationalities, the upper house, under tight security.

The Union Parliament is dominated by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, which won 79% of the seats in the two houses.

Of the total of 659 parliamentarians, 493 of them are elected civilians and the other 166 are military officers chosen by junta leader Senior Gen Than Shwe.

The country’s junta-sponsored Constitution, adopted in 2008, requires that 25% of parliamentary seats be filled with military representatives selected by the commander-in-chief.

The parliament’s first tasks are to elect the speakers and deputy speakers of the 440-member lower house and the 224-member upper house.

Khin Shwe, a wealthy business tycoon who became an upper house lawmaker from a Yangon constituency, said the top positions in parliament will likely go to members of the USDP as it is the majority party.

The two houses will then convene a joint session within 15 days to elect the nation’s president and vice presidents, which may happen within this week, according to officials.

‘‘I think the process for presidential election will be quick,’’ Khin Shwe said.

But it will likely be late February or early March when the cabinet is formed and the government is running.

Khin Shwe said the new government will likely include some non-USDP members, though USDP members will certainly hold the key positions.

Access to the parliamentary proceedings by journalists has been highly restricted and the junta has banned lawmakers from carrying devices such as mobile phones, cameras, voice recorders and computers.

Leaking pictures or documents from parliament is punishable by up to two years in jail, while anyone entering the parliament premises without permission could be slapped with a one-year jail term.

The military, which has ruled the country in various forms since 1962, has portrayed the holding of the parliamentary session as the sixth step in the seven-step ‘‘road map to democracy’’ which the country’s generals unveiled in 2003.

The country’s main opposition group, the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi, is not represented in parliament as it boycotted the November elections, the country’s first in over two decades, on the grounds that the military-drawn electoral laws were ‘‘unfair and unjust.’‘

The NLD won the 1990 election by a landslide but the junta refused to hand over power.

In Tokyo, Foreign Press Secretary Satoru Sato said in a statement the Japanese government will ‘‘closely observe the future direction of the National Assembly, including its administration, debates as well as the activities of the pro-democracy movement and ethnic minority parties.’‘

Japan also urges the new Myanmar government to ‘‘take positive measures to ensure a more inclusive phase by implementing measures such as the release of political prisoners, the advancement of substantive dialogue with relevant parties as well as the deepening of relations with the international community, including Japan,’’ Sato said.