VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Demonstrators protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, February 19, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

Members of Myanmar ethnic groups protested on Saturday (Feb 20) in a show of opposition to the coup that ousted the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, despite some misgivings about her commitment to their aspirations for autonomy, community representatives said.

Protests against the Feb 1 coup that overthrew the elected government of the veteran democracy campaigner have taken place across the diverse country, even though the military has promised to hold a new election and hand power to the winner.

The demonstrators are demanding the restoration of the elected government, the release of Suu Kyi and others and the scrapping of a 2008 constitution, drawn up under military supervision, that gives the army a decisive role in politics.

Ke Jung, a youth leader from the Naga minority and an organiser of the Saturday protest by the minorities in the main city of Yangon, said the protesters were also demanding a federal system.

"We can't form a federal country under dictatorship. We can't accept the junta," he told Reuters.

The protests have been more peaceful than the bloodily suppressed demonstrations during nearly 50 years of direct military rule up to 2011.

In addition to the protests, a civil disobedience campaign has paralysed much government business.

Myanmar has experienced insurgencies by ethnic minority factions since shortly after its independence from Britain in 1948 and the army has long held itself to be the only institution capable of preserving national unity.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, like the top generals, is a member of the majority Burman community. Her government promoted a peace process with insurgent groups but she came in for a storm of international criticism over the plight of the Muslim Rohingya minority after more than 700,000 fled a deadly 2017 crackdown//CNA

Thailand's Prime Minister survives no-confidence vote - Khaosod English 

Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha survived a no-confidence vote on Saturday (Feb 20) in parliament amid allegations that his government mismanaged the economy, bungled the provision of COVID-19 vaccines, abused human rights and fostered corruption. Nine other ministers also survived the vote.

It marked the second no-confidence test Prayut’s government has faced since taking office in July 2019, following a contested election after Prayut seized power in a 2014 coup as the army chief. In February last year, Prayut and five Cabinet ministers easily defeated a no-confidence vote in the lower house.

In the latest motion, his government was also criticised for misusing its power to promote police officials and for establishing a cyber unit to attack government critics on social media, among other complaints.

But a more serious allegation was that Prayut has deepened divisions in society by using the monarchy as a shield against criticism of his government.

A student-led protest movement has campaigned since last year for Prayut and his government to step down. They want the constitution to be amended to make it more democratic, and for the monarchy to be reformed to make it more accountable.

“The biggest fault of Prayut is that he does not understand the principles of the constitutional monarchy,” said Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the opposition Move Forward Party.

“He used the monarchy to protect himself whenever he was criticised or opposed. This is an evil action, making him no longer qualified to be prime minister,” he said.

His accusation refers to the enforcement of Article 112 in the criminal code, also known as the lese majeste law. Prayut said in June last year that King Maha Vajiralongkorn had expressed his wish for the government not to use the law against defaming the monarchy to prosecute protesters.

The legislation allows anyone to file a complaint with the police, with convictions carrying jail terms of up to 15 years per offense. According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, at least 59 people including several minors were summoned under the law between November and February//CNA

Workers at PT Dirgantara Indonesia's hangar in Bandung, West Java. The state-owned aircraft manufacturer is currently developing an amphibious aircraft that can take off and land on water as well as the ground. (ANTARA/Bagus Ahmad Rizaldi/sh)

State-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI) is targeting to build an amphibious aircraft that can take off and land on water as well as solid ground by 2024.

PT DI’s director of technology and development, Gita Amperiawan, said the company is currently developing the technology to produce the amphibious aircraft.

"Pak Budi (Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi) asked by when we could finish it. We said, Insya Allah (God willing), in 2024 we can produce the amphibious aircraft," he said here on Friday.

Earlier, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi had said that Indonesia, as an archipelagic country, would need amphibious aircraft to connect remote islands.

PT DI said it began planning to produce the amphibious aircraft after its N219 aircraft received the type certification for commercial production.

The amphibious aircraft would connect remote islands and speed up development of the tourism sector in Indonesia as it can be landed directly on the beach in tourist areas, PT DI president director Elfien Goentoro said."It can land everywhere in tourist destinations, and our country has 17 thousand islands," Goentoro remarked.

Earlier, the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas had said it has collaborated with the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (LAPAN) and PT DI to develop an amphibious version of the N219 aircraft.

The move is part of efforts to make the aviation industry self-reliant, it added. Variants of the amphibian N219 aircraft have been developed to meet national needs in outermost islands, areas that have maritime tourism potential, or rivers and lakes, where it is relatively difficult to construct airfields, it informed//ANT

Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah (second left) speaks to an officer of the One-Stop Integrated Service (LTSA) for Indonesian Migrant Workers' Placement and Protection in Central Lombok District, West Nusa Tenggara, on Friday (Feb 19, 2021). ANTARA/Awaludin/sh

The Ministry of Manpower has encouraged local governments to significantly contribute to streamlining the management, service, and protection of Indonesian migrant workers through the application of the One-Stop Integrated Service (LTSA).

Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah noted that the LTSA is a program to improve the management of placement and protection of migrant workers.

"The central government and local governments shoulder the responsibility of providing services that are quick, cheap, simple, and transparent for migrant workers," Fauziyah stated during her visit to LTSA in Central Lombok District, West Nusa Tenggara, on Friday.

The minister highlighted that the LTSA was aimed at preventing non-procedural placement of migrant workers and boosting the Productive Migrant Village (Desmigratif) Program.

"We have developed 45 LTSA across Indonesia," she revealed.In accordance with Law No. 18 of 2017 on the protection of migrant workers, local governments are tasked with improving the management of placement, training, and protection of migrant workers.

In future, Fauziyah affirmed that the LTSA should also be applied to settle disputes to help migrant workers. "They do not have to go to Jakarta to settle any problems on migrant workers in their respective regions," the minister stated//ANT