Section 3 | RULES OF THE GAME CASE STUDY: Red Link Communications In 2010 MPT gave Red Link Communications—owned by sons of the regime’s third-topmost military official, Shwe Mann—a lucrative contract to operate fiberoptic-sourced internet connections around Yangon and Mandalay.201 At the time, Red Link charged installation fees of $1,000 to $1,500 and monthly fees of $600 to 700 in a country whose per capita GNI the World Bank estimates at $1,270. In 2013, when the former Minister of Communications and Information Technology and dozens of MPT officials were under investigation for graft, Red Link’s founder publicly denied that the contract was the result of his family’s influence with government officials. According to its website, Red Link now offers internet access, data and voice services, corporate VPN, satellite communications, fiber-optics, and long-range data communication technologies. Despite losing his re-election bid in 2015, Shwe Mann is currently head of a parliamentary commission tasked with advising on legal and “special issues,” which he created in 2011.202 In addition to changes wrought by the new composition of political party affiliations in the hluttaw, the increased number of female elected officials may affect patronage networks, rents, and other incentives. While international studies on gender and corruption are inconclusive, it is possible to say that less access to patronage networks that have traditionally flowed through military services is likely to lead to different types and possibly lower levels of corruption in present-day Myanmar. For example, studies from India show that corruption among women village heads was linked to lack of prior experience and decreased over time. In research conducted in Myanmar in 2013, the authors noted that interviewees in Kachin State 200201 expressed that “women are better at fighting corruption than men,” and (in Kayin State) that female village heads “commit less corruption than men.” Interviewees also reported that female village heads in Kayin State were able to more successfully negotiate with armed groups operating in the area to reduce the level of extorted money, goods, and/or labor demanded by these groups than male village heads.202 However, whether female officials are merely perceived to be less corrupt or have fewer incentives or opportunities to engage in rent-seeking behavior may have little bearing on effective government support to closing the gender digital divide. As noted in the ADB gender assessment, women who are appointed to decision-making positions on the basis of male patronage tends to be less able to promote the group interests of women. Furthermore, women who obtain governance roles based on familial relations are less able to foster inclusive decision-making that goes beyond local elite circles.203 Tupas, Jefrey Is Burma’s Disconnectivity Deliberate? Sept 3, 2013 Htoo Thant and Ei Ei Toe Lwin, “Thura U Shwe Mann Appointed to Head Own Legislative Commission,” Myanmar Times, February 8, 2016. 202 ADB, Technical Assistance to Myanmar, 26. 203 Ibid. 200 201 Ending the Gender Digital Divide in Myanmar: A Problem-Driven Political Economy Assessment | 60