By Loa Htaw:
Mon political groups informed IMNA today that they support the NMSP’s decision to reject the Burmese government’s demands that the party’s armed wing be transformed into a government-run “militia group”. The party announced its decision on April 22nd.
Members of some political groups informed IMNA that the NMSP’s decision is highly positive development, as it frees Mon State from the strictures imposed by the ceasefire agreement made between the NMSP and the Burmese government in 1995.
“The cease-fire agreement has solved nothing during fifteen years period and we believe they [the NMSP] have decided to do the right thing,” said Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF) leader Min Kyi Win to IMNA today.
The newest Mon political party, the All Mon Region for Democracy Party (AMRDP), has also gone on record stating its support for the NMSP, despite the fact that the party had adopted an entirely different mode of action, and plans to run in this fall’s elections, under the terms provided by the Burmese government in its much-contested election laws.
“It is impossible to accept the [government’s] demand of transforming the Mon armed wing, which is meant to defend Mon state and the Mon people, into a militia group,” AMRDP party member Min Nwe Soe opined.
According to members of the Mon Affairs Union, an umbrella organization for a variety of Mon political groups on the Thai-Burma border, inside Burma, and in the wider international community, during 2009 the NMSP conducted a survey among Mon people in party-controlled areas inside Burma. Reportedly, most of the survey takers felt that the NMSP should not allow its armed wing to be transformed into a government-controlled force. Other groups reiterated this claim, informing IMNA that they feel that the NMSP’s decision accurately reflects the Mon public’s opinion on the issue.
Mon Unity League (MUL) President Nai Suthorn told IMNA “We welcome the NMSP’s decision, which considers and follows the [Mon] people’s views [on the subject]. “
“We [the Mon people and the NMSP] have made the right decision,” he added.
