Arka : Burmese authorities have demanded that information about all non-member guests moving in and out of New Mon State Party (NMSP) offices in Mon State be recorded and submitted to the Burmese government.
While the Burmese government has not yet explicitly announced that the NMSP is now an “illegal party”, sources within the party explained that the requirement of information about guests is treatment only given to parties deemed illegal by the Burmese government.
NMSP members reported that the orders were given to the party roughly 3 days ago, and apply to all NMSP offices in Mon State. Guests must submit their names, identification card numbers, and villages of origin.
According to a staff member from the NMSP office in Moulmein, “The NMSP is not a legal party. The party’s offices are also not legal. They [Burmese authorities] said that that’s why we have to give the names of the guests coming in and out of the office to them”.
Following the establishment of the ceasefire agreement between the NMSP and the Burmese government at 1995, the NMSP opened offices in Moulmein, Thanphyuzayart, and Ye in Mon State, as well as in Three Pagodas Pass in Karen State. This is the first time that the party has been pressured to inform the Burmese government of the party’s guests.
The relationship between the two groups changed following the NMSP’s public refusal to surrender its armed force, the Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA) to the Burmese government on September 1st ; the NMSP issued a statement that it was unwilling to surrender to the Burmese government without discussion regarding Burma’s potential shift towards becoming a federal political union.
According to a Central Committee (CC) member, such requirements indicate that the NMSP is, for all intents and purposes, an illegal party for the first time in 15 years.
“NMSP members inside Burma have to keep low profiles and act as a normal civilians”, he added.
A political observer from Mon State informed IMNA that the Burmese government’s orders were possibly the result of a recent announcement made by Mon umbrella group the Mon Affairs Union (MAU) about the 2010 elections.
The MAU issued a public statement on September 30th of this year urging Mon people to boycott poll stations on election day, and to oppose the 2010 elections because they are not “free or fair”.
On August 23rd, Southeast Command Commander Maj. Gen. Thet Naing Win informed NMSP leaders that unless the party surrendered the MNLA to the Burmese government by September 1st, the ceasefire between the two groups would be ended, and the Burmese government would effectively consider the NMSP to be an illegal political group.
An officer from the MNLA told IMNA that the armed force is closely monitoring the movements for the Burmese Army, as tensions are rising within both groups.
