Asah
Malaysia based Burmese and ethnic groups have undertaken a campaign to provide opposition to the political parties participating in Burma’s 2010 election.
On June 4th the Malaysia based, National Leauge for Democracy (Liberated Area) (NLDLA), Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) and Zomi National Congress (ZNC) in Malaysia NLD held the meeting, gathering 18 leaders from a variety of Malaysia based Burmese ethnic groups including the Mon, Karen, Chin, Kachin, Kaya, Shan, and Arakan, according to Nai Sahai Mon, 2nd chairman of Malaysia Mon Refugee Organization.
“They want the ethnic people who live abroad to form a committee for [eventually] opposing in the 2010 Burmese general election,” Nai Sahai Mon explained. “But we didn’t use political words on the meeting [description] because we haven’t registered to act as a political party in Malaysia.”
According to the chairman of NLDLA, U Kyaw Kyaw, because of the current political situation, starting in May the NLDLA began organizing ethnic groups who live around Malaysia, who would not be able to attend the meeting, to combine and contact with other opposition groups inside Burma and give them support in anyway they can.
At the meeting leaders of the NLDLA, ALD, ZNC and many of the representatives of ethnic parties discussed what options they would have to make contact with political parties inside Burma. By aiming to strengthen inside groups campaigns prior to the election by uniting different otherwise not associated political parties, leaders hope that a federal democracy would emerge in Burma.
“The time has come to be united between ethnic [groups] and political parties who are aboard, so we must have to do this same movement together”, said Nai Sahai Mon.
U Kyaw Kyaw told IMNA, “The government now they are trying to divide the ethnic groups. If we were to follow what the government [wanted us to] do it we will remain far from democracy. So all ethnics and political parties should unite together. It is time to prove to the government how united we are together.”
