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(July 15,
2007/ Bangkok, Thailand)
Ethnic
ceasefire groups and political parties have been urged to
boycott the coming session of the National Convention that’s due
to begin sitting on 18 July 2007.
In a press
conference on the Thai-Burma border today, five former delegates
to previous sessions of the National Convention (NC) said
participation would only serve the junta’s interests. Their own
experiences of the illegitimate process compelled them to advise
potential delegates to the 2007 convention not to attend.
“Participation in the NC would not lead to any good. I urge
ceasefire groups to pull out of this sham convention,” said Sai
Ti Saung, vice-chairman of the Shan State Nationalities People
Liberation Organization, who was a delegate in the 2004/05 NC.
“The only
outcome for Burma will be increased militarization, armed
conflict and chaos,” predicted U Khun Mar Ko Ban, member of
parliament and former NC representative from the Democratic
Organization for Kayan National Unity. He said any constitution
resulting from the NC would further oppress the ethnic peoples
of Burma.
The National
Convention to draft “principles” for a new constitution was
concocted as an excuse to avoid convening Parliament by the
Burmese military when it lost the 1990 elections. The first
session was held in 1993. The State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) has promised that the National Convention will be
completed by the end of this year.
Only 12
elected MPs will be among the over 1,000 delegates. The National
League for Democracy (NLD), Shan Nationalities League for
Democracy (SNLD) and component parties of the United
Nationalities League for Democracy (UNLD), accounting for about
90% of the parliamentary seats, continue to be excluded from the
constitution drafting body.
Most of the
delegates are unelected and unrepresentative of the peoples of
Burma, such as members of the junta-backed Union Solidarity
Development Association and other cronies who have been
handpicked by the regime.
NCUB,
organizer of the press conference, said the NC is merely an
attempt by the junta to formally perpetuate its military rule
and enslave the people. The country needs a constitution that
guarantees the democratic rights of its citizens and that
prioritizes the rule of law – something that the NC is only
further serving to undermine.
“We believe
the constitution that would be adopted by the sham convention is
going to be diametrically opposed to the genuine constitution
which the National Council of the Union of Burma has in mind,”
said U Myint Thein, Joint General Secretary-1, NCUB. “This
belief is bolstered by the today’s testimony of the constitution
delegates who have walked out of sham NC.”
FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION PLEASE CALL U MYINT THEINT AT +668 7808 3552 OR SOE
AUNG AT +668 1839 9816 |
