Mizzima News

Burmese pro-democracy groups, especially along Burma's borders and abroad, are in crisis. And the crisis recently got worse as the exile government NCGUB along with some other Burmese groups didn't endorse the failed credential campaign at the UN filed by an alliance of exile groups, namely the NCUB led by Maung Maung.

The Burma Day Conference held last week in Brussels further divided the movement on positions of sanctions versus anti-sanctions and engagement versus anti-engagement.

It has been twenty years since Burmese activists fled to neighboring countries, many to the Thailand-Burma border, from where they have continued the pro-democracy movement commenced in 1988.

Many of the activists have also resettled in third countries such as the USA, Australia, Canada, Norway, England and Sweden. They remain little engaged in the movement by participating in random demonstrations in front of Burmese embassies in their respective countries. A few of them have come back, after getting better education in the West, to the Thailand-Burma border, where many groups conduct missions to restore democracy in Burma.

The groups are mainly headed by one-man-show leaders. The leaders hardly cooperate and share little information with one another in their efforts to bring democracy to Burma. No doubt, resettlement programs have impacted leadership. Yet, longstanding and hard-to-work-with leaders have led many subordinates and new generation members to leave for third countries for good, their progress in the leadership ranks of opposition groups being blocked.

For instance, Dr. Sein Win has served as Prime Minster for the exile government since its inception in December 1990. There are more than 20 Burmese organizations more or less led by one or two people. One strong man or woman at the top has led to many problems – lack of transparency, lack of efficiency, lack of policy and a lack of strategy.

Opposition groups label the Burmese junta as being "an old wine in a new bottle" whenever they come up with new plans in their efforts to cling to power. In fact, activists and the opposition movement have been "old wine in old bottles" for nearly two decades. You see the same faces in different meetings taking place all over the world.

The movement is in crisis. It is because of a lack of trust, lack of respect, lack of cooperation, lack of sharing and a lack of teamwork. The success of a social change lies in cooperation among stakeholders, sharing information with one another and working on a common goal through different tactics. Burma won't be democratized any time soon until Burmese democrats come together.

The movement needs new blood, new methods, new ideas and new strategies.

Nga Zaw is a Burmese observer living in the United States.