UNA opposes junta's proposed 2010 general elections

by Ko Wild

Friday, 20 February 2009 21:10

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) today said that they were opposed to the Burmese military junta's proposed general elections scheduled to be held in 2010. The UNA's announcement coincided with the submission of a report by the UN Secretary General's special envoy Mr. Ibrahim Gambari at a UN Security Council closed-door meeting. "We expressed our stand especially on the proposed general elections in 2010. The UNSC will hold its closed-door meeting today and we expressed clearly that we would not contest this planned general election. Previously, we just expressed that we were against this election. The election should be held only after resolving all issues and deadlocks. Currently, they have not yet released any (political) prisoners and have not held dialogue with anyone else," Pu Cing Tsing Thang, UNA spokesperson and Chairman of 'Zomi National Congress' (ZNC), told Mizzima. UNA was formed with 12 ethnic political parties, which contested in the 1990 general elections. But, the Burmese regime deregistered 10 parties and now only two parties, the 'Kokang Democratic Party' and the 'Shan Nationalities League for Democracy' (SNLD), are officially registered parties. In the statement issued today, the UNA said that they would not recognize the proposed 2010 general elections, which would be held under the unilaterally drafted and forcibly approved 2008 Constitution. Moreover, it also said that all the issues of Burma, could be resolved only by the concerted efforts by the army, 'National League for Democracy' (NLD), and the representative of ethnic nationalities. The statement also said that UNA's stand was no different from NLD's recent Special Statement No. 2, which demanded dialogue without preconditions, between Senior Gen. Than Shwe and Aung San Suu Kyi. UNA supported the NLD statement, which also demanded the review of the 2008 constitution. "There are no differences with NLD's statement. Dialogue means all inclusive talks and Daw Suu Kyi can represent all pro-democracy forces. But, this dialogue will not be final and conclusive. And Senior Gen. Than Shwe can represent the army," Pu Cing Tsing Thang said. "After the dialogue between both of them, there will be further steps. At that time, we may join them. With this in view, we said the dialogue between the two of them should take place first. This first dialogue does not necessarily exclude us. We support the dialogue, to make this process workable and give our mandate to produce tangible results from this dialogue," he added. The UNA's statement also demands that the UN, UNSC and the international community should not support the SPDC's seven step roadmap and proposed general election. The statement also asks for more international pressure on the SPDC to implement effective measures. Since the UNA cannot represent all ethnic groups, ceasefire groups, armed revolutionary groups, so all these ethnics groups must sit together and hold discussions, Pu Cing Tsing Thang said.  < Prev   Next >