Not a few for engagement at dissident forum

Politics

Not a few for engagement at dissident forum

Almost half of the 75 activists, the majority of whom were younger people, had vouched for taking part in the junta-engineered roadmap rather than throwing a blanket opposition against it, reported one of the organizers of a two-day workshop in Chiangmai that ended yesterday.

45% of the participants of US-based Burma Fund's Workshop on Social and Political Movements: Lessons for Burma thought a lot could be done by casting votes against the military-written charter at the referendum (the 4th stage of the roadmap) and joining in the general elections (the 5th stage) rather than cold shouldering them, noted Win Min. "The referendum and the elections are the only phases (in the 7-point roadmap) where there are direct popular participation and the military will not be able to orchestrate to perfection," Thein Oo of Burma Lawyers Council also pointed out.

"Our (federal) proposals have been jilted," a Kachin participant quoted a National Convention delegate. "The referendum is the only field where we can beat the junta at its own game."

Others are not so quite as cocksure. "The regime will cheat, because it knows fully well it cannot win without resort to cheating," said Bo Bo Kyaw Nyein, son of one of Burma's most well-known late politicians and himself a 1974 - U Thant funeral riots veteran.

Others also argued that the sole aim of Burma's military rulers in holding a referendum and elections are to legalize its hold on power, not to lose it. "Former Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw, just before he was sacked, was reported to have said the USDA (Union Solidarity and Development Association, mass organization set up by Rangoon in 1993) was its passport to remaining in power," recounted another participant.

The workshop also discussed mass uprisings and other issues that included whether the National League for Democracy, that had won landslide victory in the 1990 elections, should enter the next polls where the country is expected to remain under the rule of the minority (the military has already earmarked 25% of the parliamentary seats without putting itself to the ballot) even when another runaway election victory awaits the party.

Rangoon authorities are currently going through the roadmap's first stage:Holding a national convention to lay down constitutional principles. But some dissidents say it has already gone on to the second stage" Taking necessary steps to establish a discipline-flourishing democracy by arresting Shan politicians last month. The formal drafting of the charter has been designated as the next stage, but many critics believe the generals already have a blueprint for it.

For further information, please contact The Burma Fund at Tel: 66-1-783 7911.