Exile opposition urged to work for sustainable unity

No.03 - 1/2007
15 January 2007
Politics
 
Exile opposition urged to work for sustainable unity
 
Despite some notable successes achieved by the opposition movements outside Burma, unity among them was still top priority for some 30 participants at an unpretentious seminar held in Chiangmai last Saturday (13 January).
 
According to the meeting organized by All Ethnic International Open University (AEIOU) Programme, their outstanding successes during 2006 were:

• The United National Security Council's 15 September decision to place Burma on its agenda

• The International Labor Organization (ILO)'s continued pressure on the country's ruling junta

• Adoption of the draft federal constitution

 
However, lack of unity among them is still the primary drawback they should immediately attend to overcome. "The world is looking for an alternative to the SPDC (State Peace and Development Council, the current name for the ruling military junta)," said a leading discussant. "Any changes that takes place in Burma should not include balkanization. And right now, the SPDC's strongest point is just that – they are the guarantee against disintegration."
 

_{Kyaw Zan Tha's presence attracted much attention at the convention (Photo:BBC)}

The exile opposition movements and their umbrella organizations should therefore work together to establish common ground among them. "During World War II, all parties including those who had ushered the Japanese into Burma were fighting against them," one discussant pointed out." Of course, the opposition movements should also see to it that the unity attained is sustainable, not one that melts away as soon as the military has been overthrown."
 
One participant, at that point, argued that the National League for Democracy (NLD) had so far been too vague on federation, the principal demand by the non-Burman ethnic states. To which a leading discussant replied, "That is understandable. Federation was the excuse that the military had employed from Day One for its existence. The NLD leaders are therefore reluctant to use the word not to provoke the military. They have instead called for the Right of Self Determination for the ethnic states, which essentially is federalism in another name."
 
The ethnic states, on the other hand, has also come a long way. "In the past, almost everyone of them was fighting for Independence," said a discussant. "Nowadays, most of them are for federalism. A most encouraging development, I must say."
 
The participants meanwhile called on the exile opposition to be more proactive and stop "behaving" "like NGOs". "A link is there, of course," explained a discussant. "Politics cover the whole spectrum of human activities, including humanitarian
ones."
 
The discussions were led by Dr Kambawza Win aka Ba Than Win and BBC Kyaw Zan Tha, who was speaking in his capacity as a lecturer at the AEIOU, a program established by the Chiangmai University.
 
The next discussion will be led by Derek Tonkin, a former British diplomat who had lived in Chiangmai, on 24 January.