Thursday, 17 November 2011 21:13 Ko Wild
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – As the Burmese by-elections draw near, the fate of the Committee Representing the People's Parliament (CRPP) made up of winning MPs in the 1990 general election is uncertain.
Nai Ngwe Thein of the Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF), a CRPP member, said that if the National League for Democracy (NLD), the leading member of the CRPP, decides to register as a political party, the role of the CRPP will change. The NLD meets on Friday to discuss re-registration.
The CRPP was formed on September 16, 1998, after the former junta failed to respond to calls to recognize the 1990 election results. It comprises the NLD, and Shan, Mon, Arakanese, Zomi and Kokant ethnic parties and independent MPs.
Zomi National Congress (ZNC) chairman Pu Cing Tsing Thang said, “We may rename the CRPP by giving it a suitable name. Anyway, the alliance will still exist.”
On Tuesday, NLD General-Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi; Nai Ngwe Thein, Pu Cing Tsing Thang and Sai Shwe Kyu of the Shan National League for Democracy; Aye Tha Aung of the Arakan League for Democracy; former Independent MP Thein Pe; and Soe Win of the National Democracy Party met and agreed to continue working for national reconciliation and democracy.
“Some parties may register,” said Aye Tha Aung. “Some may register later. Some may not register. Anyway, our political objective is the same; to stop civil war, to build peace, to build a ‘genuine Union’ and to amend the 2008 Constitution.”
CRPP leaders agreed that it needed to be reorganized. Nai Ngwe Thein said he wanted the NLD and the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) made up of 11 ethnic parties to work together. Four ethnic parties are members of both the UNA and the CRPP.
“If the CRPP cannot survive anymore, we need to cooperate to reorganize,” he said.
UNA was led by the Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD), the second largest winning party in the 1990 general elections, behind the NLD. The SNLD will discuss whether to re-register as a political party only after party chairman Khun Tun Oo and Secretary Sai Nyunt Lwin are released from prison, said Pu Cing Tsing Thang.
“Without those leaders, without knowing their desires, other members should not talk about it,” he said “According to statements by government officials, I think the leaders will be released before the coming New Year.”
Some UNA-member parties were declared illegal parties in 1992 and other parties failed to re-register for the 2010 general elections.
The parties are now awaiting the decisions of the NLD and the SNLD, according to Pu Cing Tsing Thang. If parties re-register, under the electoral laws they are required to contest in at least three constituencies. However, by-elections will not be held in Chin and Arakan states because there are no vacancies, making it difficult for the Zomi and Arakanese party to run candidates, said Pu Cing Tsing Thang.
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – As the Burmese by-elections draw near, the fate of the Committee Representing the People's Parliament (CRPP) made up of winning MPs in the 1990 general election is uncertain.
Nai Ngwe Thein of the Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF), a CRPP member, said that if the National League for Democracy (NLD), the leading member of the CRPP, decides to register as a political party, the role of the CRPP will change. The NLD meets on Friday to discuss re-registration.
The CRPP was formed on September 16, 1998, after the former junta failed to respond to calls to recognize the 1990 election results. It comprises the NLD, and Shan, Mon, Arakanese, Zomi and Kokant ethnic parties and independent MPs.
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| CRPP members and Aung San Suu Kyi |
Zomi National Congress (ZNC) chairman Pu Cing Tsing Thang said, “We may rename the CRPP by giving it a suitable name. Anyway, the alliance will still exist.”
On Tuesday, NLD General-Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi; Nai Ngwe Thein, Pu Cing Tsing Thang and Sai Shwe Kyu of the Shan National League for Democracy; Aye Tha Aung of the Arakan League for Democracy; former Independent MP Thein Pe; and Soe Win of the National Democracy Party met and agreed to continue working for national reconciliation and democracy.
“Some parties may register,” said Aye Tha Aung. “Some may register later. Some may not register. Anyway, our political objective is the same; to stop civil war, to build peace, to build a ‘genuine Union’ and to amend the 2008 Constitution.”
CRPP leaders agreed that it needed to be reorganized. Nai Ngwe Thein said he wanted the NLD and the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) made up of 11 ethnic parties to work together. Four ethnic parties are members of both the UNA and the CRPP.
“If the CRPP cannot survive anymore, we need to cooperate to reorganize,” he said.
UNA was led by the Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD), the second largest winning party in the 1990 general elections, behind the NLD. The SNLD will discuss whether to re-register as a political party only after party chairman Khun Tun Oo and Secretary Sai Nyunt Lwin are released from prison, said Pu Cing Tsing Thang.
“Without those leaders, without knowing their desires, other members should not talk about it,” he said “According to statements by government officials, I think the leaders will be released before the coming New Year.”
Some UNA-member parties were declared illegal parties in 1992 and other parties failed to re-register for the 2010 general elections.
The parties are now awaiting the decisions of the NLD and the SNLD, according to Pu Cing Tsing Thang. If parties re-register, under the electoral laws they are required to contest in at least three constituencies. However, by-elections will not be held in Chin and Arakan states because there are no vacancies, making it difficult for the Zomi and Arakanese party to run candidates, said Pu Cing Tsing Thang.
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