Mon Working Committee holds 2010 election meeting; divisions threaten party unity

Thu 18 Mar 2010, Nai Marn
The 15 person Mon “working committee”, met on Monday, March 15th 2010, to review the Burmese government’s recently released election laws and decide whether or not to register the party to run in the upcoming elections. Unfortunately, no consensus was reached, and a second meeting has been scheduled for March 31st.

The committee was founded last year after the 14th anniversary of New Mon State Party’s ceasefire agreement with the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC); the committee issued public statements saying that it had been founded with the goal of working towards membership in open, democratic elections.

The working committee is currently divided between two different political view points; half of the committee reportedly favors registering as a political party, in order to run in the upcoming elections, while the other half remains vehemently opposed to the much debated 2008 constitution. Unfortunately, under the recently released “Political Parties” law, support of the 2008 constitution is mandatory for all political parties who seek to register themselves. Hence, the committee remains locked in a disagreement that it hopes to resolve during the March 31st talks.

According to a working committee member, the committee will meet on March 31st with the Mon National Democratic Font, as well as several titled senior Mon State monks. The addition of outside parties is intended to break the political impasse in which the party has found itself.

“We hold a second meeting on March 31st, and we will make our decision after monitoring and discussing the positions of the ceasefire armed groups and the National League for Democracy (NLD)” explained a “working committee” member.

Another working committee member said, “ It [the committee] might have two ideas about political actions, bit it should only have one view about the state of the Mon people and the issue of the Mon Nation.”

Unfortunately, several political observers that IMNA spoke with posited that disagreements about 2010 election participation might not be resolved, and that a break up of the committee is imminent.

“The ‘election commission law’ and the law for the formation of political parties are very strict. That’s why the people who want to run in the elections will run, and the people who do not agree with it [the elections and the 2008 constitution] will oppose running, in cooperation with other pro-democracy organizations,” claimed secretary of The Mon National Democratic Font, Nai Soe Lin to IMNA.