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India: Myanmar: Burmese Exile: election a farce, people will boycott vote
Tint Swe, a member of the exiled government, says the junta moved to keep Aung San Suu Kyi under arrest and outlaw the opposition party. The Burmese do not see a force capable of opposing the military and will opt for abstention. He adds: the election date is linked to border control.
New Delhi - The Burmese military regime can not run "the risk of losing the election as it did in 1990. So it has kept Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest and has worked to oust the opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD)". So says Tint Swe, a member of the Council of Ministers of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), in an interview with AsiaNews
The exiled government in was born on the initiative of Burmese refugees who fled the country after the 1990 elections won by the NLD, but which the junta never recognized. He adds that the people can not see "a force capable of countering the military" and will probably "dissert the election en masse. The vote is expected before 2010, even if the regime has not yet formalized the date, because it first wants to ensure collaboration "the guards involved in border control", many of whom belong to ethnic minorities.
Below, the AsiaNews interview with Tint Swe, a refugee since December 1991 in New Delhi.
How do you assess the general elections in Myanmar, considered the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi?
Everybody will agree that legitimacy comes out of an election and a referendum. The big question is of credibility, free and fairness and etc. The drafting of a new constitution took 13 years and the elected representatives of people were just 5% of the people who participated in the convention. The proposals of the true representatives of the ethnic peoples were rejected. No one was allowed to drop the guideline that was to guarantee supremacy of the Army in all affairs of the country. The appointed committee declared that the constitution was being officially written. The referendum was intentionally held while tens of thousands were killed by devastating cyclone. The appointed man announced that the constitution was approved by over 94% of votes though vote counting was not done in public. Leave alone numerous reports of vote rigging.
What impact will vote on the non-participation of the main opposition party, the NLD?
When it comes to election in Burma the United Nations and the international community even including China and ASEAN are calling for inclusiveness. Necessarily it means participation of Aung San Suu Kyi. However the military regime cannot take risk of losing the election this time. They do not want to repeat the resentful lesson of 1990 election when the junta barred Aung San Suu Kyi to contest and put her under house arrest. But to their colossal surprise the National League for Democracy (NLD) won. So this time they need not only to put her house arrest but also to bar the NLD to run the election. So are all ethnic parties such as Shan, Arakan and Mon which got peoples' mandate.
What will the military do to ensure victory in the elections?
All those who have opposed the junta were outlawed, can not form a party and compete in elections. These include all major parties that won in 1990, ethnic leaders, student leaders, human rights activists and leading figures of the democratic struggle. [The military] have the power, money, weapons and media. The ministry gave precise instructions to government employees, to vote for the junta. The commanders ordered the soldiers and civilians to do the same.
What role does India play in Myanmar's domestic politics?
Recently, the Burmese ambassador in New Delhi conceded that the junta has requested the supply of weapons and India has agreed. Be sure that the weapons will be used not against Indian rebel militias, but the Burmese ethnic minorities, groups subjected to fierce pressure to become involved in border control ahead of elections. This is also one of the reasons why the junta is waiting for the moment to declare the official date for the vote. And the censorship is at very high levels. The junta has also set up American-style election: a candidate must lodge a deposit of 3 million (just over 330 thousand euros) to compete and a party 5 million (approx. 500 thousand). Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, India and China have been allowed to stay as long as they vote for the military junta.
Without the NLD, what are the prospects for the democratic opposition in Burma?
No doubt there will be a handful of Democrats who will demand democracy, but without a long-term strategy on how to deal with the dictatorship. At least 20 years of experience teach us that the international community and some Burmese have repeatedly underestimated the [power of] the military dictatorship.
What will the popular response in relation to elections be?
In the minds of the people the experience of the 1990 elections is still alive. The NLD won not only because of the presence of Aung San Suu Kyi, but also because it was seen by the people as a way to end 26 years of power by the Burma Socialist Program Party (near the military regime of Ne Win). Now that the NLD will not participate in the 2010 elections, people do not see anyone able to remove 20 years of a terrible military regime. Therefore it is very likely that people stay away from the elections in 2010.
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