The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the current military regime in Burma, announced that a general election will be held  in 2010. The election is held with the intention of the military regime  to control the country by dictatorial rule as long as possible. To achieve its goals, it has been arresting and detaining students, monks, democracy activists and civilians unlawfully and brutally.

At the same time, the SPDC has threatened ethnic cease-fire groups to lay down their arms and join the election according to its 7 step road-map plan for democracy. Nevertheless, when it is known that cease-fire groups would not lay down their arms, the SPDC has changed its tactics. In line with these tactics, the leaders of  the ethnic cease-fire groups were told that they could join the election without laying down their arms. However, their forces would be placed under the command  of the SPDC’s military command.

As a result,  we, the Overseas Mon Coordinating Committee (OMCC) and the Mon Unity League(MUL) strongly believe that all Mon political organizations especially the New Mon State Party and its armed wing, the Mon National Liberation Army, all Mon civil societies and social classes including Mon monks and youth have to struggle to escape from continual enslavement of the present military dictatorship . The struggle is to oppose the SPDC’s general election.

The reasons behind our opposition to the SPDC’s election  are numerous. The military regime has brutally cracked  down  and killed unarmed civilians and students in the 1988 general uprising and took  power by illegal means. Even after a general election was held in 1990, it still refused to hand over  power to the winning  parties in the election. Instead, it  clings on the power in the country until now. Furthermore, the SPDC has ruthlessly killed hundreds of its citizens, detained and tortured a large number of Buddhists monks during the peaceful protest known as the Saffron Revolution that took place in 2007 because of the increasing commodity  prices in the country. Therefore, it is  apparent that any  SPDC’s  activities and plans will not lead to any meaningful reform into a democratic system.

The SPDC has not only prohibited the preservation and promotion of culture and  literature of the ethnic minorities but also compels  them into forced labour, forced relocation, rape and land confiscation. It has also set up increasing number of  battalions in the ethnic nationalities’ areas. This kind of behavior is in  stark  contrast  to the aim and  principle  of equal rights for all, national reconciliation and self-determination. Without self-determination and equality, any  race would be hard to maintain and  develop by itself and can be disappeared  in a very short time. And, without national reconciliation there will be no peace or stability in the country and civil war will drag on forever.  

As mentioned earlier, the winning  parties  in the 1990 general election were not given any power. Instead pressures are constantly  put on the ethnic cease-fire groups to accept  the control and command of the military.  Arrests and unlawful detention are very common. In such a situation, another general election would be neither free nor fair.
 
Many individuals and groups including Mon political parties, armed groups, and the Mon organizations inside and outside the country have been struggling for the right to self-determination and the  establishment of  a genuine federal union and  peaceful country. These aims and goals for our country and our people will not be achieved  from the SPDC’s plans and its activities.

Therefore, all  Mon people, especially the political parties and the armed groups need to oppose the SPDC’s new general election  which is scheduled to be held in 2010. And finally, all Mon people need to cooperate with our political parties and armed groups to attain our ultimate goals of equal rights, self-determination and national reconciliation.



Overseas Mon Coordinating Committee                                           Mon Unity League