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Perspective on the 9th anniversary of cease-fire agreement
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New Mon State Party seeks public support over its engagement with the junta while public opinions split whether it should join Burma’s state sponsored National Convention.
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MON OPINION SPLIT OVER NATIONAL CONVENTION
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(By Cham Toik, June 29, 2004)
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President Nai Htin of the New Mon State Party recently visited Mon communities and senior monks in Mon State seeking public support for the party’s position on attending the National Convention in Nyaunghnapin.
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Support for the NMSP has gradually declined since it reached a cease-fire agreement with the military regime in 1995. This was not always the case. For decades following its founding after the surrender of the Mon People’s Front in 1958, the NMSP was known as the vanguard of the Mon freedom movement. Under the leadership of Nai Shwe Kyin and Nai Nonlar, it was the main Mon political party. Together with its military wing, the Mon National Liberation Army, it was active in rural guerrilla warfare and warmly welcomed by Mons in both Burma and Thailand. The NMSP was respected for uncompromising struggle and its flying golden shell-drake flag became the nationalist symbol of the Mon people for achieving the right to self-determination and a democratic federal union in their struggle against the military dictatorship in Burma.
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The Mon people have paid the bitter price of lives lost, lands confiscated, houses uprooted, during this struggle. Many have sacrificed for the dream of regaining sovereignty. Frustrated by the protracted civil war, civilians have rarely seen the silver lining and have fallen out with each other and complained against their leaders. Especially since the cease-fire, support for the NMSP among the public has been on the decline. The party has been criticized by many for its failure to protect against human rights violations by the Burmese military regime. Many cadres and freedom fighters have left the party accusing it of making a deal for the benefit a few which failed to provide a lasting political solution. The expansion of the Burma Army in the Mon region has proved a real threat to the local population and thousands of acres of land in Mon State have been confiscated. As a consequence, villagers have fled to Thailand and refugee camps in fear of torture, arrest, rape and forced labour in their homes. In Mon State, organized groups rarely speak out and only voice their criticism at seminars on Mon national affairs sponsored by the NMSP, but overseas Mon organizations occasionally blame the NMSP for its engagement with the oppressive military regime.
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An opportunity for the NMSP to speak out arose when the military junta initiated its ‘Road Map to Democracy’ and reconvened the National Convention. This offered room for political manoeuvre and a little hope for the NMSP which has been longing to get into dialogue with the regime ever since it made the cease-fire deal -- a chance to take advantage of its engagement with the regime.
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The day before entering the National Convention camp in Nyaunghnapin near Rangoon, Nai Chan Toi, the leader of the MNSP delegation, said the party would demand rights for all nationalities rather than adhering to the old “black or white policy”. He confidently asserted that it was time, for the party to explore new alternatives in its bid to change the junta’s political will instead of sticking to a negative approach. The NMSP, he said, saw the NC as a place for political settlement rather than as a battle ground.
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However, political analysts are of the opinion that the NMSP was pressured by the SPDC and only decided to attend the NC at the last moment. Opponents say the Mon leaders were summoned to Rangoon by the SPDC and offered a deal in exchange for some business opportunities. Party activists Nai Yekha and Chem Gakao were arrested and charged with plotting against the State and sentenced to death. Vehicles smuggled into Burma from Thailand were seized. Mon national school teachers were threatened by local army commanders and schools were ordered to close down. The Mon political community considered all these measures as tactical moves used to pressure the NMSP into joining the NC and keeping quiet at the camp.
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Following an invitation to attend the NC by Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt in December 2003, the NMSP reluctantly provided a list of a five-member delegation led by Nai Chan Toi. But before reaching a final decision, the party faced the difficult choice of whether to take a stand with democratic forces or to side with the regime. Finally, and only at the last minute in early May, following a tough political debate, the party’s Central Committee (CC) voted 16 to 8 to join the NC. Those favouring participation said it would was an option for further dialogue and that the Party would demand freedom of expression and a change in some of the NC’s principles.
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Even though the NMSP is in the junta’s camp, the SPDC has not been happy with the NMSP and other cease-fire groups because of their demand for changes in the basic principles set out for the Constitution. General Khin Nyunt was upset when the NMSP and five other groups (Kachin Independence Organization, Shan State Army North, Shan State National Army, Palaung State Liberation Organization and the Kayan New Land Party) on May 11, 2004 demanded a review of the Convention principle which states that the military would have a leading role in national politics.
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“The SPDC did not expect that we (cease-fire groups) would be united and put forward an alternative proposal regarding state constitutions and power sharing between the central government and the federal states. They were upset with our proposal,” said Colonel Kao Rot, a senior leader of the NMSP. He said the Mon delegation was very optimistic but he wondered if the dream would come true. Many regulations and restrictions were set by the SPDC and even taking group photos with other Mon nationals who attended the convention has been viewed unfavourably by the junta. The delegates are restricted from leaving the convention site and are unable to gain access to other groups and organizations for consultation.
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Public opinion in the Mon community has been split over the NC. In March 2004, at the Mon National Affairs Seminar held in eastern Ye, politicians and community leaders called the Road Map a trap and said it should be avoided. Buddhist monks and local communities spoke about the broken promises of Rangoon governments and voiced their disagreement with the NMSP's decision to attend the NC. They urged the NMSP to co-operate with other national ethnic parties and the democratic alliance.
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The Mon National Democratic Front took its stand by joining with the democratic forces and opposing junta’s Road Map. “We have no confidence in the National Convention, unless the National League for Democracy participates in it,” said an MNDF youth leader, quoted in by Kao Wao News. Even though imprisoned MNDF leaders Nai Ngwe Thein, Dr. Min Soe Linn and Dr. Kyi Win were conditionally released after signing a document in mid June, the MNDF has not yet shown any sign of support. It has been speculated that the junta released the Mon leaders in a bid to persuade them to attend the NC.
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Grass root leaders from overseas and Mon State opposed the national convention. The Mon Unity League, an umbrella organization at the Thailand-Burma border, the EU Mon Organization, the Monland Restoration Council (USA), the Mon Canadian Society and the Mon National Democratic Front (Liberated Area) issued a statement declaring that the NC could not solve the political crisis because it lacked delegates from political parties. They claimed that the Mon delegates were being put in a concentration camp and represented only their Party and not the entire Mon people. “The SPDC’s 104 principles are based on a unitary state and not a federal system which we are seeking. Mon delegations were dominated and were not able to communicate with outsiders,” said Nai Sunthorn, General Secretary of Mon Unity League.
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There are differing opinions in the Mon community. Many expect that the Mon people may even gain political advantage and that something new will happen after the NC. Many Mons in exile and inside Mon State have supported the NMSP’s decision to join the NC, even though most are opposed to the junta’s Road Map. Nai Rotmon, a Toronto-based Mon activist has argued that Mons should support the position of both the MNDF and the NMSP, because the role of the overseas Mons is to support movements inside Burma. Exiled communities, a U.S. Mon points out, are not national leaders and we should try to understand their positions rather than blaming them.
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“We have already decided to attend the Convention and we will try our best to persuade the regime to change its political will. We also understand the frustration of the general pubic and we don’t blame them for not supporting us,” said Nai Hongsar, the Secretary General of the NMSP during an interview with local media.
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