Letter to His Excellency Mr. Seiji Maehara on the Eve of Burmese military junta’s sham parliament From Network for Democracy in Burma

Letter to His Excellency Mr. Seiji Maehara on the Eve of Burmese military junta’s sham parliament
From Network for Democracy in Burma

His Excellency Mr. Seiji Maehara,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

Date January (25), 2011

Dear H.E Mr. Seiji Maehara,

On 31st January, the Burmese military junta will convene their sham parliament to cement their rule. The unequivocal denial of Senior General Than Shwe to review the Constitution before the election, as demanded by the NLD, has finally ended the NLD’s long quest to achieve a political dialogue between the junta leader and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the party which won a landslide victory in the 1990 election but the results of which were never recognized by the junta.
There is no doubt that the Nov. 7 elections were not only flawed, but also rigged and thoroughly fraudulent and the military’s grip on Burma is as iron-fisted as ever. This election is a means to institutionalize the military’s grip on power under the 2008 Constitution, rather than establishing a democratic system in the country.
U.S. President Barack Obama had accused Burma’s military rulers of “stealing” the country’s first election in 20 years as part of a ploy to remain in power and also U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Burma held the vote in conditions that were “insufficiently inclusive, participatory and transparent.”
We have to understand that the recent election and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s release were not the beginning of the end of repression, or the first, tangible step toward national reconciliation.
It is essential to remember that the recent elections will only produce yet another military government under a different guise, which has also happened before. In 1962, a Revolutionary Council seized power, organized a “referendum” on a new constitution in 1973, then in 1974 the military-controlled Burma Socialist Programme Party formed a “civilian” government made up of “retired army officers.”
For those reasons mentioned above, we, the member organizations of newly founded “Network for Democracy in Burma” like to appeal to Your Excellency not to acknowledge or recognize the sham parliament and the so-called constitutional government that in actual fact is the new wine in the old bottle.
We would also like to urge Your Excellency to pressure the military junta to release all the political prisoners unconditionally and immediately and start the dialogue process with democratic leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Moreover, we would like to appeal to Your Excellency to give unwavering support both politically and materially to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi even well beyond her political party National League for Democracy was eventually disbanded by the military junta.

Sincerely yours,
Network for Democracy in Burma (in Japan),