Yangon (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party in Burma, has now officially dissolved. However, its members have decided to found a new movement, to register and participate in the general election, expected before the end of the year. A signal that reveals the rift within the democratic opposition in Burma, after years of struggle. And this vote is a victory for the military regime even before the which - as Tint Swe explained long ago - adopts the tactic of "divide and conquer" to keep power.
A group of former members of the NLD, against the dissolution of the party, announced the birth of a new political movement that will participate in the elections scheduled between October and November of 2010. Than Nyein, a political prisoner and leading figure of the NLD says it will be called National Democratic Force and will be submitted to review by the Election Commission mid-month.
The new leader of the opposition party denies "contrasts with Aung San Suu Kyi," but explains that behind the decision is the "will to continue our political activities. If we do not continue - he concludes - we can not achieve any result. "
Nyan Win, NLD spokesperson, told AFP that the decision to found a new party is a "personal choice" of its leaders, but also states that they should “formally obey the unanimous decision of the NLD."
The decades old Burmese opposition movement boycotted the polls to protest against "unjust and discriminatory" laws issued by the junta to control the vote. These include the exclusion of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who will not vote or be elected because she has criminal convictions.
Local sources said that even today the symbol and flag of the NLD - party founded September 27, 1988 and which won the last elections in 1990, never recognized by the military junta - stand out in front of party headquarters in Yangon.
However, the emergence of new political movement marks the end of unity within the opposition movement. Thus military junta has today registered its first success, a prelude to the triumph in the elections farce later this year.