Yangon (AsiaNews) – The Members of the (Burma) Parliamentary Union (MPU), the lawmakers elected in the 1990 election, are appealing to their fellow parliamentarians around the world asking them to roundly condemn the constitutional referendum scheduled for tomorrow. In their appeal the MPU explains how urgent it is for the world’s governments to denounce what will certainly be a manipulated vote, stressing that the new constitution cannot but bolster the status quo and finally invalidate the 1990 election results.
That year what was then called the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) held a free multiparty election for the first time in three decades with the promise of handing over power to a government chosen by the people.
The National League for Democracy (NLD), the party headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, won hands down but the generals refused to accept the results.
In its appeal the MPU wants the world to openly denounce the junta’s attitude, which is one of disregard for the results of the 1990 poll, which itself had called “free and fair.”
MPU lawmakers warn that under the draft constitution “all existing legal political parties have to be dissolved and re-registered before the next election scheduled in 2010. As a result, 1990 MP-elects who represent different political parties will not be allowed to take office.”
The MPU reminds the international community of the “regime’s desperate efforts and heavy-handed tactics to control the outcome of the referendum,” certain that it “will rig the results [. . .] in order to retain power.”
In its address to world governments it finally said: “Your voices will be a huge moral support to our fellow citizens, who have been unwavering in their defiance of the repressive military regime and [who] more than deserve to enjoy their rights under their chosen government.”