Election is Not the Only Solution to Burma's Political Crisis: U Aye Tha Aung

Rangoon : Arakanese leader U Aye Tha Aung told the Assistant Secretary of State Kurt M. Campbell when he met with him that the upcoming election is not the only solution to Burma' political crisis, said U Aye Tha Aung.

He said, "I had the chance on Monday to meet with him at the house of the US attache in Rangoon, along with some other leaders from the recently registered new political parties. In the meeting, I said that because there are many important themes like dialogue and national reconciliation, besides the election."

U Aye Tha Aung is the Joint Secretary of the Arakan League for Democracy and General Secretary of the Committee Representing the People's Parliament , or CRPP, which was formed by elected MPs to call parliament on behalf of those elected. His party, the ALD, won 11 seats in Arakan State in the military junta-sponsored 1990 election.

U Aye Tha Aung added, "I also explained to him about the ALD's stand on the election and the reason for ALD's decision to boycott the election. I told him it does not matter whether the present military government accepts that or not, but the important thing is dialogue and national reconciliation among the Burmese people to overcome the current political crisis. Because of this, the NLD and other ethnic parties that won in the 1990 elections are pressuring the military authority to reach the process of national reconciliation. I also requested him to understand our decision and we also told him that we need the US's support for our efforts to develop Burma's politics."

However, U Aye Tha Aung did not mention Campbell's response to his comments. After the meeting, the assistant secretary of state met with ten senior officers from the NLD in the same house in Rangoon.

He also met with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi early Monday afternoon. That meeting took place at a government guesthouse near her home in Rangoon, the former capital of Burma.

The three major political parties that received the majority of seats in the 1990 election - the NLD led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the ALD led by U Aye Tha, and the SNLD led by U Khun Tun Oo - decided not to register with the Election Commission for the upcoming election.