Burmese Democracy Activists Protest against the Electoral Laws Announced by the Military Regime

By Burma Centre Delhi • March 17, 2010

Today, over 200 Burmese democracy activists in India staged a protest rally at Janta Mantar, New Delhi against the undemocratic new electoral laws of the military regime for 2010 elections. On 8^th March, the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) released five sets of new electoral laws to govern the upcoming elections in 2010, and the date is yet to be announced. The laws deliberately prevent Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all imprisoned political leaders from not only contesting in the elections but also from being part of the political parties. The laws also nullified the results of election which was free and fairly held in 1990.

Burmese protesters demanded to:

immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners
free, fair, inclusive and credible election
establishment of the UN commission of inquiry for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by military junta of Burma.

Mr. Sharad Joshi, Convenor of Indian Parliamentarians’ Forum for Democracy in Burma (IPFDB) was one of the prominent figures who participated in the protest. He stated that “this is totally against the will of the peoples of Burma and the international community including the United Nations”. He further talked about the close historical ties that India shared with Burma and assured his continued support to the people of Burma till democracy is restored in the country. Other Indian activists who participated in the protest in support of the democracy movement were Ms. Deepti (National Federation of Indian Woman) and Jatin Desai (People’s Media Initiative).

Indian Parliamentarians’ Forum for Democracy in Burma (IPFDB), released a statement against the election law of the Burmese military regime as extremely undemocratic. The statement further reads:

We have expressed our disapproval of the constitution of 2008 in Burma because the genuine peoples’ representatives were not allowed to contribute in the drafting process and the referendum was a sham. We don’t believe the election held under these laws meet any democratic standard. That kind of elections will not resolve the problems of Burma. We are worried of continued instabilities in our neighboring country.

We strongly urge the Burmese junta to release the genuine democratic leader of Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi and begin dialogue with her and other legitimate representatives of ethnic groups towards national reconciliation before the elections.

We also recommend government of India to aggressively work with the Secretary General of the United Nations who called for the unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the national reconciliation in Burma.

A statement of IPFDB and memorandum of India-based Burmese pro democracy movement were submitted to the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister Shri S.M Krishna and Myanmar Embassy in New Delhi.

Please see the Statement by the Indian Parliamentarians’ Forum for Democracy in Burma and the Statement of India-based Burmese Pro Democracy Movement

For more information:

Dr. Tint Swe, MP (NLD), 981-000-3286, [email protected]
Thin Thin Aung, Women League of Burma, 989-125-2316, [email protected]

Tags: 2010 Elections, Burma Centre Delhi, Election Laws

This post is in: Press Release

Burmese Democracy Activists Protest against the Electoral Laws Announced by the Military Regime

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