The military dictatorship issues a fictitious Constitution and bans the main opposition movements, to ensure victory. U.S. State Department: the vote does not have "international legitimacy". In 1990, 235 parties in contention, only 42 today. Minister in exile, "the government is the only competitor in the race," but "not all generals win all battles."

New Delhi (AsiaNews) - The slogan for the 2010 elections in Myanmar is "not a repeat of another 1990." For this reason, the ruling military junta has implemented a so-called "roadmap" "outrageously" ratifying the 2008 Constitution when the country was on its knees because of the cyclone, with a 94% approval which no one-believes neither Burmese nor foreigner". So says Tint Swe, a member of the Council of Ministers of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) in an interview with AsiaNews.

The group consists of refugees from Myanmar after the 1990 elections won by the National League for Democracy (NLD) and never recognized by the junta. After fleeing to India in 1990, since December 1991 Tint Swe lives in New Delhi and is fighting for freedom and human rights in his country of origin. He explains that the military has operated to "prolong the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi”, Nobel Peace Laureate and icon of the democratic opposition, and thanks to an" American swimmer found an absurd reason to continue to keep her imprisoned”. Not only this, he stresses, they have added an electoral law that "provides a clause under which those convicted or imprisoned not participate in the vote, including Aung San Suu Kyi and other 2 thousand people."

The U.S. State Department has also intervened on the issue of the Burmese elections, declaring that, the vote "has no legitimacy at an international level." Referring to the country with the formerly known as Burma, now Myanmar, the U.S. organism believes that "the elections scheduled this year will be neither free nor fair". Tint Swe said that in 1990 the parties "were encouraged to register and received incentives" so that "nobody could win by a wide margin of votes." Mindful of the triumph of the NLD, now the military has excluded political prisoners and demanded "significant sums of money to join" the race. "In 1990 there were 235 parties  - he comments - and now only 42 can be present during the 2010 election."

The minister in exile adds that in 1990 the government acted as arbitrator, but today it is the only competitor in the race and military police, civil and social organizations must vote for the Union Solidarity and Development Party led by the current Prime Minister and directly under the military junta. "There will be no free elections - states Tint Swe - and representatives of democratic movements have been ruled out".

The Burmese political activist does not spare the international community either "it is bad – he comments - terrible, unacceptable and deplorable that foreign nations will continue to talk about internal affairs of Myanmar." The world's governments seek potential new parties in the future Parliament, but there is nothing credible point of reference is the NLD, although it is officially dissolved. However, Tint Swe is not pessimistic, because the "seed of democracy has been planted." In 1990, he concluded, the internal intelligence department’s predictions about the vote were wrong and "not all generals win all battles".

 

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