New Delhi - A left-wing political party of New Zealand on Friday said the country's free trade deal with ASEAN, which has military-ruled Burma as a member, is a 'disgrace' and a 'slow motion disaster' for workers in New Zealand and in Burma.
The Alliance Party, which has maintained a stand against free trade deals, said entering into free trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which has Burma as its member, is particularly worse as the agreement would mean economically integrating New Zealand with the Burmese military regime.
Victor Billot, spokesperson of the Alliance Party, said the free trade deal is not going to benefit the people of New Zealand and Burma, but it will only further strengthen military dictatorship in Burma.
"We are already against free trade… but in this particular case we think it is even more serious because we are talking about economically integrating our country with a dictatorship such as Burma," Billot told Mizzima over telephone.
The statement by The Alliance Party came after New Zealand on Thursday announced its successful free-trade negotiation with the 10-member ASEAN, which will allow elimination of tariffs on New Zealand's meat and dairy exports to ASEAN nations.
ASEAN economies - Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Burma and Cambodia – which represent a market of more than 575 million people, is the third largest trading partner of New Zealand.
However, Billot said free-trade will only benefit the Burmese military junta while its citizens continue to suffer under their rule. Besides, free-trade will threaten the job security of the people in New Zealand.
"Free trade here will mean choice New Zealand products being served on the tables of the fascist junta of Myanmar, while we get cheap products produced by slave labour in Myanmar [Burma] destroying jobs in New Zealand. This is what Labour and National regard as a win-win situation under free trade," the Alliance Party said in a statement.
Billot said New Zealand traditionally fosters strong support for movements against dictatorships and had strongly supported the South African movement against the apartheid government.
"While we make a huge noise about Zimbabwe and the Mugabe regime, on the other hand we are moving further down the path of integrating our economy with dictatorships closer home like Myanmar [Burma]," Billot said.
