Mizzima News

New Delhi - A coalition of Burmese political parties in exile on Tuesday said they have launched a campaign calling on the United Nations General Assembly to disqualify Burma's ruling junta given its illegitimacy.

"We are submitting an official letter today to the UN head office that challenges the credentials of the Burmese junta," said Myint Thein, Joint General Secretary (1) of the National Council of the Union of Burma, a coalition of several Burmese political activists.

The campaign is being organised and endorsed by the NCUB, Members of Parliament Union - Burma (MPU) and International Burmese Monks Organizations or Sasana Moli.

Myint Thein said the campaign is to challenge the legitimacy of the Burmese military junta at the UN as they are not representatives of the Burmese people nor are they elected by the people.

"They [junta] are using their membership of the UN as an opportunity to oppress the people without fearing any punitive action," Myint Thein added.

"Killing, oppression, and arresting people is not the way a legitimate government behaves," he added.

Twenty years on, Burma's politics has seen little progress to break the impasse, and the UN's initiatives have failed to uphold the General Assembly resolutions passed on Burma between 1994 to 2007, Myint Thein said.

On the other hand, the Burmese military regime has done precious little to comply with the Security Council's presidential statement in 2007 that called for a tripartite dialogue between the Junta, the National League for democracy led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic groups.

Instead of complying with the UN's initiatives and to fulfill the desire of the people, the military rulers continue with their so-called seven-step roadmap that will strengthen their rule, said Myint Thein.

In May, the ruling junta approved its new constitution in a referendum which critics alleged was rigged. The junta then said it is determined to conduct a general election in 2010, as part of its roadmap.

"We are into this campaign because we want to tell the international community that the junta will never listen to their advice and there is no way one can negotiate with them," Myint Thein said.

The campaigners are hoping the credentials challenge will result in the international community exerting stronger pressure on the junta.

"We hope through this campaign the whole world will see and realize more about the real situation in Burma and effectively respond to it," Myint Thein added.

Apart from sending the letter to the UN officially, campaigners said they will hold press conferences to explain the process of the campaign and the reason why it is being launched.

"We believe the UN will respond to us and depending on the result we will continue with activities which are stronger," he added.