Dear friends and colleagues,
The time is upon us. Election laws announced by the Burmese junta last week have made it exceptionally clear that upcoming elections will not be free, fair, or credible. At this critical juncture of Burma’s struggle for democracy and peace, the undersigned major alliances of Burma’s movement for democracy and rights of ethnic nationalities ask for your organization’ s official endorsement of the global campaign on Burma’s 2010 Elections (Please see below for background on the campaign).
Over the past 4 months since November 2009, we have held a series of consultation meetings with many border-based Burmese groups as well as with regional partners on messaging and designing this campaign. They contributed ideas and helped us develop the messaging and strategy. Many groups also signed our Collective Statement on the 2010 Elections in December (see the attached). Now that the regime’s undemocratic laws have been released, we want to set our plans into motion in the following few weeks, including:
- A Press Conference in Bangkok: To officially launch the campaign, we plan to hold a PC at the end of this week.
- A Global Petition: Targeting the UN and governments, asking them to decisively and publicly denounce the regime’s undemocratic constitution and elections and its results.
- Campaign Toolkit: the first edition will be released soon, and will include the position paper “2010 Election: Stealing Democracy,” of the leading alliances of Burma’s democracy and ethnic rights movement on the military regime’s 2008 constitution and elections, the 2008 constitutional leaflet in (8) ethnic, (7) regional and (4) international languages, an election “Myths versus Realities,” and a Power Point for groups to use for presentations and events. We welcome suggestions and additions to this kit!
- Launch of a campaign page on Burma Partnership website: we are working to build a page where people can visit to see campaign updates, actions, sign the petition, etc. on Burma Partnership website at www.burmapartnershi p.org.
And, in the coming months:
- Parliamentary hearings: These activities would be organized by the movement jointly with regional and international partners around the world.
- Civil Society Events (Global Day of Action – Protest, Public Seminars, etc.): Awareness-raising public seminar, forums and protest actions on the elections and constitution will also be mobilized.
- Documentation: Border-based groups and exile media will be working hard to collect information from the ground on the regime’s manipulations, proxy parties, human rights violations, and resistance to the election.
- Outreach to media, lobbying governments and more…
Before we can do any of these things, we would like to request your organization’ s continued support by officially endorsing the campaign. We ask for this to 1) show the collective strength, unity, and participation of Burma solidarity friends globally in this campaign and 2) begin regular channels of communication, including regular updates on the campaign.
While the Burma movement’s major alliances are taking the lead on this campaign, Burma Partnership will act as the campaign secretariat and liaise with campaign partners and solidarity groups.
Please email us your endorsement and appropriate contact information for your campaign liaison by Thursday, 18 March at 12 Noon (Thailand time) to us. So that we can announce the list of endorsing organizations at the campaign launch Press Conference on Friday. I hope you will continue to stand with us in this struggle and support our movement again by endorsing this very important campaign and organizing related events and actions in your respective countries.
In addition, we would love to hear any plans you have for related activities and events, as well as suggestions for what you would like us to add or what you’d like to contribute to our Campaign Kit. Please contact me or Ko Soe Aung at above email addresses for questions, suggestions and how to get involved in the campaign.
We look forward to hearing from you and working with you more closely on this campaign in the coming months! Thank you.
In Solidarity,
Khin Ohmar
Coordinator, Burma Partnership
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Campaign Background:
Despite the sincere desire for change on the part of the international community, and indeed our own aspirations for free and fair elections, there is every indication that these elections will not be a step towards democracy. The 2010 elections, which will enact the military’s 2008 constitution, will not only fail to address the root causes of Burma’s crises, but will in fact further entrench military rule.
The regime’s tactics for maintaining a firm grip on power are thinly veiled, but some in the international community and some domestic players are mistakenly calling these elections a step in the right direction. In the regime’s quest for legitimacy, our global supporters can play a key role. Instead of falling into the hand of the junta, the international community can help us transform this sham election into an opportunity for true dialogue, by echoing our calls for reasonable minimum conditions for a democratic election: the release of all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, an end to attacks against ethnic groups and democratic groups, and inclusive political dialogue, including a review of the 2008 constitution.
The leading alliances of Burma’s democracy and ethnic rights movement are initiating a globally coordinated campaign on the 2010 elections, with the key goal of getting governments to pressure the regime to engage in genuine national reconciliation. Or to denounce the elections and not recognize the results, while continuing to push for true democracy in Burma if the crucial benchmarks are not met.
In full recognition that we cannot do this alone, we are asking our friends and supporters in the region and internationally to help us expose the problems of the 2010 elections and the 2008 constitution, and amplify the demands and brave acts of those inside Burma calling for genuine solutions to resolve deep rooted political crisis in Burma. Our campaign will have many parts, targeting civil society, media, and governments. Please let us know if you would like to receive the Campaign Concept Paper for more details.
The following leading alliances of the movement for democracy and rights of ethnic nationalities represents the most broad-based and multi-ethnic cooperation of political and civil society organizations from inside and in exile working for national reconciliation, peace, and freedom in Burma.
- National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB)
- Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB)
- National Democratic Front (NDF)
- National League for Democracy – Liberated Area (NLD-LA)
- Members of Parliamentary Union (MPU)
- National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB)
- Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB)
- Women’s League of Burma (WLB)
- Students and Youth Congress of Burma (SYCB)
- Nationalities Youth Forum (NYF)