“We will not register for the upcoming election. We will wait and see how the new government will do for us, especially for the ethnic [people]” MNDF chairman Nai Nwe Thein continued.

The MNDF have conditioned that if the post-election government releases ethnic prisoners, such as Shan leaders U Kon Tun Oo and U Sai Nwet Lwin, the party will consider running in the 2015 elections.

The decision to abjure the elections was made by the MNDF during a Central Executive Committee in Maulmein, Mon State capital, on December 22nd.

The MNDF also discussed whether the party would register as a single party, or whether they would form a coalition with the All Mon State Democratic Party (AMDP).

To address such possibilities, the MNDF have formed a new committee to facilitate and oversee talks between the two parties, says MNDF vice-secretary Dr. Min Kyi Win.

In the past month the MNDF have held meetings in Moulmein to hold elections for the executive committee members.

The MNDF won five parliamentary seats in Burma’s 1990 general elections, but like Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), it decided to boycott the 2010 general elections.

The MNDF was formed on October 11, 1988. However, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) subsequently denied the legitimacy of the party on Mon State Day, March 19, 1992.