The appointment of Lajawn Ngan Seng, a native Kachin and a Buddhist, who was approved as Chief Minister of Kachin State by Burma’s military-dominated parliament on February 11, is not being welcomed by the Kachin people, according the sources in Kachin State.

Kachin politicians said they believe Majoi Marai Duwa Ngan Seng was selected as head of the government in Kachin State to persuade the international community that Kachin State is ruled by Kachin people.

Awng Wa, a Kachin student leader in the 1988 Democracy Uprisings on China-Burma border said, Ngan Seng was picked for the post because of his membership in the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), and his religion, Buddhism, which is the religion of the Burman majority.

An official at Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) headquarters told the Thailand based Kachin News group on the condition of anonymity, “The selection of the Buddhist, Ngan Seng, for a post giving him authority over the majority Christian Kachin society shows the continued imposition of Buddhism on the Christian minority by the new government.”

The KIO official also criticized the Buddhist military regime for holding the recent countrywide Election on a Sunday, (Nov. 7, 2010), the Christian day of worship in a multi-ethnic nation with Christian minorities.  He said it was an act of discrimination against the Christian minority.

“Ngan Seng has no power to improve the political rights of Kachin people because he must rule Kachin State according to the instructions of his superiors, the country’s president, and the military-favoring 2008 Constitution,” according to Duwa Mahkaw Hkun Sa, a lawyer and General Secretary of the Kachin National Council (KNC) and Kachin National Organization (KNO), based in London, United Kingdom.

Student leader Awng Wa also added, it is impossible for Ngan Seng to work for the good of Kachin State, because the military authorities have strictly prohibited the existence of an opposition party.

The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said the Regions and States Parliament, in the country’s capital, Naypyitaw, approved Ngan Seng, who was endorsed for parliament by the President-elect, Thein Sein.

An engineer and a businessman Ngan Seng, is a member of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

Duwa Ngan Seng is a son of Lajawn Tu Hkawng, now deceased, who served as a member of the Nationalities Parliament (Amyotha Hluttaw) from Kachin State during U Nu’s parliament from 1948-1962, before Gen Ne Win took control of the country.

He is also a relative of Sawa Duwa Sinwa Nawng, the first chairman of Kachin State and pro-Burman Kachin leader in the era of U Nu.

The first elected Burman leader, U Nu, introduced Buddhism and an emphasis on Burmanization in the multi-ethnic Union of Burma in 1958. This policy has continually been implemented by the successive Burman-led governments.