People were wooed to support the emerging Kachin political party which is to contest the 2010 elections by Salang Kaba Lanyaw Zawng Hra, chairman of Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), Burma's ethnic Kachin ceasefire group.  He appealed to the people for support in his speech today on the 48th anniversary of Kachin Revolution Day in Laiza headquarters on Sino-Burma border in northern Burma, said participants.

KIO chairman Lanyaw Zawng Hra addressed people attending the Kachin traditional Manau festival on Revolution Day. He said people in Kachin state should support a state-based political party which will be formed by the Kachin State Interim Committee--- a special committee for forming a political party and preparing for the 2010 elections. The party will bring democracy for people in Kachin state, he added.

Chairman Lanyaw Zawng Hra reminded the gathering that the KIO will not involve itself in future in any political organization (he did not mention names) who had split and will create national and political instability in Kachin state.

The three-page long KIO chairman's speech was published on the KIO-owned website called Kachin Net: www.kachinnet.com in Kachin today. It also stated that the KIO had built roads, hospitals and schools for civilians in the state.

In contrast the Thailand-based All Kachin Students and Youth Union (AKSYU) issued a statement today on the occasion of the 48th anniversary of Kachin Revolution Day encouraging Kachin people to fight against the Burmese ruling junta for regaining its lost social, political and economic rights. It also encouraged Kachin people to oppose the junta's 2010 elections.

The Thailand-Burma border based Students and Youth Congress of Burma (SYCB) released a statement on the 48th anniversary of Kachin Revolution today.  The SYCB's statement said that the junta's seven-step roadmap will not guarantee a genuine federal union and 'equal rights of citizenship' in the country. The SYCB will fight together with Kachins for those rights.

Overseas based Kachin National Organization (KNO) also released a statement on the 48th anniversary of Kachin Revolution Day. It pointed out that in 48 years of Kachin revolution the Kachin people did not gain freedom but lost ground in KIO occupied areas in Kachin state.

This year's Kachin Manau festival on the 48th anniversary of Kachin Revolution Day was the biggest so far and it was attended by over 7,000 guest visitors, mainly Shans around the Kachin state.  The KIO had planned to spend between Chinese Yuan 3 million and 10 million for the Revolution Day, said KIO officials.