New Delhi - Burmese Members of Parliament in exile on Tuesday called on fellow parliamentarians at the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly in Singapore, to allow them to become members of the group as a sign of solidarity to Burma's movement for democracy.
"We have been seeking membership or at least observer status at the AIPA meeting since 2006," said Dr. San Aung, one of the five Burmese MPs who will be allowed to attend Tuesday evening's AIPA meeting.
The Burmese MPs, elected in the 1990 general elections, but refused a role in governance by the country's military rulers, argue that the AIPA should stop allowing Burma's military rulers to be represented at the group's meetings as the country currently has no parliamentarians.
The Burmese MPs, under the Member of Parliamentarians Union (MPU) had called on the AIPA as well as other international bodies to recognise them as legitimate MPs of Burma.
The five Burmese MPs – Teddy Buri, Thein Oo, Win Hlaing, Dr. Sann Aung and Dr. Tint Swe – who will attend the AIPA meeting on Tuesday night, had earlier been invited by Indonesia to attend its official ceremony celebrating the 63rd Independence Day on August 15.
Dr. Sann Aung said, on Tuesday morning, they were able to talk to a group of European Parliamentarians and briefed them on the situation in Burma's Irrawaddy delta three months after Cyclone Nargis struck.
"We are urging not only the ASEAN but also the United Nations and the world to focus on the Burma issue," Dr. Sann Aung said.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 1997 admitted military-ruled Burma as its member. During more than a decade of accepting Burma as a member, the ASEAN has attracted severe condemnation by the international community for Burma's failure to improve its human rights records and implement political reforms.
Despite the criticism, ASEAN continues to maintain a policy of non-interference in what it calls 'Internal Affairs' of a country and continues to welcome Burmese military leaders in its regional meetings and summits.
