Sittwe: Two recently elected ministers of the military government - U Aung Taung, Minister of Industry - 1 and U Thein Swe, Minister of Transport - informally met some delegates from the Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP) in Sittwe on Wednesday by an arrangement of the Rakhine State Election Commission.

The meeting took place when the ministers came to Sittwe accompanied by Burma's Prime Minister Thein Sein to inspect the cyclone-affected areas of the state.

Dr. Aye Maung, president of the RNDP, said, "We were invited by the election commission to attend an informal meeting with government ministers who were recently elected. So we agreed and attended the meeting."

At the meeting, the RNDP and USDP primarily discussed the issue of development in Arakan State.

"Minister U Aung Taung told us that he wanted to see Arakan State developed, so he asked us to cooperate with them to upgrade development in Arakan State. We replied that this is the first priority of the RNPD so we will cooperate in the sector of development, but we told him the offer needed to be discussed in our central party meeting scheduled for 2 or 3 December."

Dr. Aye Maung said that the RNDP is ready to cooperate with any political party for development of Burma if the party has no plans that are in conflict with people's interests.

Talking to Narinjara about the dialogue, he said, "The meeting was fruitful for both sides because it is the first step of the dialogue between a government-backed political party and an elected ethnic political party. We need more dialogue among our people to overcome the political crisis in Burma. I hope it is a starting point of dialogue in Burma."

The RNDP won 35 seats in three parliamentary houses - the National Parliament, Pyidaung Suu, and State Parliament - in the 7 November election sponsored by the military government. The party is the second-most successful ethnic political party in Burma after the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party that won 50 seats in the election.

A political analyst from Sittwe said that the meeting between the ministers and the RNDP was intended to test the policy of the RNDP after the election.