Shan MPs returning from Naypyitaw, where the National and People’s assemblies met, and Taunggyi, where the Shan State Assembly met, have agreed that it is to early to say things are going to turn out right or wrong a few days after the new government has been sworn in.
“Everybody is entitled to a honeymoon period,” one MP told SHAN as he prepared to leave for home. “We don’t need to say anything about being a democracy or not. Everybody knows what it is. The main question iswhether or not it works for the people. We’ll have to wait at least 2-3 months before we could give a more definite answer.”
The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) that won the second largest seats in Shan State, 31 to the regime proxy party’s 54, was given 2 ministerial offices: Industry-mining and Construction. “It certainly pre-empt the emergence of an opposition to serve as a watchdog,” admitted a member. “But you must also remember that one of the SNDP’s key policies is not for confrontation but for cooperation.”
The group had lodged a number of complaints to Naypyitaw, which the authorities had agreed to look into, including:
* Land confiscation in Muse
* Land confiscation in Kunhing and Mongnai in connection to the ongoing Mongnai-Kengtung railroad project
* Ethnic Shans in regions such as Sagaing, Pegu and Rangoon being registered as Burmans thereby depriving them of the right to elect Shan ethnic representatives
Some of the White Tigers (as the SNDP is popularly known by its party logo) think there are “promising” signs, such as:
* The NLD is still allowed to operate
* Power is being decentralized between the Army, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the parliament
* Censorship on publications has relaxed
“We don’t of course say they may turn out to be positive realities soon,” said one. “There are strong probabilities they might turn out to be nightmares.”
Nevertheless, some of them have expressed disappointment with the junta’s response to several issues, such as:
* Refusal to consider amnesty motion for political prisoners
* Refusal to consider peaceful resolutions of ongoing conflicts with ethnic armed groups
* Continued support for the emergence of a strong and modernized Tatmadaw (armed forces)
“Gen Thein Sein, in his inaugural address, didn’t even mention a word about the March 24 earthquake in Shan State East, where he had been a regional commander (1996-2001),” complained a Shan USDP MP.
The 6.8 magnitude quake had killed at least 150 people and left thousands homeless. Naypyitaw’s sluggish response to it has been slammed all round by civil societies.
