Junta Pressures Mon Party Leaders

The Burmese junta has ordered New Mon State Party (NMSP) leaders not to sell private or party property, according to a source close to party members.

A NMSP member in Moulmein said special police appeared after party leader Tun Ya sold his land and house.

“They arrived suddenly after he had sold his property, but fortunately he had left before they arrived,” said the source.

The order not to sell private or party property comes amid growing tension and distrust following the party’s refusal to transform its army into a border guard force, as ordered by the state, and a split among the party leadership on ending its ceasefire agreement with the regime.

In previous years, party leaders were allowed to sell property. There was no explanation as to why the sale of property was banned, sources said, but they speculated it was intended to prevent party leaders from returning to the jungle to take up arms against the military junta.

Meanwhile, party leaders are split about whether to end the ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government, sources said. The majority of the leaders who own property don’t want to cancel the ceasefire agreement, said sources.

Nai Hang Tha, a secretary of the party, and a few other top leaders want to cancel the ceasefire, said the source.

Many Mon have voiced concern about the split among the party’s leaders, fearing it could be exploited by the Burmese government in a “divide-and-rule” tactic.

The party’s leaders met with officers of the southeast command in Moulmein to discuss the border guard force proposal on August 28, said the source, but the meeting failed to achieve any consensus.

There are fears the party will be targeted by regime troops as part of a campaign to realign ethnic group leadership to support the Burmese government’s policies, and particularly the 2010 election.

The NMSP is a small armed ethnic group with an estimated 700 soldiers. The party has strongly criticized the planned election.

Nai Ngwe Thein, the chairman of Mon National Democratic Front, said he believed the junta will target Nai Hang Tha, the most active hardliner in the party.

Recently, unknown sources accused Nai Hang Tha of requesting donations from Mon living in exile to create dissent against the military government. An anonymous, printed accusation was distributed in Karen State.

Nai Hang Tha has said that the party faces a financial crisis since the junta withdrew its budget to the party following its refusal to join the national convention in 2008. Its contribution in 2008 was about 4 million kyat (US $3,636) a month.

The NMSP signed a ceasefire agreement with the military government in 1995. Party officials said there have been no political advancements in over a decade and the regime has continued a campaign of human rights abuses in Mon State.

In 2003, the party attended a national constitutional convention held by the regime, but left after a proposal to form a federal system was rejected. Later, the party sent observers to the convention.

Last year, the party released a statement opposing the junta’s new constitution, citing fears that it would strengthen the regime by giving it the veneer of democracy without resulting in any actual changes.

irrawaddy