Saturday 26 July 2008

CRPP meets to discuss election and envoy visit

Jul 25, 2008 (DVB)–The Committee Representing the People’s Parliament has held a rare meeting to discuss its position on the 2010 elections and the upcoming visit of United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari.

CRPP secretary Aye Thar Aung, who is also secretary of the Arakan League for Democracy and an ethnic people’s representative, said the group had not yet adopted a formal position on the 2010 election.

“Some individual representatives have decided not to contest the election, but we haven’t yet reached a common stance,” he said.

The CRPP secretary said group members were critical of what they saw as Gambari’s deviation from his mandate to push the Burmese government for national reconciliation and dialogue with opposition parties and ethnic nationalities.

“Gambari is not doing what he is supposed to, and he is doing other things that he is not supposed to do,” Aye Thar Aung said.

Aye Thar Aung said that it was not appropriate for the special envoy to urge the National League for Democracy and other groups to participate in the military regime’s seven-step road map and contest the elections in 2010.

“We’re not expecting much [from Gambari’s trip] based on the outcomes of previous visits,” he said.

“But we want him to live up to the responsibilities he has been given.”

Reporting by Htet Aung Kyaw

No comments: