NMSP Celebrates 50th Anniversary

By LAWI WENG

The New Mon State Party (NMSP) on Tuesday marked the 50th anniversary of its founding with a day of celebration and ceremony in Wai Zin, nine kilometers from Ye Township, in Mon State.

According to a participant, thousands of people from all over Mon State attended the event, including representatives from Mudon, Thanbyuzayaut and Moulmein.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy, Nyan Tun, a colonel with the Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA), the armed wing of the NMSP, said, “The celebration is a sign of the support we get from our people. This is a time when we should all be united and strong.”

The NMSP was founded in July 1958 by Nai Shwe Kyin who was, at that time, the only member. He established the party after the Mon People’s Front (MPF) disarmed in a peace agreement with U Nu’s government.

He immediately joined forces with the Karen National Union (KNU) and took up arms to fight to fight the Burmese government for the autonomy of Mon State in a federal Burma.

In 1995, after 37 years of civil war, the NMSP signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese military government.

Za Hang Mon, a well-known Mon singer, once called Nai Shwe Kyin “a guy who tries to spit at the sky, but his spit will never reach the sky,” meaning that in signing the ceasefire agreement, he would never achieve the aspirations of the Mon people.

Nai Shwe Kyin passed away in Moulmein in 2003.

Although it did not compete in the 1990 elections, the NMSP attended the national convention in 2003; however, its proposal of federalism was rejected. Later, the party only sent observers to the convention.

“The Burmese military will never listen to the NMSP,” said the chairman of the Australia-based Mon National Council, Nai Pe Thein Zar, on Tuesday.

“The NMSP is taking the wrong political path. They have lost the support of the people ever since they signed the ceasefire agreement,” he added.

However, some Mon political observers argue that despite the setbacks, the real success of the NMSP since 1995 lies in education initiatives in Mon State.

According to statistics from the Mon National Education Department, there are currently 157 schools teaching in Mon language in Mon State, while 114 schools offer a mixed curriculum of Burmese and Mon-language lessons.

The educational progress came after the NMSP entered into an informal understanding with the Burmese military government that Mon language could be taught in state-run schools in Mon State, said observers.

The NMSP released a statement denouncing the junta’s referendum in early March, citing fears that the process would strengthen the regime by giving it the veneer of democracy without resulting in any actual changes.

Speaking recently to The Irrawaddy, a source close to the NSMP leadership said that the party would not participate in the 2010 election. He added that the NMSP still refused to surrender their arms.

However, Nai Shwe Thein, a member of NMSP executive committee said, “We will decide whether to join in the election at our national convention at the end of December.”