New Kachin Party Formed to Fight 2010 Election

By LAWI WENG

The three Kachin ceasefire groups and the Kachin National Consultative Assembly have formed a new political party to contest the planned 2010 election in Burma.

James Lum Dau, deputy foreign minister of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the new coalition, the Kachin State Progressive Party, was waiting to register as a poltical party.

One source within the new party said negotiations on its formation had begun last year, following the formulation of the new constitution.

The three ceasefire groups within the new party are the KIO, the New Democratic Army-Kachin and the Lasang Awng Wa Peace Group. Manam Tu Ja, joint chairman of the KIO, is reportedly among the new party’s leaders.

KIO Chairman Salang Kaba Lanyaw Zawng Hra appealed to Kachin on their Revolution Day last month to vote for the proposed new party.

“The Kachin must have a political party,” said a party source. “If not, they will lose their identity.”

James Lum Dau said he strongly believed that the new constitution had the basic foundation of democracy. The election would allow the Kachin people to fight for democracy, which would have to be achieved step-by-step.

Kachin sources in Thailand said election campaigning had already begun in Kachin State.

News of the new party’s formation was greeted with skepticism by many Kachin living outside Burma. Some asked how the party hoped to attain freedom for the Kachin people from the many restrictions placed on them by the military government.

Lapai Naw Din, an editor with the Thailand-based Kachin News Group, said leaders of the new party would benefit—but “I am sure the people will not get full democracy through the election.”

Another Kachin activist in exile, Awng Wa, said the election would not bring the Kachin people democracy because the constitution had been written by the current military government.

The KIO participated in the formulation of the new constitution and has been told by the regime that it will serve as a militia after the election.