Bangkok Post - June 27, 2000.
BURMA
Opposition proposes talks
Or armed struggle will be inevitable

Ralph Bachoe
Umphang, Tak

A Burmese opposition group has extended the hand of friendship to the ruling military junta in Rangoon to restore democracy to the country.

The Parliamentary Democracy Party said it was willing to hold negotiations with the junta or take up arms to achieve its aims.

Bo Aung Din, the party chairman, said: "We call on the military to come to the negotiating table so that we may find a solution to cure the ills destroying our country.

"If the military is unyielding and inflexible, wanting to hang on to power at all costs, they will leave us with no choice but to pursue the path of armed struggle."

He said the party did not want to exact revenge nor humiliate the military for its crimes against the people.

Many officers are essentially decent, family men who have been coerced by the system into behaviour that is intrinsically alien to them, he said.

The party was formed in 1970 by U Nu, the late premier, after Gen Ne Win overthrew the elected government in March 1962.

Bo Aung Din, 54, is one of the original members of the group, and a former member of the Committee for the Restoration of Democracy in Burma founded by the late U Tin Maung Win.

The declaration, made at its conference in a liberated area in Burma in April, urged Rangoon authorities to:

- Hear and acknowledge the national clamour to bring an end to military rule.

- Arrange for a free and fair election [under United Nations supervision], in which all political parties, whatever their political creed, will take part.

It said the mission is one of "ridding our Motherland of military tyranny, of uniting the diverse races of the country and fostering reconciliation, trust and confidence among its people, including the military."

Bo Aung Din said the party has the support and co-operation of the military rank-and-file. "Should the junta shun the offer, the party would have no choice but to take up arms," he said.