Woes of Burmese Exile Government

2 August 2006 (Asian Tribune) - A government is a government, either it be in exile or in power. Like any other governments which stay in position for nearly two decades, Burma’s exile government, or National Coalition Government of Union of Burma (NCGUB), has recently come under intense fire from almost all sides.

NCGUB was first formed in 1990 soon after Burma’s one and only democratic general election in so many decades. It was formed by the decision of a secret meeting of elected people’s representatives, which was held at a secret location outside Mandalay, the second largest city in Burma. As the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won land-slide victory in 1990 election, their elected MPs at that time were urging military regime to start the process of handing over power. But the regime responded by putting NLD leaders behind bars.

So a group of elected MPs led by Dr Sein Win, a cousin of Aung San Suu Kyi, left to Manerplaw, an area on Thai-Burma border, at that time under control of Karen ethnic resistance force (Karen National Union, KNU). And there on 18 December 1990, with the help of ethnic resistance groups, NCGUB came to existence.

Since then, Burma’s political struggle has been stuck in a stalemate. SPDC military regime so far could not, or dare not, get total elimination of democratic opposition because of the overwhelming international support for Burma’s democracy movement. But democratic opposition either could not dislodge military regime because of the sheer strength and brutality of regime’s army.

As NCGUB has been in position for 18 years and people started to wonder how they can remain in position for so many years without any such things as elections for office, etc. Some activists wonder “Aren’t they supposed to be a democratic government, albeit an exile one?” Once such questions started, there usually seem to be no end. Some critics even started to question “with what mandate they formed a government in the first place”.

Recent gaffe made by NCGUB concerning their policy on international sanctions against military regime plunged them to the lowest depths in approval ratings. [Read more]