Ethnic Mon MPs and Mons who won seats in the 1990 election had a meeting to discuss how their parties can work together to better represent Mon people in parliament at the Rehmonya Hotel, in Moulmein, the Capital of Mon State on 27 June.
The MPs came from both the union (national) and state level parliaments while those that had won in the 1990 elections had not taken their seats because the government did not allow them to sit as MPs.
The 23 members of the Independent Mon National Election Assistance Association helped to arrange the meeting.
The people present at the meeting were there in a personal capacity to put forward their personal views rather than attending as party representatives putting forward their party's views.
Dr. Min Kyi Win, who was elected in 1990 to represent Mudon Township No. 2 Constituency in the Union Parliament said: “In this situation, individuals and individual ethnic groups cannot amend the constitution, everyone must join together to carry it out [constitutional amendment]. To implement this, all ethnic groups must be united. Also, among our nationals [ethnic Mons], unity is the core,”
Dr. Banyar Aung Moe an MP in the upper house of the Union Parliament said: "1990 Hluttaw [parliamentary] representatives and 2010 representatives are of the same opinion. We will continue to work together. It has been suggested that that we work together up to the [party] central level. We will continue to meet up in order to work together, even at the basic level if we are unable to work together at the central level."
He also said that if Mon political parties competed against each other in the forthcoming elections they would be defeated by the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).
Dr. Min Kyi Win said: "We should work for the benefit of our people, not only for our personal and parties' benefit. We should choose which paths to take and how we should do this for our people's benefit. We have to suffer and we should suffer for the people's benefit, whether we are a political party or an individual."
The delegates at the meeting said they would report on the meeting's findings to their respective parties and agreed to meet up again in the future.
Of the 16 ethnic Mon MPs elected to parliament in 2010 five attended the meeting. These were: Dr. Banyar Aung Moe, Nai Htun Ohn, Nai Myo Tin Lwin, Mi Myint Myint Than, and Dr. Aung Naing Oo.
Of the five ethnic Mon candidates who were elected in the 1990 election only Dr. Min Kyi Win attended the meeting. Of the remaining four Nai Htun Thein and Nai Khin Maung have passed away and Dr. Min Soe Lin and Nai Thaung Shein were unable to attend because they were travelling.
A statement was issued at the end of the meeting that recognised the hard work that the Independent Mon National Election Assistance Association has put into trying to ensure as many ethnic Mon representatives as possible win seats in the 2015 general elections.
Original Report from The Guiding Star Journal
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
