The New Mon State Party (NMSP)’s vice-chair Nai Hong Sar urged the leaders of the All Mon Region Democracy Party (AMDP) and the Mon National Party (MNP) to immediately work on merging with remaining forces at once without delay while they are finalizing the merger of the two parties.
“I want to urge the leaders of the two parties’ merger to be magnanimous and immediately invite the remaining forces especially the 21-member Mon representative group to join the merger without delay,” Nai Hong Sar said in an interview with Mon News Agency.
He continued that both he and the NMSP want to see the 21-member Mon representative group join the merger in the upcoming ceremony on the merger of the two Mon parties.
“We have informed the 21-member group to meet with our five delegates of the two parties' merger. I think we can meet with them after they hold their meeting on August 4,” Nai Layih Tamarh, joint secretary (1) of the two Mon parties’ merger, said to Mon News Agency.
He continued that the 21-member Mon representative group has been informed about the meeting with the five delegates after the chairs and secretaries of the two Mon parties held a meeting on July 31 and decided on the points that have been presented by the 21-member Mon representative group.
However, the deputy leader of the 21-member Mon representative group Dr Aung Naing Oo said he has not heard about the invitation for the meeting.
During a meeting with the two Mon parties on July 6, the 21-member Mon representative group told them to give a response within a month and the 27-member advisory committee and the 21-member Mon representative group will set down decisions on the future plans on August 4, according to him.
“We carried out a constructive unification. We are carrying out [our tasks] by representing all the people that attended the Mon Political Conference. We are devoted to the unification, which is crucial for the Mon people, but [they] need to give us a clear-cut answer on this issue without delay. There isn’t much time left so it’s time to act decisively on what needs to be done by considering nationalism,” he added.
Currently, the leaders of the two Mon parties have decided on merging with the 21-member Mon representative group only after the two parties’ merger has been finalized. On the other hand, the 21-member Mon representative group plans to register their party with the Union Election Commission if they do not receive a clear-cut answer from the two parties by August 6.
Observers of Mon affairs said they feel heavy at heart as there will be another competition between two Mon parties even after the merger of the MNP and the AMDP.
