The recent Fort Wayne Conference was attended by many activists and intellectuals, every body agreed that the Khin Nyunt’s seven step road map is a sham which intention is to buy time and fool the international communities to ease on pressuring the military regime.

After the Fort Wayne conference many things have changed dramatically. Cease fire groups agreed to attend the SPDC national convention and dumped their previous demands. Then recently KNU announced that they have reached a cease fire agreement with SPDC and hoping to attend the national convention when it occurred.

Nine activists were sentenced to death by the SPDC military tribunal without presenting their lawyers.

Thai PM Thaksin is planning to host the Burma conference on December 15, 2003 and hoping that the Burmese regime will attend the conference. ASEAN countries and Japan will attend the conference but the Burmese regime has no guts to attend it. If the regime has no choice to make an excuse, they will only send a low level delegation to attend it.

Then FBC announced that it support the KN’s road map. Ko Zarni who lead the FBC, challenged the audience at the strategic panel in Fort Wayne conference. He said, “Those who do not dare to fight the regime can walk out from this room”. Now he is supporting the KN’s road map.

People switched side to side and forgotten the action and words that they had made in the past. It is good to know that now we see who is on NLD side and who is not. In this moment we stand side by side with the NLD party which has the right to rule the country by majority votes. We will not accept any agreement without NLD and Daw Suu.

The people who believe in non violent action and armed struggle can work together in some areas. People believe in armed struggle clearly denounced the road map and still fighting against the enemy. As the same token, people who believe in non violent struggle denounced the road map by protesting, writing articles, and organizing and educating NGOs and international communities. Both groups are on the same side but use different approach. On the other hand, supporting the Khin Nyunt road map is a totally split from the Fort Wayne agreement which denounced the KN’s road map. FBC move is to collaborate with the regime by supporting it.

FBC move is beyond our acceptance level. Why we have to say that? Because KN’s road map dose not mention the role of NLD in the National Convention including DASSK.

We do not have a clear picture or detail facts about the road map and national convention; who can participate and who cannot, what are the guide lines and regulations for the convention, and so forth. Nobody knows about it. It is very early to support Khin Nyunt’s road map as well as very dangerous to encourage the regime to go forward without time frame and detaining senior NLD leaders and political activists.

We see FBC move as a stabbing from the back while we are against the regime move as a sham. We strongly denounce FBC action.

We will not support SPDC’s road map until they have to prove significant steps towards democracy by;

Releasing all political prisoners unconditionally

Allow independent newspapers and the emergence of the civil society

Acceptable time frame to set up a democratic country

Detaining political prisoners and convening a national convention is a joke not a real one. Monopolizing news and media will not light shed on Burmese people what the government is doing wrong and who is doing right. No one will know how long it will take to set up a democratic government without a time frame. Without time frame the SPDC’s road map has no credibility. They lied the world in 1990 elections and lied again in 1992 national convention which adjourned in 1994-95. SPDC need to prove that it is not like in the past trick, but this time it is real. SPDC need to know that we are not stupid and we are not opportunists.

Htun Aung Gyaw

Civil Society for Burma