NLD says 14 of 48 ethnic parties signal accord with ruling party’s open letter outreach

By Min Tun 10 Dec 2020

Min Tun | DMG
10 December 2020, Sittwe

Following formal outreach from Myanmar’s incumbent and incoming National League for Democracy (NLD) government, 14 of 48 ethnic political parties that were addressed in that communique had replied indicating support for the shared agenda described in the November 12 letter as of December 10, according to Dr. Myo Nyunt, spokesperson for the NLD.

“I don’t remember the titles of these parties. They replied to the NLD for joining hands in their wishes and visions. These will be basic factors to be discussed in the future,” he explained.

The Arakan National Party (ANP), a recently successful and thus powerful party in Arakan State, said the party had accepted the open letter from the NLD and sent a reply indicating that it welcomes it.

DMG attempted to contact the ANP chairman to find out more on the specifics of how he responded to the NLD’s letter, but he could not be reached.

Daw Aye Nu Sein, the spokesperson for the ANP, told DMG: “We decided to submit the report to the party that we welcomed the open letter and expressed the wish to continue further undertakings in accordance with the offer mentioned in the letter.”

The NLD, which secured back-to-back landslide election victories at the national level in 2015 and 2020, sent an open letter on November 12 to 48 ethnic political parties. The letter stated that the NLD expects ethnic parties to actively participate in the formation of the parties’ shared vision of a federal Myanmar.

The Arakan Front Party (AFP), in contrast, decided not to send a reply letter to the NLD, according to U Kyaw Zaw Oo, the AFP’s spokesperson.

“We didn’t send a reply letter. We have difficulty believing when it comes to the NLD,” he said.

Although some ethnic parties achieved what they consider to be satisfactory election results in November 2020, others felt short of their aspirations, the NLD open letter acknowledged, saying it would prioritise the emergence of a federal union during its second term in power.

The country’s largest ethnic political parties as well as lesser-known counterparts including the Arakan State-based Mro National Democracy Party, Khami National Development Party, and Daingnet National Development Party were among the 48 recipients of the NLD letter.