Shan parties postpone merger discussion

Chiang Mai- January 30. Two Shan political parties have postponed a merger meeting until next month, a member of the SNDP (White Tiger) party said on Thursday, 30, January.

"The long awaited discussion about the merger of the two political parties has been canceled, because the "Tiger Head" (SNLD) is having a meeting on other issues, so they are not free to meet," said a member of the White Tiger party.

The merger meeting on January 30 in Naypyitaw, had been proposed by Sai Hsawng Hsi, head of the merger committee of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP, a.k.a. White Tiger).

"The date and place to meet was only proposed from one side. In fact, both parties should have discussed the best date and place to meet. People complained that Shan State is the largest state in Burma, and there are plenty of places to meet, so why is the meeting in Naypyitaw?" said Sai Nyunt Lwin a.k.a. Sai Nood, SNLD secretary.

Sai Hsawng Hsi admitted that the date and place to meet had been proposed from only one side, so they would discuss when and where SNLD would be available. SHAN also tried to contact Sai Saw Aung, head of the merger committee of SNLD for comment but he could not be reached.

According to Sai Nood, a possible date will be after the public celebrations on February 7, the Shan State National Day and February 12, the Union Day.

The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD, a.k.a. Tiger Head) is the party that won the second highest number of seats in the 1990 election. The party was outlawed by the Election Commission in 2010, as most its leaders were in jail. The party re-registered in 2012, after Chairman Khun Htun Oo, and Secretary Sai Nood were released from prison in January that year.

SNDP was formed a month before the general election in 2010, when it won seats in 53 constituencies.

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