Dr. Sein Win

   __________________________________________________

   MP Elect and Chairman

   (Party for National Democracy)

   Prime Minister

   (National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma)

   __________________________________________________

Dr. Sein Win was elected Prime Minister following the formation of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) in Manerplaw (Karen State) on December 18, 1990.  He was elected representative from Paukkaung Constituency, Pegu Division, in Burma's May 1990 general elections.

When the military junta refused to honor the election results and instead started arresting NLD leaders and elected representatives throughout the country, the NLD caucus held a series of secret meetings and decided to send some of its MPs to the liberated areas to form a provisional government.  The main task of that legitimately elected government is to help restore democracy and human rights in Burma.

Dr. Sein Win is the son of U Ba Win, one of Burma's top political leaders and elder brother of General Aung San, the architect of Burma's independence and founder of the Burma Army. He is a first cousin of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's democracy movement and 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate.

U Ba Win and General Aung San were both assassinated by political rivals while the Cabinet was meeting on July 19, 1947, the eve of Burma's independence.

Dr. Sein Win earned his Doctorate in Mathematics from Hamburg University in Germany.  He taught at Colombo University in Sri Lanka, at Nairobi University in Kenya, and at Rangoon University in Burma.  He became involved in politics when the military brutally cracked down on the people involved in the pro-democracy uprising of 1988.

He is the chairman of the Party for National Democracy (PND).  The party, with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo as patrons was set up in 1988 as a backup party, if the military authorities decide to ban the National League for Democracy (NLD).

Currently Dr. Sein Win is serving his fourth-term as Prime Minister of the NCGUB.

National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma

The National League for Democracy (NLD) won a resounding victory in the 1990 elections, winning over 80 percent of the Parliamentary seats at stake. The ruling military junta, then known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), launched a systematic campaign to prevent the NLD from forming a government. The junta also kept NLD Chairman U Tin Oo in jail and General Secretary Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.

The NLD and the other democratic organizations backed by the people, especially in Mandalay, who had found new strength in the NLD election victory, demanded the release of the NLD leaders and other political prisoners. NLD victory stunned the civilian operatives of the SLORC who started to fear reprisals as well as the generals who had believed the military-backed party, National Unity Party, would win the elections. The SLORC therefore reneged on its pre-election promise to transfer power to the elected party.

According to prevailing laws, SLORC was to have convened the Parliament within 60 days of holding the elections and that fell on 27 July 1990. In addition, repeated requests by the NLD for a meeting to discuss the future of the country were completely ignored by the SLORC.

When all reasonable options were exhausted and the voters were demanding the election winning party to act, the NLD decided to hold a conference at Gandhi Hall, Bo Aung Gyaw Street, Rangoon, on 28 and 29 July 1990. The SLORC was informed of the NLD's intention to hold the Gandhi Conference to seek its legitimate and constitutional rights according to the mandate given by the people.

As a response to the Gandhi Conference the SLORC issued its notorious Notification No. 1/90, on 27 July 1990 stating that only the SLORC has the right to exercise legislative, executive, and judicial powers and that it will not accept a government formed under an interim constitution.

Despite the SLORC Order, almost 400 members of the NLD Central Executive Committee and all elected members of Parliament from the NLD and sister parties--the Party for National Democracy and the Old Comrades League--party attended the Gandhi Conference and unanimously passed two key resolutions. The resolutions stated in the Gandhi Declaration were:

The transfer of power to the NLD in accordance with a revised version of the 1947 Constitution--a constitution that was drafted and ratified when the Parliamentary democracy was introduced to Burma in 1948.

The convening of the Parliamentary Assembly, which has the right to exercise legislative, executive, and judicial authority before the deadline of 30 September, 1990.

The resolutions passed by the Gandhi Conference were a direct challenge to SLORC's plan to ignore the election results and to continue military-dominated rule. The resolutions also contradicted Notification 1/90. The NLD knew that a confrontation was going to be unavoidable.

On 14 August 1990, Mandalay Division NLD Organizing Committee and elected NLD MPs from Mandalay Division held a meeting in Mandalay to review SLORC Order 1/90 and the Gandhi Declaration. They unanimously reconfirmed their rejection of SLORC s Notification 1/90 and decided to fulfill the responsibilities given them by the people in accordance with the principles outlined in the Gandhi Declaration.

Mandalay Division NLD also sent emissaries to various states and divisions to inform them of its decision and continue pursuing goals outlined in the Gandhi Declaration. More than 250 elected representatives signed statements of intent to see that the parliament was convened so that a democratic government could be formed. The statements were sent to the NLD Central Executive Committee which scheduled a meeting in Rangoon on 30 August 1990.

.

Before any final decision could be made by the NLD Central Executive Committee, SLORC arrested and jailed key NLD leaders U Kyi Maung, MP from Rangoon's Bahan Constituency, and spokesperson for the NLD; U Chit Khaing, MP from Mandalay's Taungtha Constituency, and Secretary of the NLD Central Committee; U Thein Tan, NLD Mandalay Divisional organizer, and member of the NLD Central Committee; U Ohn Kyaing, MP from Mandalay Southwest Constituency and member of the NLD Central Committee.

In response, elected representatives in Mandalay Division and other regions, with the assistance of divisional organizing committees, met in Mandalay and, on behalf of the NLD leadership took the initiative to formulate future action programs for the party.

In the meantime, the public, unaware of the arrangements being made, openly criticized the NLD for "inaction" and "indecisiveness" and for the delay in responding to the SLORC's move. Monk and student bodies of Mandalay proposed to provide 5,000 of their members to take charge of security if the NLD would convene a parliamentary meeting in Mandalay.

At the initiative of Mandalay NLD members, more than 100 MPs and NLD organizers from Mandalay, Sagaing, Pegu, Rangoon, Irrawaddy, and Magwe Divisions and the Kachin State convened in Mandalay on 29 September 1990 in spite the difficulties they were facing and the travel restrictions imposed by the military. The MPs present at the meeting were given to understand that the formation of a parallel government was the underlying objective as more than 250 elected representatives have already signed their intent to pursue that goal. The meeting agreed on the formation of an Action Committee of MPs, rejected SLORC's Notification 1/90, and decided to implement the resolutions of the Gandhi Declaration Conference. A group of seven MPs--"Special Leading Committee"-- were chosen at the meeting to map out the details of the action program.

On 1 October, the Special Leading Committee secretly met at a location on Mandalay-Maymyo road, and made several historic decisions. The following four resolutions decided at that meeting and endorsed at separate NLD meetings held later were instrumental in the birth of the NCGUB:

Establish a legitimate Government in Mandalay or an appropriate place within the country with the support of elected representatives,

If conditions in the country were not favorable to form of a Government then to do it in the liberated areas with MPs representing different regions of Burma,

Establish contacts with the Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB), the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF), and other revolutionary forces, to seek their assistance in setting up a legitimate Government in the liberated area, and

Seek diplomatic and other forms of support from the international community. 

Two elected representatives were sent to the Thai side to contact with the revolutionary forces and got their support. Several MPs headed by Dr. Sein Win left Burma for Manerplaw to form a government on the Thai-Burma border.

In the meantime, SLORC decided to crack down on the NLD. NLD offices were raided; NLD representatives and supporters detained, and monasteries searched and sympathizers were arrested. Several MPs selected to form a government in exile were arrested in the raids and did not make it to Thailand.

The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma was officially formed in Manerplaw on 18 December 1990. One of the declared principles was that it would be dissolved once democracy and human rights are restored in Burma.

PM Dr. Sein Win Meeting with the President of France

Paris, September 26, 2007

PM Dr. Sein Win's Meeting with UK State Secretary

MEG MUNN MEETS BURMA DELEGATION (30/10/07)

FCO Minister for Burma, Meg Munn, met with a delegation from of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB); including Dr Sein Win, its Prime Minister in exile, on 30 October.  They had watched the Parliamentary debate on Burma, held in the House on 29 October, which demonstrated clearly how Burma was an issue that united all parties.

Dr Sein Win thanked the Minister for the UK's recent action to support democratic change in Burma.  They felt very encouraged by the level of activity from the international community and called for this to be sustained.  The Minister expressed the UK Government's deep concern about the situation in Burma and our commitment to supporting transition to peaceful reconciliation through the mandate of the UN's special representative to Burma, Mr Ibrahim Gambari. 

She also expressed the importance of other UN bodies such as UNHRC and keenly anticipated the visit of Sergio Pinheiro to assess the human rights situation on the ground. The delegation went on to meet officials at DFID to discuss UK aid support for education, human rights and democratisation.

______________________________________________________________________________

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern, T.D., Meets with Dr Sein Win

Prime Minister-in exile of Burma -

Discussions Focus on Way forward for Burma

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dermot Ahern, T.D., met today in Dublin with Dr. Sein Win, Prime Minister-in-exile of the Union of Burma, Dr. Thaung Htun, also from the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), and the Chairperson and representatives of Burma Action Ireland.

Dr Sein Win thanked the Minister for Ireland's and the Minister's recent actions in support of the people of Burma and of democratic change in Burma. He acknowledged Ireland's continuing principled stand internationally and Irish Aid support for human rights and democratisation in Burma, particularly in support of Burmese refugees in Thailand. 

Minister Ahern expressed the Government's deep concern at the ongoing human rights situation in Burma and stated Ireland's strong commitment to supporting political change, peaceful reconciliation and respect for human rights in Burma.

“The Government is appalled by the actions of the Burmese regime in violently putting down peaceful protests, and the ongoing intimidation, beatings and arbitrary arrests that seek to frustrate the real will of the people of Burma. I am deeply concerned by the detention of thousands of protesters including Buddhist monks and nuns, and children. I urgently call for the release of all detainees and political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi. I believe, however, that out of the appalling events which took place last month, a real window of opportunity now exists to advance the cause of democracy and freedom in Burma. There is an urgent need to get a process of genuine national dialogue and reconciliation underway and, in this, the role of the UN Secretary General's special envoy, Dr Gambari, and continuing pressure from Burma's neighbours, will be crucial. I also welcome the fact that the Burmese regime has finally, after four years, agreed to accept a visit by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, and very much hope that he is given the fullest possible cooperation and access.  At the same time the Burmese regime must cooperate fully with the International Committee of the Red Cross and lift restrictions on its important humanitarian work.

Ireland fully supports the role of UN Special Envoy, Dr Gambari. We will continue to work with all partners, including within the EU and UN, and with those countries which wield influence with the Burmese regime, to encourage positive change in Burma.

My Department will continue to remain in close touch with the NCGUB and with Burma Action Ireland, who have played such an important role in ensuring the awful human rights situation in Burma is kept very much on the agenda.

In response to an expression of interest by Dr Sein Win in learning more about the Northern Ireland peace process, I undertook to work with the NCGUB and others in Burma to share the lessons and experiences gained from that process.”

Note for Editors:

The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) was formed in December 1990 in response to the military regime's refusal to hand over power in the wake of the National League for Democracy's election victory. Led by Dr Sein Win, the NCGUB classifies itself as a government-in-exile. Its founding resolutions seek to:

•    Establish a legitimate Government in Burma with the support of elected representatives,

•    Establish contacts with the Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB), the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF), and other revolutionary forces, to seek their assistance in setting up a legitimate Government in the liberated area, and

•    Seek diplomatic and other forms of support from the international community.

The two NCGUB representatives were in Ireland at the invitation of Burma Action Ireland (BAI), set up in May 1996 to raise awareness of the situation in Burma.

ENDS +++

25 October 2007

Press Office

Washington Post Article on Burmese Government in Exile

"A small country like ours is always used as a bargaining chip among big powers. I have grave concerns about how far things will have to go to convince the international community," Tint said. "We have giant neighbors, but the will of the people cannot be ignored." (Source: Washington Post)

For Burmese Exiles, Hope Amid Turmoil

As Deadly Protests Erupt in Their Country, D.C. Area Expatriates Join the Outcry With New Optimism About a Democratic Future

By Pamela Constable

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, September 30, 2007; C01

From his spartan office suite in Rockville, the headquarters of Burma's democratic opposition in exile, Bo Hla Tint has spent years fruitlessly pressing for international attention on the plight of his impoverished, oppressed and nearly invisible country in Southeast Asia.

Last week, with Burma erupting in bloody protests against military rule, Tint's moment seems to have come. All day Friday, the opposition spokesman's phone was busy with requests for media interviews, plans for meetings on Capitol Hill and long-distance rumors of military splits and diplomatic maneuvering in Rangoon or Mandalay.

"Every day for 17 years I am walking and talking Burma. Now people are listening," said Tint, 63, a man with a polite but harassed air. His office is miles from the District embassy where Rangoon's military regime, which renamed the country Myanmar in 1990, is officially ensconced. Under U.S. laws, Tint's organization occupies a niche somewhere among foreign agent, political party and nonprofit foundation.

"Legally, we don't really exist," Tint said. "Our key leaders are inside the country, not outside," he said, explaining that his group backs Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader who has been under house arrest in Rangoon for most of the past 18 years.

His organization, the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, has never asked for diplomatic recognition, but it also has offices in New York, Bangkok and New Delhi. The local office moved to Rockville after several years in Washington.

At the Burma-America Buddhist Association in Silver Spring, TV crews set up Friday on the lawn outside a modest, wood-framed temple decorated with golden roof trim. Ashin Asabhacara, a shy, red-robed monk, struggled to explain in English why tens of thousands of fellow monks in his homeland, sworn to lives of spiritual meditation, have felt compelled to join the massive street demonstrations in the past two weeks.

"We do not like to participate in worldly affairs. Our duty is to pray and chant about loving kindness," said Asabhacara, 50, squinting in the midday sun. "But the citizens are scared of beating and torture and prison, so the monks cannot keep silent any longer. We have no choice but to step in to save our country."

In the Washington area, which is home to about 500 Burmese families and several sympathetic groups, activism has galvanized. On Friday, about 300 Burmese and American protesters marched to the embassies of Myanmar and China, the country's powerful neighbor and economic ally. Asabhacara and other monks led the march, hoisting banners and leading chants for peace.

After nearly four decades of military control, the outbreak of Burma's largest protests in 15 years has rekindled hope among longtime exiled activists in the Washington region. They have seen protests quashed many times, with hundreds of civilians killed while the world's democratic powers responded with tepid concern or pragmatic deference to China.

But now, they said, there are several key differences. One is the digital revolution, which has enabled information and images to leak out of the tightly controlled country and flood the world media. Another is the massive public participation of monks, who are revered in Burmese society. A third is the pent-up anger of Burma's citizens, long inured to military rule but newly outraged at huge price increases in fuel and other staples.

"I have very high hopes this time. There is a very real potential for change," said Tin Maung Thaw of Ashburn, vice president of the Burma-America Buddhist Association, who fled to the United States in 1978 and worked for a time on Capitol Hill. "In 1988, there was no Internet in Burma, and the military could hide the atrocities. Now they can't," he said. "This time, everyone knows what's going on."

Thaw's childhood memories include the 1962 suppression of a student revolt in Rangoon soon after the army seized power for the first time. At dawn, he said, his family was sleeping when security forces bombed a university building. "I was in seventh grade, and we lived near the campus," he recalled. "Early in the morning, we felt the earth shake and saw the sky full of dark clouds."

Yet the dominant emotions expressed by members of the exile community are those of sadness and worry -- sadness for the nine protesters killed and dozens wounded by Burmese security forces in weeks of unrest, and worry that the confrontation will end in another bloodbath instead of the political dialogue the demonstrators seek.

They also describe strong feelings of bitterness toward the U.S. government for what they call a longtime policy of downplaying Burma's problems, even as the military has shot protesters, nullified elections and kept Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, under house arrest.

"The United States says this is a brutal regime, but it has never cut diplomatic ties," said Khin Win, 71, a retired Voice of America broadcaster who lives in Maryland. As a reminder of U.S. indifference, he said, he kept a framed copy of a statement by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 that says the United States was "closely watching the situation" in Burma. That was the year the military shut down the democratic opposition after an election in which opposition candidates won 81 percent of the legislative seats.

Tint, a civil engineer by training, was one of those elected to Burma's parliament in 1990. But he said he fled almost immediately after the military crackdown and spent two years hiding in the jungle with ethnic guerrillas. Then he helped set up an opposition office in Thailand but was soon forced to leave. He said he has been "stranded" in Washington ever since.

His office has only two adornments on the walls: a framed photograph of a youthful Suu Kyi, now 61, whom all opposition exiles regard as their leader, and another of her father, a Burmese independence champion who was assassinated in 1947.

Tint's boss, an elderly mathematics professor named Sein Win, holds the title of prime minister of the coalition government, but his stature comes from being a cousin of Suu Kyi and the son of a martyred independence leader. Tint said Win, currently traveling in Europe, has no ambitions for power, and the coalition has pledged to dissolve and seek elections if democracy is restored.

Tint said that many Americans do not understand how much Burmese people have suffered. "They always say, if things are so bad, why do the people keep quiet? They see the smiling faces, and they think life is normal," he said. "They don't realize that after so many killings and so much oppression, the people learned a bitter lesson."

Recently, the Bush administration has signaled its displeasure with Burma's generals, including refusing to accept any more military ambassadors, granting waivers on visa restrictions to some Burmese political refugees and tightening economic and financial sanctions on senior members of the ruling military establishment.

Exile leaders in the Washington area are hoping the United Nations will also take a tougher stance this time by approving sanctions, despite China's veto power in the Security Council. But after so many years of frustration, they said, they are realistic about global politics, the strategic unimportance of their impoverished country and the limits of collective action.

"A small country like ours is always used as a bargaining chip among big powers. I have grave concerns about how far things will have to go to convince the international community," Tint said. "We have giant neighbors, but the will of the people cannot be ignored."