Dr. Sein Win, head of the exile Burmese government--National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma--says that the so-called major policy speech by the new Prime Minister of the military government in Rangoon on August 30 is long on verbiage and short on goodwill.
On the seven-point "Road Map to Democracy" as put forward by General Khin Nyunt, the NCGUB leader said it was no road map at all because it direly lacks a timetable for the process.
Dr. Sein Win also points out that the whole plan is nothing but a reissue of the old National Convention card that has not played well at all with the people of Burma. In fact, the convention has been virtually in existence since 1993 with no end in sight. The standing joke is that it is a "Forever Convention," Dr. Sein Win said.
With credibility wanting as far as the military government's 1990 election, which it failed to recognize, the leader of the exile government said it would be hard pressed for anyone to believe the new Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt's promise for another election.
Dr. Sein Win suggested that the only sensible course for Rangoon would be to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all the political prisoners in Burma and begin a substantive political dialogue with the democracy movement headed by the National League for Democracy for both national reconciliation and a democratic future for Burma.