Five youth organisations form poll-boycott alliance

Saturday, 25 September 2010 00:08 Salai Han Thar San

New Delhi (Mizzima) – Five youth organisations including the 2007-Generation All Burma Federation of Student Unions formed an alliance to stimulate activities towards a boycott of the first Burmese elections in 20 years.

The youth groups, which also include New Generation, Saffron Generation, Midland Students and Pro-democracy Student and Youth Activists from Rangoon Division; formed the alliance on August 8, on the 22nd anniversary of the “8888” pro-democracy uprising in Burma.

“Our aim is to stimulate activities to boycott the forthcoming election for which we have drawn up a plan to carry out our mission … for the pre-election period to the post-election period,” an alliance spokesman told Mizzima.
The alliance comprises more than 200 separate chapters of youth groups in Rangoon, Mandalay, Pegu, and Irrawaddy divisions and in Kachin and Arakan states

The group also distributed more than 1,000 postcards calling for a boycott of the election to businessmen and government offices across the country via the postal service last week, on the occasion of the “Saffron Revolution’s” third anniversary.

“We want the international community not to recognise Burma’s forthcoming election. All parties that contest in the election are mere puppets of the junta. We want to urge people, soldiers and monks to also boycott those parties”, the spokesman said.