Khuk Khak, Phang Nga, Thailand—24 January 2012

The Foundation for Education and Development (FED) today launched a campaign for the election of the National League for Democracy (NLD) Party in the upcoming by-election in Burma. The NLD, led by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has registered to run in a by-election to fill 48 parliamentary seats left vacant when cabinet members and deputy ministers assumed their posts. The National League for Democracy (NLD) party head will run in Kawhmu, southwest of Rangoon, in polls on 1 April. Her party boycotted the last elections but has now rejoined the political process amid reform in Burma.

Mr. Htoo Chit, FED executive director, said that FED wants Burmese migrant workers in Thailand to know more about current political developments in Burma and support the pro-democracy party. “For many reasons, migrant workers do not get enough accurate information about the changing political situation in Burma. To help remedy this, we are going out to migrant communities to share our understanding of the situation and where we stand,” he said.

Miss Lae Lae Htwe, a NLD campaigner from FED’s Youth Outreach School, put it this way to migrants at one campaign stop: “If you want to see the development of education and health in Burma, and the rule of law, you must vote NLD”.

Htoo Chit cautioned that FED is not affiliated with the NLD. “As Burmese citizens, we strongly believe that we have to support Aung San Su Kyi in the current political environment.  That belief prompts us to reach out to the Burmese migrant community in southern Thailand.”

Another NLD supporter, Mr. Htoo Naing Lin, mentioned that Aung San Suu Kyi has sacrificed for over two decades in order to obtain genuine human rights and democracy in Burma.  He continued, “Please vote for the NLD if you would like to see peace, stability, and national reconciliation in Burma and if you don’t want to be forced to work in Thailand indefinitely.”

Mr. Maung Kyi, a rubber plantation worker, said that, “We are so happy to have your campaign visit us. We learned a lot about some issues that we had not known about. I voted NLD in the 1990 general election in Burma. Even Thai people told me then that Burma was going to be richer than Thailand if Aung San Suu Kyi became the head of state. Even if I am not able to vote this time, I will ask my family and friends to vote for the NLD.”

The first campaign event was attended by an estimated 50 Burmese migrant workers. They posed questions regarding the system of voting in the election, as well as questions concerning recent political developments in Burma. FED will make by-election campaign visits in Phang Nga, Phuket, Surat Thani, and Krabi Provinces. FED plans also to broadcast by-election campaign information via FM community radio in these provinces.