Burma: 13th Anniversary of 1990 Election

May 27, 2003

Mr. Prime Minister, colleagues, distinguished members of the Burmese community…thank you for including me in your program today.

Today marks the 13th anniversary of the 1990 general election in Burma. It was an election that the National League for Democracy won decisively and overwhelmingly. And it is an election that the military junta still refuses to recognize.

This has been a difficult year for the people of Burma. The SPDC's self-serving policies resulted in severe shortages of rice and cooking oil and in the recent banking crisis. Yet the junta largely ignored the suffering they had caused until they themselves began to feel the effects.

But the people of Burma are resilient. Despite the horrible conditions they endure every day, and despite the SPDC's repression, they still show hope that democracy will return to Burma soon.

They turn out in the thousands to greet Aung San Suu Kyi when she visits their State or Division. And they don't just run out of their homes to get a quick glimpse. They come from miles around and line the streets for hours before she is scheduled to arrive. They wear NLD pins. They wave NLD flags and pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi. And they carry pictures of loved ones still imprisoned for their political beliefs.

The International Republican Institute remains steadfast in its support for Burma's democracy movement. We continue to recognize the results of the 1990 elections. we wholeheartedly support the efforts of the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi to restore democracy in Burma through tripartite dialogue with the military junta and the ethnic nationalities.

For more than a decade, IRI has provided assistance to the democracy movement generally, and to the NLD in particular. We are determined to carry on our work with Burma's democracy movement. And we look forward to the day when this commemoration can take place in Rangoon-and all over Burma.

Thank you.

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