“If we lose war, the democratic world will also lose. » The short-haired forty-year-old, who shivers in the poorly heated lobby of a Parisian hotel, on the evening of a rainy Sunday at the end of February, gives a speech familiar to Western ears, in these times of return from the war in Europe: passing through Paris, Zin Mar Aung, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the National Unity Government in exile (NUG), nevertheless preaches for a distant cause, whose fate does not interest many people in Europe and the States -United.
While the ruling military junta seems to be wavering under the blows of the various armed resistance movements, leaders of the opposition to the military regime of General Min Aung Hlaing admit to being frustrated by the lack of eagerness of the world democratic sphere to help them: “Western countries have certainly imposed economic sanctions on Burma, but these pressures are not enough, deplores Zin Mar Aung. The way they interact with us remains too informal and, even if they listen to us and provide moral support, they never go so far as to legitimize the representatives of our government. » She notes, visibly bitter: “Not only are they not giving us weapons, but they are not providing us with any humanitarian aid, even though two million seven hundred thousand Burmese have been displaced by the fighting. »
The NUG was formed in the aftermath of the military coup of 1er February 2021. Since then, he has become the embodiment of resistance to the military, while almost the entire country has flared up against the junta. But the NUG, more or less an emanation of the overthrown government of the famous leader Aung San Suu Kyi, is struggling to impose itself, especially diplomatically. Many observers believe that its effective control of “liberated” areas is all the more tenuous since, in the seven states where the main ethnic minorities live, local guerrillas are waging their own battles. Without worrying too much about the decisions of the NUG.
“Local governance”
“As a government, we do not interfere in ethnic states where guerrillas [sont en position de force]Zin Mar Aung justifies himself. We are engaged in a dialogue with the representatives of these guerrillas, and we opted, the day after the putsch, for the establishment of a “federal charter” which will guarantee an inclusive system and self-determination. [des minorités ethniques] », assures the minister, who was a deputy before the coup d’état. She adds, a little bravado: “After the war, if certain minorities want complete independence, why not, it’s up to the people to decide! » Bold promise in this “Union of Myanmar”, already the scene of all disunities…
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