bagan 1137015 960 720 - Exile Comes to Naught: Why the NCGUB Dissolved After 22 Years

Exile Comes to Naught: Why the NCGUB Dissolved After 22 Years

Governments often want what is best for their people. This is why there are oppositions that exist despite facing massive disadvantage. If there was a poster child for disadvantaged governments, it would be the NCGUB.

History


The NCGUB stands for the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma. They were convened officially on the 18th of December in 1990. They claimed to be a Burmese government in exile. The very first prime minister was Aung San Suu Kyi’s cousin who was, at the time, a political prisoner. It is not very clear what the qualifications of that cousin was beyond the blood that they shared.

It is interesting to note that in the entirety of the NCGUB they never went to Burma yet claimed to be its government. They were very vocal about their criticism about the militaristic form that Burma had taken. They railed when Burma was renamed into Myanmar. However, there was very little else that was accomplished.

Dissolution


In order for governments to help their governments they should, ideally, be at the same place where their people are. It makes very little sense for a group of people claim to be the government of a different place when they aren’t even there. It comes off as rather disingenuous and self-serving. Since the NCGUB has never stepped foot in Burma or Myanmar since their inception, it was rather foolish to keep yelling into the abyss.

Myanmar is consistently moving forward with the people that are actually in charge. It may not be for the better but they are moving forward. The people would never be inclined to listen to people who called themselves an exiled government. Given there are icons in the world that risked political persecution and even martyrdom just to fight for their people, an exile government was rather odd.

To Conclude

After 22 years of doing their best, they had no choice to dissolve. Funding, support, and a plethora of other reasons could be cited. The official story is that they dissolved on their own accord to further support the political reforms that were happening in Myanmar. As this was in 2012, it was very clear to many that there wasn’t much political reform.

Myanmar is still very much militaristic and the political climate is just as terrible as ever. People need a government that is right there. You can be preaching about the good of the world but if you are far removed from the situation, it does nothing and affects no one.