NLD calls for dialogue over fuel price hikes

The National League for Democracy released a statement today calling on the Burmese military to hold talks with the opposition over its recent decision to increase fuel prices by up to 500 percent.

The NLD said that it welcomed public protests against the price increases and urged the government to take responsibility for the crisis.

“The people of Burma who are growing impatient have showed their true will by staging peaceful protests. But the authorities have responded to this by arresting, torturing, beating up and hurling profanities at the protestors,” the NLD statement said.

“Using violence to crack down on the protests will not provide a solution to the hardships people are facing today . . . These problems can only be solved when political parties and the government can discuss this together to find an answer.”

The NLD also demanded that the government release all detained activists and stop physically preventing protests. Spokesperson U Nyan Win said that if the government failed to address the situation responsibly, there was no telling how far the protests would go.

“The situation is unpredictable. But one thing we can say is that the government can’t solve these problems by using the methods they are now,” U Nyan Win said.