"Politicians, activists and civil society representatives will gather in Yangon on April 1 to expand their campaign against the Chinese-backed Myitsone Dam, leaders of the movement said at a small protest in Yangon on Monday. U Aung Soe Myint, a leader of the movement, told Frontier the group had invited NGOs, political parties and environmental experts from every state and region to come together in opposition to the multi-billion dollar project. “We have also invited National League for Democracy officials and NLD members of parliament, but I am not sure whether or not they will attend,” Aung Soe Myint, who is also the vice chair of the People’s Party in Mandalay, said at the 50-person demonstration in downtown Yangon on Monday afternoon. The group will form an executive committee at the meeting, he said, and will devise strategies for campaigning against the dam. U Myat Kyaw, a leader of the Anti-Adhamma Committee, a liberal Buddhist group that opposes ultra-nationalists, said at the protest that the people of Myanmar should not stay silent over the future of the mega-project, which was suspended in 2011 by President U Thein Sein in response to a growing national opposition movement. Public concerns include large-scale displacement and loss of livelihoods, the destruction of cultural heritage and environmental degradation. Myat Kyaw said it was time to unite against the damming of the Ayeyarwady River. Amid increasing pressure from China to restart the project, he said Myitsone would only be cancelled if Myanmar presented a united front, and suggested that the government needed the support of the people to stand up to China..."