MON LEADER PASSED AWAY

(Kao-Wao, Bangkok, October 1, 2002)

Nai Khin Maung, a Member of Parliament and the leader of the main Mon political party passed away in Rangoon on September 29, 2002.

Representing the Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF), a committed nationalist Nai Khin Maung won the Member of Parliament seat at Kyaikmayaw Constituency No. 2 in Mon State, Burma during the 1990 general election in Burma

A spoke person from the MNDF reported, he passed away at his residence in Rangoon on September 29, 2002 at 2:00 afternoon local time.  The 69 years old politician accidentally fell down from stairs of his San Chaung house on September 22 and was admitted to Asia Dawwin Clinic.  The Mon leader suffered from Cerebra-Hemorrhage and passed away in the clinic.

Nai Khin Maung served as a Central Committee member of the MNDF and Presidium member of the United Nationalities League for Democracy (UNLD), the main umbrella political organization of ethnic nationalities group, which won the second largest seats followed by NLD in 1990 Burma’s general election.

Before the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military junta banned the MNDF, Mon political party on March 18, 1992, he was arrested in November 1991 and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for allegedly attempting to contact with foreign embassies in Rangoon.  After the Election Commission expelled him from the MP post, he was released in May 1992.  Nai Khin Maung played a major role as a mediator during the cease-fire agreement between the New Mon State Party and the Burmese military regime in 1995.

As a professional engineer, Nai Khin Maung worked as the Assistance Engineer at the Electricity Department in 1962 and promoted as a Supervisor at the Machinery Export Control Department in 1966. He was the Deputy Director of the Industrial Coordination and Inspection Department of Burma before his retirement in 1989.

As an intellectual leader of the Mon community, he was elected as the President of the Mon Literature and Culture Committee and Chairman of the Mon National Day Celebration Committee in Rangoon during BSPP government.

Nai Khin Maung left six children behind when he passed away.  His funeral cremation service will take place at Yay Way Cemetery on October 1, 2001.