The current military regime of Burma has given a great opportunity by the election wining party, National League for Democracy, to become a De jure government. In this essay, I would like to identify the two types of government, De facto and De jure.
De facto
The term De facto is a Latin expression that means "in fact" or "in practice". A de facto government is one that maintains itself by a display of force against the will of the rightful legal government and is successful, at least temporarily, in overturning the institutions of the rightful legal government by setting up its own in lieu thereof.
De jure
The term De jure is a Latin expression that means ‘Rightful’. A de jure government is the legal, legitimate government of a state and is so recognized by other states.
Military regime
The State Law and Order Restoration Council -SLORC (later known as the State peace and Development Council –SPDC) held the Multi Party Democracy General Elections in 1990 and failed to honour the results of the elections. They took power by force without recognition by the People and other states and remained power after the general election. So it is only the de facto government.
National League for Democracy
The National League for Democracy was duly registered as a political party under the Political Parties Registration Law 4/88 promulgated by the State Law and Order Registration Council (SLORC) now known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and with effect from the 27th September 1988 to this date remains a legally constituted political party. It has been constituted in accordance with the provisions Section 2 (b) of the Associations Law 6/88 dated 30/9/88. It won a landslide victory in the 1990 elections with over 80 per cent of parliamentary seats.
Section (c) & (d) of the Special Declaration No 1/02 (2006) by the National League for Democracy(Released at the 59th anniversary of Union Day (12 February 2006) Commemorated at the National League for Democracy Headquarters in Rangoon)
(c) The multi-party democratic general election was successfully held on 27 May 1990 and the Election Commission had officially announced the names of the Pyithu Hluttaw representatives who were elected during that free and fair election, and those representatives have also been officially recorded in the Burma Gazette as Pyithu Hluttaw representatives. Hence, the State Peace and Development Council must convene the Pyithu Hluttaw in accordance with the law that it had officially enacted.
(d) This Pyithu Hluttaw is needed to (judicially) declare the State Peace and Development Council as a governing council because only the Pyithu Hluttaw has the right and power to declare it and no other organization can do so. The incumbent State Peace and Development Council is not legally authorized to rule but is a council administering the country de facto or in practice only. (www.burmacampaign.org.uk)
By looking all these facts, it is clear that the NLD offer represents a great opportunity for the illegal de facto Burmese military regime to transform as a de jure government.
If we imagine the government and people as husband and wife, the situation looks like illegal de facto husband and wife. In this world, the laws concerning with marriage and divorce exist because people want to be de jure husband and wife.
Various kinds of problems can occur if it is not de jure. The current problems in Burma have happened due to this violation of the nature.
If the military regime accepts the NLD offer by 27th May 2006 and transform from de facto to de jure government, the violation of the nature will disappear and the government and the people can overcome the problems by means of the dialogue.
Khin Ma Ma Myo (21/05/2006)