The National League for Democracy (NLD) announced on Thursday that it will hold its first nationwide youth congress on 5- 6 July.
Maung Maung Oo, appointed chairperson of the Youth Congress Organising Commission, said more than 200 young NLD members from branches across Burma will attend the meeting at the Royal Rose Hall in Rangoon’s Bahan Township where party leader Aung San Suu Kyi is scheduled to deliver the opening speech.
On the agenda at the congress will be the formation of a Central Youth Leading Committee and a Central Youth Working Committee, and the appointment of its representatives.
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The conference was originally due to be held in January, then April, but was postponed each time as the NLD concentrated its efforts on a nationwide campaign calling for public support for its bid to enact constitutional reform.
The NLD reportedly has about 100,000 youth members throughout Burma, aged between 16 and 35.
The party has long been criticised for its reliance on elder statesmen; while several octogenarians are among its central committee members, few persons under the age of 65 hold any authority in the party’s hierarchy.
In 2008, 109 youth members resigned from the party, claiming their voices were not being heard.
