The Burmese military regime has delivered a new attack on the leading National League for Democracy party, saying it could be viewed as an unlawful association.

During a news briefing at a narcotics-burning event in Shan State on Wednesday, Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan said that the regime has enough evidence to declare the NLD an unlawful association because of its links with terrorist groups and exiled dissident organizations.

The party of detained Noble Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has repeatedly denied such charges by the junta. After this latest one, NLD spokesman, lawyer Nyan Win, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the regime’s allegation is not strong enough for any legal action on the party’s status.

“Instead of beating around the bush like this, they should find a way we can work together for the transitional period,” he added.

Myint Thein, another spokesman for the NLD, also explained his party’s current position is not about power sharing with the ruling generals, if that was worrying them. “Our latest policy is focusing on how to solve the country’s humanitarian crisis through dialogue and compromise,” he said.

According to the NLD’s “special statement,” released last week, the country is suffering rampant inflation, lack of food security, increasing poverty, inadequate domestic energy sources and an inability to prevent and control epidemics, such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and avian flu.

The NLD also called on the military regime on February 12 to accept its proposal to convene a “people’s parliament.” Under this, the NLD would recognize the current regime as a “de jure” government, in return for letting winners of the unrecognized 1990 general election form a parliament.

However, Kyaw Hsan rejected the party’s proposal at Wednesday’s briefing, saying the NLD now had only 87 remaining elected representatives, because some members had been arrested for “violating laws,” while others had gone through “resignation and passing away.” He also said military government will not hold any dialogue with the NLD outside the national constitution-drafting convention, which the NLD has boycotted as undemocratic.

In the 1990 general election, the NLD won in 392 of 485 constituencies. But the party then claimed that many elected members had been forced to resign under various types of pressure by the regime.

Kyaw Hsan accused the opposition party of dancing to the tune of foreign masters, and if it was truly concerned about the country’s development, “they should demand its foreign masters to revoke sanctions against Myanmar [Burma].” This was a reference to sanctions clamped on Burma by the US and EU.