NLD CEREMONY PROVIDES PLATFORM FOR PEOPLES'

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000195

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV
CINCPAC FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2012
TAGS: PGOV PHUM BM NLD
SUBJECT: NLD CEREMONY PROVIDES PLATFORM FOR PEOPLES'
PARLIAMENT

REF: RANGOON 185

Classified By: COM CARMEN M. MARTINEZ FOR REASON 1.5(D).


1. (SBU) Summary: The National League for Democracy and
other opposition parties represented by the Committee
Representing the People's Parliament (CRPP) celebrated
Burma's Union Day on February 12 at NLD headquarters. In
this first ever CRPP public celebration of a national
holiday, the growing ranks of the CRPP called on the regime
to live up to its pledge to enter into dialogue with the
opposition for political change. The SPDC also held an event
commemorating Union Day and stated that the military
government continues to pursue peace and tranquillity as a
prerequisite to political change. The public display of
ethnic political solidarity at the CRPP event was a high
point for its members, and a test of the regime's toleration
for dissenting political opinion. End Summary.

NLD Celebration Brings Out Ethnic Show of Support


2. (SBU) In spite of the regime's recent arrests and
harassment of political activists, members of the Committee
Representing the People's Parliament (CRPP) showed up in
force on February 12 at National League for Democracy
headquarters to celebrate Burma's Union Day. NLD and CRPP
Chairman U Aung Shwe kicked off the event stating that it was
a CRPP, not NLD, celebration (the CRPP's first ever public
celebration of a national holiday). Dozens of Members of
Parliament Elect, most of whom have served months if not
years in prison for their political activities, were crowded
into the headquarters building, joined by diplomats including
the U.S. Charge d'Affaires, the Ambassadors of Great Britain,
Italy, and Australia, UN representatives and the press.
Hundreds of supporters (and a contingent of the regime's
military intelligence) on the street in front of the building
listened as the words of Aung San Suu Kyi and the leaders of
several other political parties represented by the CRPP were
broadcast out from the meeting hall.


2. (SBU) The speeches by ASSK, the CRPP and leaders of
specific political parties all carried a common theme: 1)
the "union" of Burmese nationalities engineered by General
Aung San in 1947 is under siege due to the divisive policies
of the SPDC and its predecessors; 2) current conditions - the
lack of human rights, discrimination against ethnic
nationalities, and economic hardships - are untenable and
require political change; and 3) the SPDC must follow through
on its stated commitment to begin political dialogue, the
only solution to these problems. While this is the standard
refrain for the NLD, it is significant that, through the
CRPP, a broader coalition of political representatives are
now able to make the appeal in public.


3. (SBU) For the record, CRPP membership has continued to
expand over the past few months and now includes
representatives of the following parties that won seats in
the 1990 elections: the NLD, the Shan NLD, the Union Pa-o
National Organization, the Arakan League for Democracy, the
Zomi League for Democracy, the Democratic Party, the Party
for National Democracy, the National Democratic Party for
Human Rights, the Kamans NLD, the Mon National Democratic
Front, and two independent MP's-elect. Only the first three
of these parties are still legally registered, the rest were
deregistered by the regime shortly after the elections and
have since been considered "illegal."

SPDC Event Focuses On More of the Same


4. (SBU) The SPDC celebrated Union Day with a flag ceremony,
the naming of a white elephant, the positioning of a giant
alms bowl at the regime pagoda on Mindhamma Hill and a dinner
for USDA and SPDC officials. The flag ceremony is a
tradition handed down from the Ne Win era when a Union of
Burma flag with the 1947 Panglong Agreement attached in a
holder was taken to each of the seven states and divisions.
The SPDC ceremony takes a Union Flag to four points in the
city (elapsed time approximately 40 minutes) before it is
raised in front of city hall. The white elephant is the
third addition to a white elephant park the regime created
about two years ago. The white elephant is a sign of good
luck and prosperity for the country. The giant alms bowl was
fabricated in Mandalay and has been ceremoniously transported
to Rangoon by the regime, collecting donations at every stop.
The placement of the alms bowl at the foot of the regime
pagoda and alabaster Buddha image at Mindhamma Hill is
intended to gain merit.


5. (SBU) In the evening, Senior General Than Shwe hosted a
reception and dinner at the President's Residence Compound
for SPDC officials, USDA representatives from state and
divisions, various governmental NGOs, and traditional
cultural troop members from states and the Tenassarim
Division. The press release on the event also notes that
leaders of national races were in attendance, but it does not
identify who those leaders were. The stated objectives of
the SPDC's Union Day activities were "for all nationals to
safeguard the national policy - non-disintegration of the
Union, non-disintegration of the national solidarity, and
perpetuation of sovereignty; to keep the Union Spirit alive
and flourishing among the entire people; for all nationals to
strive in harmony for the emergence of an enduring State
constitution that will pave the way for the building of a new
discipline-flourishing democratic nation and to ward off,
with national unity, the danger of destructionists from
inside and outside the nation who are disturbing the
stability, peace, modernization and development of the
State." In short, no changes from previous years; stay the
course and do not make waves.


6. (C) Comment: The CRPP's public celebration of Union Day
was a high point for the elected leaders of ethnic parties
since they were stripped of their positions in 1990. There
was a definite air of excitement as these leaders spoke out
on the injustices their people currently live under and
called on the regime to work together for political change.
However, given the regime's past actions against the CRPP
(almost all were arrested in 1998 when the CRPP was formed)
and recent arrests and harassment of political activists (see
reftel) this may be a short-lived high. Nevertheless, the
SPDC is allowing the CRPP to continue to function at this
time. End Comment.
Martinez