Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04RANGOON544
2004-04-30 10:18:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Rangoon
Cable title:  

BURMA: NLD MAKES "SUGGESTIONS" (CONDITIONS) FOR

Tags:  PGOV BM NLD 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RANGOON 000544 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; PACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2014
TAGS: PGOV BM NLD
SUBJECT: BURMA: NLD MAKES "SUGGESTIONS" (CONDITIONS) FOR
PARTICIPATION IN CONVENTION

REF: A. RANGOON 514

B. RANGOON 481

C. RANGOON 472

Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (b,d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RANGOON 000544

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; PACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2014
TAGS: PGOV BM NLD
SUBJECT: BURMA: NLD MAKES "SUGGESTIONS" (CONDITIONS) FOR
PARTICIPATION IN CONVENTION

REF: A. RANGOON 514

B. RANGOON 481

C. RANGOON 472

Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) Summary: For the first time in a year the NLD CEC met
this week as a full group, including detained leaders ASSK
and U Tin Oo. Over the course of two private sessions,
facilitated by military intelligence, the party leadership
formed a series of "suggestions" that the SPDC must take on
board in order for the NLD to attend the upcoming National
Convention. Among their demands, the CEC insists on the
release from house arrest of ASSK and U Tin Oo, the reopening
of all NLD offices, and a timetable for the regime's road
map. Party leaders also seek to have their long-standing
procedural concerns regarding the Convention addressed in a
dialogue between ASSK and regime leaders. Although NLD
Chairman U Aung Shwe says if the regime agrees to NLD
suggestions the party will attend the Convention, the free
CEC members led us to conclude that the NLD may be
considering attendance as a tactical move and they harbor few
expectations the process will involve meaningful political
dialogue. End Summary.


2. (SBU) With two weeks remaining before the SPDC reconvenes
the National Convention ("adjourned" since 1996),Rangoon has
over the past week been the scene of intense deliberations
among political opposition party leaders and, by some
accounts, negotiations with regime envoys on conditions for
participation in the Convention. (Note: The National
Convention is scheduled to reconvene on May 17, but
registration for delegates begins on May 14. End Note)

Reunited
--------------


3. (C) On April 27, the SPDC allowed all nine members of the
NLD Central Executive Committee (CEC) to convene and discuss
party matters. The two-hour session included General
Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK) and Vice Chairman U Tin Oo,

SIPDIS
both detained under house arrest, and took place at ASSK's
lakeside house in central Rangoon. Military intelligence
approved the meeting and arranged for the transfer of U Tin
Oo from his house, but permitted the CEC to hold their
discussions in private. According to NLD Secretary U Lwin,

the CEC, convening for the first time as a whole in almost
one year, met for about two hours but came to no resolution
on participation in the National Convention.


4. (C) The entire NLD CEC met again on Thursday April 29,
under the same conditions as on April 27, and their internal
discussions lasted for over five hours. P/E chief and
visiting desk officer-designate met on April 30 with all
seven of the "free" CEC members and discussed recent
developments.

Might We Suggest...
--------------


5. (C) According to Chairman U Aung Shwe, "two days was
sufficient" for the NLD leadership to meet and develop a
party position on attendance at the National Convention.
Although the CEC members were cautious about revealing
details of their internal discussions, they said that the NLD
had prepared a list of "suggestions" for the SPDC to
consider. The NLD leaders studiously avoided using the term
"conditions," but insisted that the regime needed to agree to
all of the NLD suggestions in order for the party to attend
the upcoming Convention.


6. (C) U Aung Shwe and party spokesman U Lwin said that, at a
minimum, the regime needed to release ASSK and U Tin Oo, open
all NLD party offices closed since May 2003 (note: a total of
210 offices),and provide a timetable for the "road map to
democracy." CEC member U Nyunt Wei added that the NLD
insisted all offices be reopened because with only the
Rangoon headquarters in operation, "we (the NLD) are merely a
head without a tail."


7. (C) We raised with the CEC members their statement of
April 16 (ref C) which laid out the party's specific demands
and grievances with regard to procedural issues at the
Convention as well as the reasons for their departure from
the last Convention in 1995. U Aung Shwe would not
characterize these issues as "conditions" or "suggestions" in
the context of their current position, but said that the
party believed they must be the topic of discussion between
ASSK and regime leaders before the Convention reconvenes.


8. (C) "If they agree (to our suggestions),we will go to the
Convention," U Aung Shwe said, characterizing NLD demands as
reasonable. However, the Chairman also said that he had no
basis to determine how the regime would respond and observed
that the SPDC's overall plan for a transition was more like a
"road block" than a "road map." He added that the NLD CEC
had no immediate plans to meet again as whole and would only
do so once the SPDC is prepared to respond to the NLD
position. The Chairman did not identify specifically how
they had communicated their new position to the regime, but
intimated that ASSK would soon meet with regime
representatives.

Those Who Help and Those Who Don't
--------------


9. (C) U Lwin expressed frustration with members of the
international community ("except the U.S.," he added) that
continued to try and pressure the NLD to attend the National
Convention. He said that some countries had approached the
party to ask, "You wanted a dialogue, now why are you
hesitating?" U Lwin, visibly angry, said that the NLD
represented the majority of Burmese and had every right to
demand concessions from the junta.


10. (C) U Lwin also said that some countries had intimated
that the NLD, by prolonging the political stalemate, was
somehow responsible for the suffering caused by international
sanctions. "We have suffered for sixteen years under the
SLORC and SPDC regimes," he said, "sanctions can not be
blamed for the (junta's) actions; you (who impose sanctions)
should not retreat because the pressure doesn't cause any
more suffering than we already experience." (Note: We
informed the CEC members that legislation had been introduced
in Congress on April 29 to extend the U.S. import ban and
they nodded with satisfaction. End Note).


11. (C) In response to our inquiry about any possible role
for countries in the region, U Nyunt Wei identified ASEAN as
"part of the problem." He observed that few among the ASEAN
countries adhered to democratic principles and many had
vested interests with the current Burmese regime. He noted
that UN Special Envoy Razali had encouraged the NLD to "turn
a new page" but he, U Nyunt Wei, opined that the NLD had no
more pages to turn. U Aung Shwe dismissed Thai efforts to
bring the GOB to the table with some members of the
international community and said that the "Bangkok Process
has nothing to do with us (in the NLD)."

Comment: A Tactical Move
--------------


12. (C) The seven elderly NLD CEC members appeared healthy
and relaxed, despite what they described as a long week of
discussions and developments. Although international press
reports have described NLD leaders as optimistic about
attending the National Convention, the free CEC members
declined to make any prognosis on the regime's response to
their most recent demands. However, Chairman U Aung Shwe was
adamant that the NLD would not repeat the 1993 experience in
which party delegates attended the Convention while ASSK was
under house arrest. Although U Aung Shwe concluded that if
the regime agrees to NLD suggestions the party will attend
the Convention, his comments, and those of his colleagues, on
the regime's road map led us to conclude that the NLD may be
considering attendance as a tactical move and they harbor few
expectations the process will involve meaningful political
dialogue. End Comment.
Martinez