US embassy cable - 03RANGOON1534

C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 001534 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO FOR EAP/BCLTV; 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/25/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, BM, NLD, Human Rights 
SUBJECT: RELEASED NLD OFFICIAL BACK ON THE JOB 
 
REF: RANGOON 1518 
 
Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.5 (B,D) 
 
1. (C) Summary: Senior NLD leader U Nyunt Wei, newly released 
from house arrest, says his pro-democracy party will refuse 
to participate in the regime's reconvened National 
Convention.  He expressed surprise at his own release and 
pondered whether ASSK and other CEC members might also get a 
surprise release.  The freed NLD "Uncles" will soon feel 
pressure from the party's rank and file to take action in the 
face of SPDC plans to enact a new constitution.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) On November 25 we called on U Nyunt Wei, the NLD's 
Harvard-trained senior economist and a member of the party's 
nine-person Central Executive Committee (CEC).  The SPDC 
released U Nyunt Wei and four of his CEC colleagues on 
November 23-24, after more than five months of house arrest 
(reftel).  The 77 year-old party activist, and Member of 
Parliament-elect, is in good health and says he is well 
rested after months of reading books on Buddhism and 
following political developments via BBC and VOA short-wave 
radio broadcasts. 
 
3. (C) U Nyunt Wei says that he has no idea why the regime 
decided to release him and other CEC members at this time. 
He had mentally prepared himself to spend several years under 
house arrest while the SPDC proceeded with a National 
Convention and new elections.  He intimated that he expects 
the regime will keep ASSK and other CEC members isolated, but 
noted that "maybe the authorities will surprise them, like 
they did me."  He offered that the SPDC may have released 
some CEC members now because "we are old men or because they 
expect us to join the National Convention." 
 
4. (C) Shrugging off his house arrest, U Nyunt Wei described 
the regime's treatment of NLD leaders as "part of our job 
description."  He called GOB authorities "idiots" for 
claiming NLD leaders were not under house arrest or were in 
so-called "protective custody."  The feisty NLD official said 
the regime has the power and confidence to arrest and detain 
at will and therefore should have no reason to distort their 
actions.  "And yet," U Nyunt Wei lamented, "they perpetuate 
the Big Lie, much like the Nazis and the Soviets." 
 
5. (C) U Nyunt Wei said he had met earlier with his fellow 
released CEC members.  On this, their second, day of freedom, 
however, the "Uncles" convened at CEC member U Lun Tin's 
house because the latter, having suffered a stroke, is 
physically unable to move about the city.  U Nyunt Wei said 
the CEC members have agreed that they will refuse to 
participate in the SPDC's reconvened National Convention. 
"The reasons the NLD walked out in 1995 remain valid," he 
said, "the SPDC must bring democratic principles and 
practices to any process that addresses the future of Burma." 
 U Nyunt Wei added that he would be more favorable toward a 
Constituent Assembly of elected representatives, rather than 
a sham Convention. 
 
6. (C) Comment:  U Nyunt Wei is clearly enjoying his new 
freedom and observed that he welcomed the odd feeling of 
being able to depart his modest Rangoon compound and escort 
us from his gate to our car.   Whether he is enjoying being 
back in the political saddle is less certain.  He told us 
that when his SPDC handler arrived to inform him that house 
arrest restrictions had been lifted, he joked "My dear 
general, you don't realize what work you are creating for 
me."  As the regime plows forth toward a new constitution and 
most of their peers are enjoying retirement, U Nyunt Wei and 
the other aging NLD "Uncles" will feel considerable pressure 
from the party's restless rank and file to create a new path 
forward for the democracy movement.   End comment. 
Martinez