US embassy cable - 05RANGOON248

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BURMA'S NLD CONTINUES TO SHED ITS MEMBERS

Identifier: 05RANGOON248
Wikileaks: View 05RANGOON248 at Wikileaks.org
Origin: Embassy Rangoon
Created: 2005-02-24 11:05:00
Classification: CONFIDENTIAL
Tags: PGOV PHUM BM NLD
Redacted: This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.
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 RANGOON 000248 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, BM, NLD 
SUBJECT: BURMA'S NLD CONTINUES TO SHED ITS MEMBERS 
 
REF: A. RANGOON 224 
     B. RANGOON 196 
 
Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
1. (C) Summary: This week the National League for Democracy 
expelled three more members from its ranks.  They are 
youthful party activists who appear to be tired of the "wait 
and see" mentality of the octogenarian leadership of the 
NLD's Central Executive Committee.  The NLD leadership seems 
determined to prevent the GOB from deregistering it as an 
official political party.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) On February 22, Burma's National League for 
Democracy party (NLD) expelled three members.  Added to the 
18 who were dismissed a week earlier (see Ref A), this brings 
to 21 the number of members dropped so far this year.  The 
three latest expulsions were Kyaw Min, Myint Kyaw Oo, and 
Thurein, all of Rangoon Division.  All three were part of a 
youth faction that distributed copies of the U.N. Human 
Rights Declaration on May 30, 2004 to commemorate the attack 
on ASSK's convoy a year earlier. Myint Kyaw Oo was arrested 
after that incident. 
 
3. (C) The three appear to have been dismissed for being too 
active and for not being willing to accept the Central 
Executive Committee's (CEC) "wait and see" attitude.  Sources 
say that younger members of the NLD are unable to discuss 
ideas directly with CEC members, but must communicate through 
intermediaries.  The reason for the latest dismissals appears 
to differ from the dismissals last week.  When poloff met two 
of those 18 dismissed members earlier this week, they 
surmised that they were expelled for supporting the idea of a 
"parallel government," but when they asked NLD Secretary U 
Lwin why they were being dismissed, he replied, "I'll explain 
it to you later." 
 
4. (C) Comment: The NLD octogenarian leadership appears 
determined to shed the party of "trouble makers," 
particularly those whose ideas or activities might draw too 
much scrutiny of the party by the SPDC.  The NLD wants to 
ensure that it remains one of the ten political parties that 
have not been deregistered by the GOB.  End Comment. 
Martinez 

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