US embassy cable - 05RANGOON380

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000380 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, ECON, BM, National Convention 
SUBJECT: NATIONAL CONVENTION RECESSES FOR BURMESE NEW YEAR 
 
REF: RANGOON 201 
 
Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
1. (C) Summary: The National Convention is scheduled to 
recess on March 31.  Some ethnic cease-fire group delegates 
have already departed to "come clean" with their unregistered 
vehicles by the March 31 deadline.  This session "discussed" 
nearly half of the agenda items.  Some cease-fire groups are 
reportedly unhappy with the process and have submitted 
recommendations to the chair.  The GOB had some sharp words 
for dissenters as the current session of the National 
Convention ended.  The next NC session is projected to resume 
in May.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) Reports from delegates attending the National 
Convention (NC) indicate that the current session will recess 
on March 31, enabling the delegates to return home before 
Burmese New Year in mid-April.  The conveners have reportedly 
ordered the delegates to depart the venue by April 1, at the 
latest.  Some ethnic cease-fire group (CFG) delegates 
reportedly were permitted to leave the convention site on 
March 25 in order to return home to turn in their 
unregistered vehicles by the March 31 deadline set up by the 
GOB.  (Note: Many CFGs operate unregistered vehicles that 
were smuggled into Burma from Thailand or China.  End Note.) 
Although no official statements have been issued on when the 
NC will resume, some delegates are projecting that they will 
be called back in early May. 
 
3. (C) About half of the 15 agenda items were completed 
during this 6-week session of the NC.  Unlike the previous 
session (May 17 - July 9, 2004), this time the NC chair, 
secretary, and other officials lodged at the venue to try to 
 
SIPDIS 
quickly clear up misunderstandings and to speed up the 
process.  Some delegates optimistically believe that the 
remaining eight items can be "discussed" within a month, that 
the next session will be the last, and they can all return 
home for good before the monsoon starts up in June. 
 
4. (C) Reaction to the current NC session by the delegates is 
mixed.  One government delegate crowed that it was "a 
holiday" because all the papers were prepared in advance and 
there was no work for the delegates to do.  However, one 
ethnic CFG delegate complained that "nobody is free to 
express different opinions and the NC is of no use." 
 
5. (C) Some of the CFG delegates are reportedly disaffected 
with the NC process because their suggestions and requests 
made to the conveners did not receive responses.  They have 
been arguing for parallel, autonomous administrative and 
judiciary systems in their Special Autonomous Regions, an 
idea that the United Wa State Army (UWSA) first proposed in 
the earlier session.  (Note: Only about half of the 109 
"Other Invited Guests" from the ethnic CFGs attended the NC, 
reportedly downsizing their delegations for "security 
reasons" (reftel).  End Note.) 
 
6. (C) According to a credible report, in response to the 
CFGs' written proposal for separate administration and 
judiciary, Major General Khin Aung Myint, a member of the NC 
Commission and the Director of Psychological Warfare of the 
Ministry of Defense, summoned the delegates from six major 
ethnic CFGs to a meeting on March 29.  He crudely scolded 
them like a group of naughty schoolboys and demanded to know 
who was behind the document.  He told them that "all your 
activities have been noted down and attempts to change the 
course of the NC are to no avail," and the NC will not accept 
their suggestions.  He warned them to "shut up" if they were 
interested in maintaining their organizations and businesses 
in the future.  He further stated that after the NC is over 
they must all surrender their weapons. 
 
7. (C) Comment: The GOB appears determined to push through 
its version of "disciplined democracy" regardless of internal 
or external opinion.  At the same time the CFGs, although 
they are uncomfortable with the process, do not appear to be 
prepared to take a stand and call the NC the farce that it 
is.  The GOB has succeeded in dividing the ethnic CFGs and 
distracting them by offering them continued business 
incentives.  All that remains is for the GOB to emasculate 
the CFGs militarily and politically by disarming and 
dismantling them.  It is unclear how the CFGs would react to 
that end-game scenario.  End Comment. 
Martinez