US embassy cable - 03RANGOON195

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, Human Rights 
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