The question “what NLD must do now?” is in vague today. Among the NLD members (active or dormant or ousted), among the sympathizers, among its allies and its opponents, among the worrying people, during the official meetings or during private talks, in the rooms of CEC members or in the tea shops, inside the country as well as outside, this question is being posed, dismissed or responded, discussed, argued, counter argued with passion or with indifference, hotly or calmly, extensively or in short, deliberatively or dismissively, without getting any consensus or decision. And the real decision maker cannot be reached.
This kind of confusion had been met many times before during the lifetime of NLD but the present criticality can be matched only by that of July 1989. On the 22nd of that month the head office of NLD (then at 54 University Avenue) was reopened after having been raided together with Daw Aung San Su Kyi‘s home on the 20th. Suu’s faction had already been seriously hurt. The wreath laying ceremony to be held on the 19th as a mass moment had to be cancelled to avoid mass killing. All the original CEC members from outside, including Daw Aung San Su Kyi were detained or missing. U Tin Oo, the general we trust was also detained. We had already learnt that there was serious disagreement between Daw Aung San Su Kyi and U Tin Oo’s faction at the meeting on the 17th. And one most important decision therefore was left to be made.
When I arrived at the table where Pegu Division organization committee sat, Daw San San New (Tharawaddy), the best selling woman writer of the time was already there. After exchanging information about the general situation, she suddenly asked me “should NLD continue to exist?” I was taken aback. She was (is still) an author of realism school. Now she was posing an existential question. Was she too much depressed? No, she was very composed, only philosophical perhaps. But she continued without waiting for my answer. “Whom are we struggling for?” “Why can’t we leave the scene?” And let the army, national Unity Party, the veterans ( U Aung Gyi and U Nu) settle the old score among themselves? What are we struggling for? For power or for justice? What is more important for a party, its organizational structure or its spirit- what she said butterfly in Burmese?”
Then she expounded her own thesis, “I think if we now play in the power politics, the spirit of “88” will be harmed. The readiness to sacrifice and fight for justice, the courage to speak up for the truth, these are more important than the body organization. We can dispose this body now and reincarnate later with the same pure spirit and soul and then go on again.
She chose a wrong person in me for a discussion partner as I was a bureaucrat- an organization man. Later on, her philosophical questions were dismissed even by our own faction for what we believed was the most important question “shall we enter the election?”And the rest is history; a history of NLD which can be abridged into one word “survival”.
Does the history repeat itself, now that we are facing the same situation? I don’t know but I think those existential questions of Daw San San Nwe are still relevant and I would to propose some answers.
First, let us consider the existence of NLD as a legal organization. The NLD as an organization has no material possession other than the 2000sq ft of rented floor space and some office equipments at the head quarters. All other offices in the whole country have been closed and sealed. The material existence of NLD therefore is not indispensible. What the NLD party have, besides its legality, are its still undaunted active or dormantor ousted members, allies and sympathizers and the trust between them- in brief human and its spirit. But the spirit is not only with NLD, it is still alive with all other democratic activists and many Lay people inside or outside the country. The most precious possession of NLD an organisation is the 1990 election result and the status of the winning party as recognized by the international community and the United Nations.
Regardless of the SPDC’s intention or action, NLD must not dissolve itself, otherwise the status of the winner of 90 election will be lost. At the sometime it is not morally possible for it to accept the “2008 constitution” or run in the “2010 general election”. That means it definitely cannot register as a political organization if a new political party registration law were enacted by the SPDC. So it’s future legal existance is seriously in doubt.
Even if NLD were illegalized, it must hold on to the 1990 election result. That means that none of the NLD’s MP must run for the 2010 election or lead any politicat party that register for that election. They must be tied to the original NLD so that the international community and UN could continue their action, the result of which is becoming more and more dubious. Nevertheless as NLD renounces violence, armed struggle or any other underground activities are out of question for those MP’s. They may hibernate meanwhile and wait for the time to wake up.
So what about the rest of the organizers and members of NLD and other activist. I think they must form a new political party-not a league- a party with a base as broad as possible and with definite policies and program specifying what it will do in the both houses. If the new party registration law required separate division and state parties, those type of parties must be formed with our people. Our parties must recognize the legitimacy of other parties and treat them as equal. They must run for the 2010 elections in all the consstituencies for all the houses of parliament and assemblies.
Oh yes, the authorities and USDA will try to rig the result just as in the “ referendum”. But keep in mind that it will be an election and not a referendum. So there must be canvassing, there can be our men at the polling station, the voting result of each polling station may be publicly announced and therefore nation wide monitoring can be mobilized. Most important of all is that as there can be a change the electerate will not be passive or pathetic, they will be motivated.
Who will lead the parties. The first prerequisite is that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi must tacitly endorse them but she cannot lead or openly support them( otherwise the 1990 election result will be vanished in the popular opinion). Ditto for the present MPs of NLD. If Daw Su sets against the parties they will be in big trouble. So before everything, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s opinion must be sought after.
You will say that my reasoning is circular( In burmese “you arrived at the same station”-like in circular railways). But that is my point. For an organization not only the body and spirit are important, its face(symbol, name, brand, identity-what you call ) is also crucial.
NLD must try to get access to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
[A member of parliament]
