Letter from Burma (No. 9) By Aung San Suu Kyi
BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA FOR BURMESE POLITICS "Congress"
Mainichi Daily News, Monday, October 20, 1997The 27th of September is the anniversary of the founding of the National League for Democracy (NLD). Nine years ago on that day, U Tin U and I went to the offices of the Multi Party General Elections Commission to register our party. I have only a vague recollection of the occasion: sitting at a table exchanging courtesies with the staff of the commission, putting my signature to relevant papers. That was how it all began.
The history of the NLD has been a turbulent one. We started as an amalgamation of three forces. Chairman U Aung Gyi, a well known retired brigadier headed one group which included politicians, retired army officers and businessmen. Deputy Chairman U Tin U, one time commander in chief and defense minister, headed the group which was made up entirely of retired armed services personnel who had gathered together to work for democracy as "patriotic old comrades."The group that I headed was made up largely of writers, lawyers, doctors, teachers and technicians. U Aung Gyi and his followers left the NLD within a matter of months and founded their own party. U Tin U became the chairman and the two remaining forces in the NLD gradually merged into a cohesive whole. The early days of the NLD were hectic ones. Before we managed to rent a nearby house for our office, my home was used as the unofficial headquarters of the party. Even after we acquired our official quarters much of the work still had to be carried on in my house and came to be divided into three realms: one for the NLD, one for my mother who lay ill and one for my private use. As party activities increased, we put up thatched, bamboo sheds in the garden and transformed part of the garage complex into storerooms and living quarters for the staff. An unfinished building in the garden was also patched up to provide accommodation for some young people who had come together as an informal political organization during the revolutionary days of August 1988. The front hall, dining room and pantry of my house were transformed into reception rooms and offices.
Going across from the offices to the part of the house where my mother lay was like entering an oasis of quiet medical care. Her room opened out on to a verandah and had a pleasant view of the lake through a tangle of palms and casuarinas. The doctors, nurses and friends attending to her were soft spoken and cheerful and the calm atmosphere provided a welcome change from the turmoil of political work.
The rooms on the first floor that I so grandly referred to as my private realm were in a state of chaos in those days. All the furniture and bric a brac that had to be removed from the rooms used for the NLD and for my mother were brought upstairs so that it was a little like an overstocked second hand shop. (It was only after I was placed under detention that I had time to bring order to the chaos and to create a comfortable study
and bedroom, the two rooms where I spent most of the six years of my house arrest.)
My house is at number 54 University Avenue and the first NLD headquarters was at number 44, so it was just a few minutes walk away. This made University Avenue a busy political thoroughfare. A couple of tea shops sprouted in the area and various food vendors took up position along the street, providing ready meeting points for our workers and visitors.During the three days of the water festival of 1989 when the party organized a
competition of rhyming choruses and satirical skits which is traditional during that time of the year, the road was blocked with an audience of thousands. Some would come early in the morning with a packed lunch so they could sit through the day long performances and motor traffic had to be diverted.The political activities in the street came to an abrupt halt after I was placed under house arrest in July 1989. The office had to be moved a few months later as the landlady did not feel in a position to renew the lease.
It was only on a few rare occasions during the next six years that I had the sense that anything was going on in University Avenue. There was the time just before the elections of May 27, 1990 when a car went slowly past my house making the announcement that supporters of the NLD should vote for the Democracy Party. I had been put up as the NLD candidate for the area, but the candidate of the National Unity Party (the erstwhile Burma Socialist Program Party) had lodged an objection on the grounds that I was married to a non Burmese and that I had received support from the foreign media.
His objection was rejected by the township elections commission, but it was accepted by the Rangoon division commission. Consequently, the NLD was left
without a candidate. On May 26, 1990, arrangements were made for me to cast
my vote at home, one day ahead of the elections. Keeping in mind the announcement I had heard a few days previously I voted for the Democracy Party, an act which filled me with a tremendous sense of solidarity and satisfaction.Such a sense of solidarity and satisfaction must have been experienced by the millions who went to the polls the next day to vote for a democratic government. But as it became obvious that he authorities had no intention of honoring the results of the elections disillusionment began to set in.
And as the people saw their hopes of a quick transition to democracy fading, the street outside my house seemed to grow quieter. The only times that I was aware of any ctivity were during the water festivals when carloads of young people doing the rounds of the water throwing stations shouted out greetings to me as they went past. University avenue became more lively after my release from house arrest, especially at weekends when our
supporters gathered to hear U Kyi Maung, U Tin U and I speak about the political economic and social conditions within our country. Bu the authorities placed increasing restrictions on the activities of the NLD, culminating in December 1996 with a blockade of the road to my house.Thrice over the last 18 months, the authorities have interfered with our plans to hold a party congress. The first time in May 1996, our elected members of Parliament who had been invited to attend the congress were arrested. The second time, in September 1996, NLD members who had come to attend the congress arranged to be held at my house were denied entry.
Again in May 1997 when we arranged another congress, the authorities adopted
similar measures. As September 1997 approached, we discussed plans for yet another
congress. After studying the situation from all angles we decided that we would persist in our determination to exercise our fight as a legally registered political party to hold periodic meetings. The response of the members of the NLD who were invited to the congress was most heartening.Even knowing full well that there was no guarantee that the meeting would take place and that they might be courting arrest, they came in their hundreds from all over the country, defying the monsoon rains and floods, rising transport costs and, in some cases, the threats of their local authorities. Their courage and dogged perseverance were rewarded: this time we were able to hold our congress. Of course there were still some hitches an some harassment but the authorities were more cooperative than they had been for a long time. We sincerely hope that this the beginning of a more enlightened era of politics in Burma.
Aung San Suu Kyi
