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Wired News: Suu Kyi working to uni



Subject: Wired News:  Suu Kyi working to unite party (Reuter)

    By Deborah Charles
     RANGOON, July 20 (Reuter) - Ten days after being released from six years of house
arrest, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is working to ensure her party is united and
behind her as they renew their quest for democracy in Burma.
     On Thursday, six years to the day that Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested by the military and
placed under house arrest for "endangering the state," she continued meetings with fellow
democracy leaders to plot their course of action.
     Diplomats and opposition leaders say Aung San Suu Kyi's first priority must be to
reorganise her National League for Democracy (NLD), which has suffered factions and
leadership problems over the past few years, if she hopes to make any progress with the
military regime.
     "The party must consolidate its position. Then try and work things forward," a diplomat
said. "They need to decide what they want to talk to the regime about."
     Diplomats said the military had the strategic upper hand because they have had years to
plan what to do after releasing Aung San Suu Kyi, while the party was taken by surprise.
     The 50-year old Nobel Peace Prize-winner has been surrounded by top members of the
NLD party she co-founded since she was released on July 10.
     The NLD emerged in 1988 as Burma's main opposition party, supported by millions who
took to the streets in pro-democracy demonstrations that were brutally suppressed by the
military with heavy loss of life.
     Aung San Suu Kyi's outspoken attacks on the military's methods resulted in her July 20,
1989, arrest but the NLD swept 1990 elections anyway, winning more than 80 percent of
parliamentary seats.
     The ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) refused to honour the
election results and silenced those NLD members who had not already been detained with
further arrests or intimidation.
     Aung San Suu Kyi believes her party will be able to regroup and launch dialogue with the
SLORC.
     "We are a very disciplined organisation despite the fact we've been limping along due to
circumstances beyond our control," Aung San Suu Kyi said.
     First she must conquer opposition members' fears and suspicions of their military rulers,
calling for caution while also asking for support.
     "Wait with patience, have a strong will," Aung San Suu Kyi told hundreds of people
gathered at her front gates this week. "Be clever and be careful not to do anything wrong."
     Diplomats and opposition leaders say although Aung San Suu Kyi is urging caution and
patience, the situation could again turn ugly if the military does not agree to dialogue and the
opposition decides to turn to the streets and demonstrate.
     "If SLORC says they won't dialogue, it could lead to another step, a period of agitation,"
one opposition leader said. "But agitation in a totalitarian state could lead to disaster."
     A student supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi agreed.
     "There could be a lot of problems or a lot of good things in this country," he said. "It
depends on Aung San Suu Kyi. If it explodes this time we have to expect the worst."
  REUTER