CRDB: D-DAY FOR DEMOCRACY IS FAST A

[FreeBurma@xxxxxxx]

Subject: CRDB: D-DAY FOR DEMOCRACY IS FAST APPROACHING

                    The Committee for Restoration of Democracy in Burma












                                                                     November
30, 1995

                  D-DAY FOR DEMOCRACY IS FAST APPROACHING

(Statement of the Committee for Restoration of Democracy in Burma endorsing
the Decision of the National League for Democracy to walk out from the
National Convention)

Whether Burma will be liberated from the despotic rule of military dictators
in our lifetime may well be decided in the coming weeks.  Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi, after her attempts to establish a dialogue were thwarted, has now openly
confronted the military regime.  Her success is totally dependent upon the
active support of the people she represents and the international community.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has selected the time and place to initiate the
offensive for democratic rule.  By choosing the so-called "National
Convention" for the attack, she has exposed the duplicity and total absence
of any intent to "transition to democracy" by the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC).  That it has been seriously wounded can be seen
from the idiotic blather of the National Convention Commission's press
release of 28 November, 1995.

SLORC has described Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's attack as an attempt to:

---" cancel the basic principles laid down by the National
Convention..........."

SLORC is correct.  Since the NLD received over 80 percent of the votes in the
May 1990 elections, the NLD, not SLORC, must "lay down the basic principles"
for any convention to draft a new constitution.

---"to recognize with persons they like so as to be able to lay down
principles as the party likes;"....

SLORC is basically correct except that the NLD does not want "persons they
like" as much as persons who were elected to represent the people.  

---"To lay down new methods and procedures to be followed in the National
Convention and carry on as they like."----

SLORC is absolutely correct.  The NLD believes that decisions should be made
after discussion, not before; that members of the convention should be able
to talk freely among themselves and to speak their own minds, and not to be a
mouthpiece for General Ne Win and his henchmen.

---"further disruption of the National Convention...."------  Again, SLORC is
correct.  The National Convention must be disrupted since it is an illegal
gathering, for illegal purposes, to seek confirmation for ill-gotten gains.
 The NLD, as the elected government of the people (as opposed to the
Occupation Forces) has an obligation to take whatever action is necessary to
protect them from attempts to make military domination a permanent fixture in
our society.

SLORC is now preparing its counter-attack against the NLD.  From our
experience and current observations, SLORC is making an assumption about our
commitment to political reform.  SLORC is assuming that, like in the past,
when opposition leaders are removed, our people will cower when confronted
with physical abuse by the state.  They believe that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and
the struggle for democracy can be separated from the public by torturing
several hundred supporters, beating up several thousand demonstrators and
posting tens of thousands of soldiers with bayonets in towns and cities
throughout the country.

In this critical hour, SLORC must receive a credible notice that Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi is not alone in her struggle and will not be separated from her
people or her international supporters.  No message can be more powerful than
a notice that if Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is arrested and confined to her home
again, the entire population of Burma will share her confinement by confining
themselves to their homes or monasteries and refusing to work.  Without the
cooperation of the people, SLORC will collapse.  The international community
should shun SLORC throughout the world, acting in ways to indicate that SLORC
does not exist -- no invitations to international meetings, no foreign aid,
no business contracts, no tourists, removing accreditation to   all military
officers assigned to foreign embassies, and expelling SLORC from the United
Nations.

The farmers, workers and students, the opposition leaders of all
organizations, the doctors, lawyers and businessmen, all, must prepare to
answer the call to join in this struggle between the forces of freedom and
forces of evil.  When Daw Aung San Suu Kyi says "I am not afraid," it is
 clearly evident.  When she tells SLORC "I am not alone,"  it must also be
clearly evident. 

---------------------end.