Aung Gyi, Burma's general of ill o

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Editorial & Opinion 

      Aung Gyi, Burma's
      general of ill omen

      The recent trip of Brig-Gen Aung Gyi to the
      United States have given Burma-watchers
      new things to think about. Aung Zaw writes. 

      RETIRED Brig-Gen Aung Gyi was once
      known as Gen Ne Win's heir apparent.
      Recently Aung Gyi surprised dissidents and
      Burma-watchers by visiting the US and
      meeting several Burmese, including a visit
      to the popular radio station Radio Free
      Asia (RFA). 

      Though no one exactly knew the real motive
      of the former general's appearance in
      Washington, Burma's dissidents believe
      that the ruling junta, the State Peace and
      Development Council (SPDC), had given
      the green light to Aung Gyi for a PR trip. 

      Aung Gyi was number two in the
      Revolutionary Council (RC) after Gen Ne
      Win staged a coup in 1962, but his sunny
      day did not last long. He was ousted in
      1963 when he openly criticised the RC's
      economic policies. 

      But the retired general remained loyal to the
      army, and his connection with 'the Old Man'
      remained intact. It was a rare case for a
      police state like Burma to pardon Aung
      Gyi's blunt criticism of the government. 

      Prior to the nationwide democracy uprising
      in 1988 Aung Gyi had written several long
      and open letters to his former boss Ne Win.

      He strongly criticised the government's
      Burmese Way to Socialism and warned of
      possible social unrest and uprisings. In
      addition Aung Gyi's letters, which were
      widely distributed throughout the nation,
      called for reform. 

      Frustrated with the Ne Win regime,
      students cheered Aung Gyi's letters. His
      predictions were right as Burma faced
      nationwide uprisings. Aung Gyi was
      somehow a hero. Again, his popularity did
      not last long. 

      He proved to be a bad politician. He failed
      to win the hearts and minds of the Burmese
      people as he remained a staunch supporter
      of Ne Win and the army. During the
      massacre in 1988, Aung Gyi irritated the
      people who came to listen his speech by
      saying: ''We must not feel bad about the
      army,'' adding: ''not even in your minds''.
      People were surprised and angry as the
      army had just killed thousands of street
      demonstrators. 

      Just before the army staged a bloody coup
      in September 1988 he told a crowd that he
      guaranteed that the army would not stage a
      coup. ''I will kill myself, [if the army staged a
      coup]'' the retired general declared. A few
      days later he was wrong again as tanks
      rolled into cities, killing hundreds before
      staging a bloody coup. 

      In 1993 he was sentenced to six months for
      not paying a bill for eggs for his bakery
      shops. At that time analysts believed that
      the real reason behind this was Aung Gyi's
      criticism of the government. 

      This time again, dissidents in exile agreed
      that the re-emergence of Aung Gyi, once
      dubbed a loose cannon, was significant. 

      ''Something is really up in Rangoon,'' says
      Thar Nyunt Oo, a prominent activist now in
      exile. 

      Recently in an exclusive interview with
      Washington-based RFA Aung Gyi
      lamented: ''The country's economic
      situation is very, very bad. The people are
      so poor, and the prices are going up and
      up. No one can afford to eat good meals.'' 

      When asked about the army, he said:
      ''People despise the tatmadaw [armed
      forces]. This is a bad sign. The people of
      Burma have lost faith in the tatmadaw.'' He
      later talked about the corruption and
      nepotism of the top junta leaders. While the
      generals are filthy rich, Aung Gyi warned,
      the army is divided, and the generals
      cannot even feed their own soldiers. With
      this Aung Gyi impressed dissidents at
      home and abroad. 

      However, finally Aung Gyi showed who his
      real target was: popular democracy leader
      Aung San Suu Kyi. He said Suu Kyi was
      surrounded by ''communists'' and blamed
      her party for doing nothing. The junta
      leaders made the same accusations as
      Aung Gyi. 

      In fact Aung Gyi, together with Suu Kyi,
      founded the National League for
      Democracy (NLD). He became a chairman
      of the party. Then a few months later he
      resigned from the party ovewr a
      disagreement with party secretary-general
      Suu Kyi. 

      He later established his own political party,
      the Union National Democracy Party. He
      lost in the 1990 general elections. 

      In his interview Aung Gyi blamed the NLD
      party for boycotting the National Convention
      (NC), which is engineered by the military
      government. Aung Gyi said the NC was a
      meaningful process towards a better
      Burma. 

      After listening to Aung Gyi's interview,
      dissidents and Burma-watchers concluded
      that Aung Gyi had been given special
      permission to criticise both the SPDC and
      NLD while promoting Ne Win and
      militarism in Burma. Before leaving
      Rangoon, Aung Gyi wrote to Ne Win and
      his favourite daughter Sandar Win. His
      letter to Sandar read: ''It is undeniable that
      your father must lead the country again. It
      will disintegrate otherwise.'' In his lengthy
      interview, Aung Gyi promoted Ne Win's
      role, saying 'the Old Man' should come
      back to help solve long-standing problems
      in the country. 

      He said Ne Win was the only person who
      could save the country. ''I want U Ne Win to
      contribute something before he dies,
      because he knows what is right and
      wrong'', Aung Gyi said. 

      He also admitted that ''the Old Man'' was
      still influential as the former dictator had
      ordered his cronies to change the name of
      the government and reshaped the Cabinet
      in 1997. 

      At all events, dissidents in exile found Aung
      Gyi's interview stimulating. ''The information
      in the interview was useful in that we can
      now examine the different factions in the
      army,'' said a prominent 1988 student
      leader. 

      ''He was echoing the junta's policies and
      saying nothing constructive,'' said Aung
      Moe Zaw, chairman of the Democratic
      Party for a New Society, now based on the
      Thai-Burmese border. 

      ''If he wants to see national reconciliation in
      Burma he could be more constructive, but
      he is still pro-Ne Win and anti-Suu Kyi,''
      Zaw Htun, a 25-year-old activist, said.
      Though many disagreed with what Aung
      Gyi said, they acknowledged the fact that
      his re-emergence was a bad omen. 

      Essentially, Aung Gyi always appears just
      before the storm. ''Aung Gyi never comes
      but he brings misfortune,' student leader
      Moe Thee Zun lamented. One thing is sure,
      Aung Gyi knows his timing and always
      appears before the explosion. 

      Aung Gyi and Burma's dissidents agree on
      one thing, that Burma is like a volcano that
      could erupt at any time. 

      Aung Gyi thinks Burma's long-standing
      problems could be fixed with the help of the
      ageing Ne Win, who is reportedly gravely ill
      and being treated in Singapore. 

      He insisted that Ne Win was the engineer
      who could rebuild the nation. ''If he knows
      something is wrong, he will fix it'', Aung Gyi
      declared. Yet the Burmese do not believe it.
      ''Ne Win never fixed it and let it go for 26
      years until Burma became one of the
      poorest countries,'' countered Thar Nyunt
      Oo. ''I think they [the generals] are paranoid
      and desperate: that's why they picked Aung
      Gyi for the PR trip'', he added. 

      Will Ne Win rise again and reconstruct the
      Burma that he ruined? Is Ne Win ready for a
      historic handshake with Suu Kyi, who
      happens to be the daughter of his former
      boss Gen Aung San? 

      Indeed the questions for Burma are ironic
      and sad. A Bangkok-based dissident
      jokingly says: ''Who wants to save Burma?
      It's like a sinking Titanic.'' Instead of fixing it
      and sending an SOS, it seems the former
      captain is ready to go down with the ship.