SLORC: "Politics is dead"

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

 Burmese government daily KYEMON Article by Sein Beida: "Politics is 
Dead" in Burmese, July 4, 1996,  p. 6

[Translated Excerpt] The people had no one to turn to during the anarchic 
events of 1988 when there were beheadings, murder, looting of warehouses, 
and destruction of state-owned factories.  The people then had no 
security.  " When the Defense Services, which have a glorious tradition, 
intervened and took control of the situation, I was very thankful to 
them, both for myself and for the country. [passage referring to the 
author as a former member of the Defense Services omitted]

I again thank the Defense Services for not yet transferring power to the 
party that won in the free and fair elections held by the SLORC [State 
Law and Order Restoration Council] government. [passage omitted on 
gratitude to the SLORC]  If one asks why I am grateful to the SLORC 
government for not transferring power after the elections, I will refer 
to the reply to a foreign journalist by the so-called NLD [National 
League for Democracy] spokesman and former officer of the Defense 
Services [U Kyi Maung] at the time when they were excited about their 
victory following the elections.

The journalist asked if leaders of the Defense Services heading the SLORC 
government would be tried in Nuremberg-fashion after the formation of the 
new government, following the transfer of power.  Without much thought, 
the one who answered said that members of the SLORC would be tried 
immediately for their crimes in a tribunal.

Everyone knows that at the Nuremberg trials the British and U.S. allies 
gave death sentences to German and Italian defendants who started the 
Second World War.

Regardless of the country and the government, the country will be 
peaceful and the government will stay in power longer only if the 
government and the respective Defense Services are compatible with each 
other.  If they are incompatible with each other, then the country will 
certainly suffer and the Defense Services will certainly stage coups and 
there will be martial law in the country.  So the government has to 
restructure the Defense Services so as to transform them into a pocket 
army of the government.  If there are senior military leaders who do not 
want to side with the government, then the government has to demote them 
or retire them.  If necessary the government has to send them to jail.  

The government has to appoint reliable personnel to the important 
positions.  These are inevitable procedures that have to be carried out.
Let's say the power is transferred to the NLD, the winning party in the 
election.  What do you think they are going to do?  We don't need to ask 
this question because they have already said what they are going to do 
even before assuming power.  They will arrest the SLORC members and 
cabinet members.  They will not spare the regional military commanders, 
chai=en of the state and division law and order restoration councils, and 
battalion commanders.  It would be like this: Now we have the upper hand 
and we'll teach you a lesson.  They hold enormous grudges.
They have to do this when they come to power because they know they can 
lose their newly-attained power.  They know the Defense Services can 
cause trouble from a close distance.

Therefore, it is certain that their priority is to strive to restructure 
the Defense Services so as to transform them into a pocket army.  But 
the-point is whether the Defense Services will allow them to do what they 
want without saying anything.

Our Defense Services personnel are not stupid.  The now-defunct socialist 
party brained and educated us for years, so we have considerable 
political ideology and vision.  Under the organization of the Defense 
Services leaders, we also share a spirit in which we will always be 
united despite attempts to disintegrate the Defense Services.

I am not yearning for the socialist era.  Although the socialist era 
slowed down the development of our country, it is true that it also 
benefited the country.

I cannot say for sure that all of our Defense Services personnel are 
smart.  There may be some black sheep.  Due to the current situation, the 
battalions and units of the Defense Services may defect and go 
underground when the party that gains power tries to restructure the 
Defense Services.  Under such circumstances, they will seek assistance 
from their stepfathers' [foreign powers] military units to suppress the 
underground battalions and units.  The foreign troops will arrive very 
swiftly.  Think; what will happen?

Everyday it is becoming clear that their party is a puppet party, that is 
acting in accordance with the orders of the Western masters, there are 
receiving assistance from here and there, and acting like insolent 
slaves.  How much does the No.1 party leader [referring to Aung San Suu 
Kyi] love her race and country and maintain the prestige of her race?  
Has she done anything constructive for the country and people?
The old soldiers who are in [NLD] second leadership positions used to be 
our superiors; they once loved the country and took pride in being 
socialists during the heyday of the Burma Socialist Program Party.
They are not the same now.  They have no shame and are not aware of the 
extent of their betrayal of the national cause.  Their brains and eyes 
are being weakened by power and dollars.

I draw a lesson from their plight.  The former generals and brigadier 
generals, who were once invaluable to the country and who gave us 
commands, are now leaning on?the fringes of the sarong of a 
race-destroying woman, who is merely basking in another's [father's] 
glory.  If they come to power, then the internal peace, which took many 
years to obtain, will disintegrate and the plight of the country will be 
ten times worse than that of Bosnia.  They will invite their stepfathers 
to come in to take control of the situation.  It will be a good 
opportunity for a group of imperialists looking for a military case in 
Southeast Asia. [passage omitted on Burmese women marrying foreigners]
It is not my imagination; what I am saying is the truth; it will 
certainly happen.  The state leaders have better vision than I do.  The 
international community -- which criticized the SLORC for not 
transferring power to the party that won the election -- has now 
considerable understanding of the SLORC's goodwill and undertakings.  
This is why I thank the SLORC government.

In the midst of all this, there are people who are dissatisfied with the 
government for not transferring power to them.  She abuses the goverment 
and says various things while taking advantage of the SLORC's 
magnanimity, tolerance, and forgiveness; and these people think her act 
is an act of bravery and she has the true blood of her father.  They 
demonstrated for and demanded an open-market economic system by creating 
disturbances.  When prices go up due to the profit-oriented merchants and 
when people face difficulties, they blame the government.  They believe 
that prices will go down when an Aung San Suu Kyi gover=ent comes into 
power.  They think food, drinks, and consumer products will arrive in 
bulk aboard the ships and airplanes from the Western countries.

On 27 May 1996, they brazenly planned to demand the transfer of power by 
inviting the elected representatives of the party to the conference; they 
also devised a plan to cause disturbances and to create unrest like the 
one in 1988 by brinqinq the people on streets.  The foreign broadcasting 
stations, -which only air a lot of lies, also instigated accordingly.
The government knew about it and prevented the situation in time.  Now 
the towns and districts are covered with noise from people tumultuously 
denouncing those who are wicked and who crave power.  It is shameful that 
they are given titles such as traitorous minions and race destroyers.  I 
would commit suicide if I were given such titles.
The politics of the destructionists is dead.  Don't think about making a 
living by engaging in politics and don't try to take a short-cut in this 
country.  Politics is dead.

End text.