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Aung Gyi, Burma's general of ill om



Re: Aung Gyi,Burma general of ill omen
======================================

That's interesting. It will also be interesting to find out why he did 
not show any sign of dissent inside the country this time,though.
 

He is simply a loner this time and I don't believe he or his NUP party 
will ever get any support from the general public.  

Minn Kyaw Minn
==============

 

>From notes@xxxxxxx Tue Oct  6 17:51:45 1998
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>Date: 06 Oct 1998 17:04:28
>Reply-To: Conference "reg.burma" <burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: Aung Gyi, Burma's  general of ill omen
>To: Recipients of burmanet-l <burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>
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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.
>
>
>


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