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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
==============
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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
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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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