Aung San Suu Kyi's choice. Andrew Selth is a research fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute. In some ways, it is easier and safer to be a critic on the sidelines than to become an active participant in the formal political process. Yet, not to do so when an opportunity presents itself risks continuing powerlessness, a loss of credibility and possibly even irrelevance. This has been the dilemma faced by Burma's main opposition party and its charismatic leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. On 18 November, however, the National League for Democracy (NLD) announced that it would re-register as a political party and compete in the country's forthcoming by-elections for 48 vacant seats. According to news reports, Aung San Suu Kyi herself is considering standing as a parliamentary candidate. The decision to re-register was described as unanimous, but clearly there are still serious concerns within the NLD, and among its supporters.
This will not be easy. It is said that politics is the art of compromise. Suu Kyi offers help for ceasefire. DEMOCRACY advocate Aung San Suu Kyi has been testing the boundaries of her political freedom, offering to help the President resolve long-running armed clashes with ethnic insurgents and reportedly considering a sanctioned tour into rural Burma next month. Her letter sent on Thursday to President Thein Sein and the ethnic leaders called for a ceasefire, and offered her services. "I am ready to do as much as I can to support the ceasefire and the peace process," the Nobel laureate said.
But the founder of the largest political opposition party in Burma said any useful co-operation with Ms Suu Kyi was nearly impossible because her National League for Democracy was not legally registered as a political party and the government was bent on trying to stymie her political activities. "They (the government) do not think of them as a legal party," he told The Weekend Australian. "She can give a speech as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, but not as a leader of the NLD. National League for Democracy. Suu Kyi Seeks Relationship with China | Sinocentric. 2008-07-14 - CONTINUING THE PURSUIT OF DEMOCRACY IN BURMA. Viewing cable 08RANGOON557, CONTINUING THE PURSUIT OF DEMOCRACY IN BURMA Understanding cables Every cable message consists of three parts: The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable.
It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section. To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference. Discussing cables If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Aung San Suu Kyi: the unseen photo album | World news | guardian.