Shan party twiddling its thumbs

Shan party twiddling its thumbs

Aung San Suu Kyi's Shan State visit 

Many members of the Shan State-based party of Khun Toon Oo that won the largest seats in its home state have expressed their displeasure of not being informed of Aung San Suu Kyi's surprise visit to their home ground, according to sources from eastern Shan State. 

"Two days prior to the start of her tour, we had held a meeting with them," said one female member of Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, quoting her source in Rangoon, "and we weren't told anything about it." 

The SNLD, led by Khun Toon Oo, a scion of the former Hsipaw princedom, and Sai Nood a.k.a. Sai Nyunt Lwin, its general secretary, won 23 seats in 1990 in Shan State, while the NLD came to a close second with 22 seats, nearly half of them ethnic Shans. 

"If she were going to Arakan or Kachin and didn't notify us, we would understand," said the same source. "But we have been allies even before she was taken into house custody in 1989. This is clearly a breach of diplomacy". 

This latest expression of grievance is not the first time the Shan party has made. On 9 July, Khun Toon Oo, commenting on the reopening of NLD offices in Chin State, had warned Rangoon's sanction of NLD's political activities in non-Burman states at the expense of local parties, could end in total absorption by the NLD, according to RFA. His remark had drawn a friendly fire from The Lady herself, according to the SNLD source in Rangoon. 

Khun Toon Oo himself has refused to comment this time, said the female source. 

Members, at the same time, conceded that the complaint did not mean the end of the "Grand Alliance". "We still need each other," said a male source. "But all parties should take great care not to rock the boat." 
The NLD and several non-Burman parties have since 23 October revived the Committee Representing People's Parliament, the group that would act as a legislature before a parliament implementing the 1990 election results emerges, according the CRPP secretary, U Aye Tha Aung. It was formed in 1998 when hopes that the junta would respect the election results evaporated. 

Update: 

18 November 2002

The reason for the SNLD's complaint is two fold, added the SNLD source: "First, we were made to feel like a subordinate member of a partnership, who is being humored like a spoilt child but on no account is allowed to meddle in his elders' affairs. Second, the adverse effect on our voters. They gave us the mandate but Aung San Suu Kyi, technically an outsider, is doing something for them however small it is, while we remain helpless. It really looks bad on us."