Myanmar regrets Suu Kyi snub of national ceremony
Myanmar regrets Suu Kyi snub of national ceremony
YANGON (Agencies): Myanmar's military government said on
Friday the nation regretted opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's
absence at a national ceremony commemorating the murder of her
father -- a snub widely seen as a political statement.
Suu Kyi failed to show up at the official Martyrs' Day
ceremony in Yangon on Thursday, fueling fears that landmark peace
talks between the 56-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner and the
ruling generals are in trouble.
"The nation regrets her absence and the government has nothing
to say but to respect her decision," a government spokesman said
in a statement.
The government made clear it was surprised that Suu Kyi had
boycotted the event, which marks the 1947 assassination of her
father, independence hero General Aung San, and eight other
cabinet ministers. They were killed during Myanmar's transition
to independence from Britain, when Suu Kyi was just two.
"The government expected Aung San Suu Kyi to attend the
Martyrs' Day ceremony," the government said. "In fact, upon the
government's invitation, Aung San Suu Kyi always attended this
ceremony in recent years."
The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has been
holding regular secret meetings with Suu Kyi since October in a
bid to break the political deadlock that has gripped the
impoverished country for more than a decade.
Speculation over whether Suu Kyi would attend Thursday's
ceremony at Yangon's Shwedagon pagoda raged ahead of Martyrs'
Day, which commemorates the deaths of national founder General
Aung San and eight other leaders.
The Nobel laureate, who has been held under loose house arrest
since September, chose to send a high-level delegation to
represent her, in a gesture which fell short of a snub to the
military government.
Diplomats and political observers said the opposition leader's
move appeared to be directed at the house arrest restrictions
rather than the historic talks with the junta which she embarked
on last October.
"She's sending messages about her own situation as much as
anything else," one diplomat said.
"And it was interesting the choice was to let the NLD
(National League for Democracy) be represented by people who were
actually free to travel. I think she's making a point there."
Suu Kyi's NLD won elections in 1990 by a landslide but has
never been allowed to govern.
No news on the progress of the talks has emerged, but the
military has extended several olive branches since the start of
the talks, releasing more than 150 detained NLD activists and
allowing the party to reopen 18 of its branch offices.
"On account of the recent positive developments taking place
between the SPDC government and the NLD party, the government
believes that the road for better understanding and cooperation
has been paved (and is) optimistically anticipating for the
best," the government statement said.