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.