They also said that since the party decided in March to boycott the election, the party’s “Uncles” have stopped attending party meetings.
Suu Kyi steps into the fray at a time when the NLD desperately requires fresh ideas and strong leadership.
Engaging with the USDP
Perhaps a clear and prudent first move would be if Suu Kyi could convince the new government to release political prisoners as a goodwill gesture. The new parliament will include politicians that Suu Kyi will have to work with in the future. At the same time, Naypyidaw will be looking for options to legitimize its rule and “The Lady” could help pave the way.
To Suu Kyi, the enemy is within. She needs to reform the NLD—it is no longer the party that faced down the military in 1988 and won the election in 1990.
Second, she needs to reach out to the military leaders—more so to the new generation of military cadres who will take over the reigns of power when Than Shwe and his aging clique have left the stage.
Daughter of Burma’s independence hero, the charismatic 65-year-old Oxford University graduate is now standing at a historic juncture. To progress, she must surround herself with good, wise, dedicated people who are not self-serving—heroes like herself.
Together they must agree on a long-term game plan and be prepared to negotiate and work with Than Shwe’s successors. Suu Kyi must personally send a clear and genuine message to the army rank and file that she accepts and respects the military as a major stakeholder in Burma’s future.
Suu Kyi’s call for a Second Panglong Conference is fine; but she needs to establish solid backing from the ethnic groups, including the major ethnic armies that have been disenfranchized from the political process for so long.
Currying Favor Abroad
Third, Suu Kyi must also make herself and her party available to Burma’s neighbors and trading partners, most notably China. In another cable published by WikiLeaks, a senior Chinese official who met with a top US diplomat in 2008 is reported to have indicated that Beijing was “fed up” with the Burmese junta for “foot-dragging” on reforms.
In another dispatch, US officials described a luncheon between the then chargé d’affaires in Rangoon, Shari Villarosa, and former Chinese Ambassador Guan Mu, who reportedly acknowledged to her that the regime “has done nothing to improve the lives” of the people in Burma.
The Chinese ambassador went on to say that Beijing had repeatedly pressed Burmese officials to “speed up the political dialogue and warned them that the international community would not accept any backtracking,” the dispatch said.
Another 2008 cable boosted the sense that Washington and Beijing somehow shared a common policy toward Burma—to improve its economy and, in turn, its people’s livelihoods. This international situation is an advantage to Suu Kyi and one she can exploit now that she has re-emerged as a national figure.
As Buddhists say: “Nothing is permanent”— the regime and Than Shwe will not last forever. It means there must always be a leader-in-waiting, someone the people trust who is able to ride the current waves of uncertainty.
Suu Kyi’s destiny is to be that leader. She has already won the hearts of the people; now she must win the minds of everyone else.
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