To Hopeland and Back ( Day Two )
Day Two, Thursday,
3 March 2016
When dealing
with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with
creatures of emotion.
Dale Carnegie
MiCasa (My Home)
hotel is where we are meeting today. It is the 5th bi-annual meeting since the
Committee for Shan State Unity (CSSU) was formed over two years ago. A belated
one, you may say, because previously scheduled for August 2015, the nationwide
campaigns for the November elections had intervened.
It is also the
first time it is being held inside the
country, as pointed out by Sao Yawdserk, the outgoing annual chair of the
alliance, during his opening address.
Among the high
profile participants, apart from him, are Hkun Tun Oo, Gen Hso Ten, Sao Gaifa,
Sai Nyunt Lwin aka Sai Nood, Sai Leik aka Sai La and Peun Kham Payakwong, the CSSU’s outgoing secretary. Also obvious
by his absence is Sai Ai Pao, leader of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party
(SNDP), although he is reported to be in Rangoon
The reason for his
non- attendance is spelled out by an
explanatory note from the party which is read out by Peun Kham:
The Central
Committee’s tenure ended on 31 January and the party has fixed 20 March for its
new election. In the meanwhile, there are no CC members to represent the party,
it says.
Then comes the
report by the Secretary General. The crowning success of the CSSU, according to
him, is marked by the agreement on the 12 guiding principles for Shan State
It has also begun
coordination with non- Shan groups, notably, PaO, Intha and Danu, with the aim
to invite them for membership during the upcoming bi-annual conferences.
The cardinal aim
of CSSU is to put forward a common proposal to the Union Peace Conference.
Below are the excerpted
comments on the report by the other participants:
·
The
report has little or no analysis of current world and internal situation. This
needs to be improved in future conferences.
·
The
world used to have a Yugoslavia Shan State
Next on the item
is the relinquishment of the chair to the conference that has to elect a new successor.
According to Peun
Kham, the SNDP is next in line. Moreover, it had already agreed last year to
take over from the RCSS. However, due to its non-attendance and the CSSU can’t
go forward without a chair, the meeting, after a debate, passes a resolution to
hand over the chair to the next, next in line, the SSJAC. Hkun Tun Oo himself
rises up to accept the office, saying, “ I’m already chairing the SNLD, SSJAC,
UNA (United Nationalities Alliance) and
the 1990 winning parties coalition. What’s more, our party is likely to lose
some of our hardworking leading members to the new government to be formed. But
I had never sidestepped duty when it was given. And I’m not going to do that
now.”
The burly Hkun Tun
Oo receives a huge applause from the meeting.
Before the meeting
adjourns for the day, there is an unexpected visit, in the form of problem. An
official directive says the conference cannot continue without permission.
I accompany Sai
Nood, Sai La and Sai Kyaw Nyunt (SNLD member and secretary to the Union Peace Dialogue
Joint Committee) to the Western District GAD (General Administrative Department).
The GAD, as most
readers informed about the country, permeates the whole administrative system
up from the President’s Office down to the village level.
Takes us half an hour
to get there and another hour to meet the officer, who’s assigned the job of
explaining why it can’t grant permission. At least he is polite and patient,
even if he is practically saying no to his visitors:
·
The
application (which was written two hours ago) is not in order. No letters of
recommendation from the ward and the township police concerned.
·
In any
case, the district GAD’s job is to submit the application upstairs. It is only the regional chief minister’s
office that is empowered to give a decision.
The organizing
committee’s initial reaction is to go ahead with the conference at the hotel (tomorrow,
it will be at Summit Parkview). “And if there is a showdown,” one of the
organizers says, “everyone will know democracy in this country is but the
emperor’s new clothes.”
However, sometime toward
the evening, the hotel management informs the committee that it has been warned
by the authorities not to allow the conference to be held within its premises.
Everything thus
seems to be in limbo when I get back to the hotel.
By SAI KHUENSAI / Director of Pyidaungsu Institute and Founder of Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N)
All views expressed are the author’s own
Download PDF file: 12 guiding principles for Shan State
Tags: Opinion
