Myanmar Junta Names Liaison to Aung San Suu Kyi

BANGKOK Oct 8th: The military junta in Myanmar has named its deputy labor minister to act as a liaison with the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the government announced Monday. It said Deputy Labor Minister Aung Kyi, a retired general, would act as "liaison minister" but did not elaborate on what this liaison would involve. State television said the appointment followed a recommendation by a United Nations envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, during a visit to Myanmar last week.

Analysts have voiced concern that the junta would take cosmetic steps to try to deflect international concern over its violent suppression of huge pro-democracy protests. An unknown number of Burmese were killed during the peaceful uprising and hundreds were arrested. Since the demonstrations were crushed late last month, the government has been carrying out night-time searches and arrests, and state media said Monday that arrests were continuing. In an earlier concession to international demands, the junta's leader, Senior General Than Shwe, said last week that he would meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, but only if she renounced some of her demands, including her support for international sanctions against the regime.

It remained unclear whether the junta would open any real dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years. A commentary Monday in the government's English-language mouthpiece, the New Light of Myanmar, indicated that the government was not planning to release her from house arrest anytime soon, despite widespread demands from abroad. "The three demands of the protesters - lowering consumer prices, release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners, and national reconciliation - cannot be satisfied through protest," the paper said, using an honorific it has avoided in commentaries over the years. "Now, those responsible are making arrangements to draft the state constitution and collect the list of voters," it added. "When the state constitution is approved, the fulfillment of the three demands will be within reach." "The drafting of a new constitution is one of the steps on a "road map" that the junta says will lead to a form of "disciplined democracy," but the constitutional guidelines it adopted in August assured that the military would play the dominant role in any future government. The completion of a constitution and its approval in a referendum could still take many months or years, analysts said.
International Herald Tribune
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