Suu Kyi urges rejuvenation of her party at rare meeting

The detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday called for the reorganisation and rejuvenation of her ageing political party, triggering speculation that it might be considering taking part in next year's controversial election.

The Nobel laureate was permitted to leave the lakeside house where she is imprisoned to meet three senior and elderly members of her party and to tell them she wanted to make crucial changes in the leadership of the National League for Democracy. The three members of the NLD’s central committee all reportedly agreed.

“We heard from our senior members that Aung San Suu Kyi told them she wanted to reorganise the central executive committee of the NLD,” the party’s spokesman, Khin Maung Swe, told reporters. “In reply, the senior leaders told her that they definitely agreed on the party’s reorganisation.”

While elderly people are highly respected in Burmese culture, the ageing nature of the senior command of the NLD and the divide between its leading officials and a younger generation of supporters has long been a source of concern for some democracy activists. Apart from Ms Suu Kyi, who is 64, and Khin Maung Swe, 67, the other members of the party’s executive committee are aged in their 80s and 90s and many of them are said to be ill. The three members who took part in the meeting yesterday were NLD chairman Aung Shwe who is 92, secretary U Lwin, who is aged 86, and 88-year-old Lun Tin.

After the meeting, U Lwin, said: “She asked the leaders for permission to reorganise the central executive committee of the party, which we agreed to.”

The actions of Ms Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the last 20 years under house arrest, with interludes in prison, had led some analysts to wonder whether she may be preparing the party for a general election scheduled for next year.

While the junta that rules Burma claims the vote would mark an important stage in a move towards democracy, many campaigners say it would merely cement their position. Under the new constitution approved last year, the military would hold 25 per cent of seats in the new parliament, and would reserve the right to dissolve it. The NLD has not yet decided whether or not to participate in the poll. “That is the $1,000 question,” Derek Tonkin, who heads the UK-based group Network Myanmar, said of whether or not the NLD will participate. “In regard to the reorganisastion of the party I think it’s about time. I think that the party leadership should have replaced itself.”

Ms Suu Kyi’s term of house arrest was extended earlier this year after a US citizen swam across a lake and entered her home, allegedly breaching the terms of her detention. Most observers saw it as a gratefully-accepted opportunity for the junta to keep her out of the way ahead of the election.

But the opposition leader has remained active from inside her home, writing to the senior general Than Shwe and seeking – and obtaining – his permission to meet with senior foreign diplomats to learn more about the sanctions imposed on the country. It was in a similar letter, that Ms Suu Kyi sought permission to meet with the senior leadership of the NLD, explaining that she want to make “the NLD’s activities more active and effective”. The democracy leader, who reportedly bowed in front of her senior colleagues and offered them a basket of gifts, has also asked for a meeting with Than Shwe himself, saying it would be in the interests of Burma.

The moves come as the US has been working to renew its relationship with Burma, opting for a policy of engagement rather than isolation. While the US has kept a series of sanctions in place, senior diplomats have visited Burma in a policy shift that the administration of Barack Obama hopes will increase its leverage and influence over the junta.