CPB Urges Search for Moderates within the Tatmadaw

By WAI MOE

In a message from its base in China, the Communist Party of Burma has urged pro-democracy activists to persuade moderates within the Burmese armed forces to change sides and support the opposition National League for Democracy.

In an analytical report, the CPB, banned in Burma, hailed the NLD as the central force of Burma’s democracy movement and welcomed the party’s long-term plans.

“We have to organize patriotic soldiers in the current Tatmadaw [the Burmese armed forces],” the CPB said.

The present situation in the world and in Burma in particular could make such an undertaking possible, the report said. Moderate forces within the Tatmadaw had to be organized in times when it wasn’t cracking down on the democracy movement.

Prodemocracy forces had to seize a “pre-emptive chance,” acting on the mandate obtained by the NLD in the 1990 election, the CPB said.

The 1988 uprising had not been successful because there had been many centers of opposition, and that was still the case, the CPB report maintained.

The CPB said it opposes of the idea of a parallel government. “The CPB opposes forming a parallel government either in exile or inside Burma,” it said.

Exiled organizations working for Burmese democracy had no roots in Burma and survived on “donors,” “proposal politics” and “lobby politics,” the report said. Because of this reliance, dissident groups were unwilling to cooperate with the CPB, it complained.

“Surprisingly, we see people inside Burma who are being oppressed by the junta committed to struggle, while exiled Burmese not under oppression choose a ‘surrender policy,’” the CPB said. Its use of the term “surrender policy” is interpreted as a reference to those politicians who support the current constitution and plan to participate in the 2010 election.

The report predicted that the Burma political progress would proceed gradually, and it urged pro-democracy groups to look for long-term plans.