Soldiers perform a salute to mark Martyr's Day in Rangoon on July 19, 2009. (Photo: Getty Images)Only the representatives of 21 registered political parties have been invited by the Burmese authorities to attend Monday's Martyrs' Day ceremony at Martyrs' Mausoleum in Rangoon.
Several party leaders told The Irrawaddy that Rangoon Division's Union Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday summoned the leaders of 21 political parties—all of whose party registration applications have been approved—and asked them each to submit a list of party representatives who would like to attend the ceremony on July 19.
“The Election Commission asked all the political parties to submit lists of party members who would like to attend the Martyrs' Day ceremony,” said Aye Lwin, the chairman of the Union of Myanmar Federation of National Politics.
Only seven members from each party are allowed to attend the ceremony, he added.
Out of 21 political parties that were summoned by the EC, only 14 parties, including the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), attended the meeting. To date, 38 parties nationwide have been approved by the EC.
“The representatives of each party have a three-minute opportunity to salute and put wreaths on the commemoration site at the mausoleum,” said Phyo Min Thein, the chairman of the Union Democratic Party. “The wreaths must be sent to the respective authorities for inspection on July 18, one day before the ceremony.”
Martyrs Day commemorates the anniversary of the assassination of nine heroes of Burma’s independence movement—including Gen Aung San—on July 19, 1947, just six months before Burma regained its sovereignty from Britain.
Gen Aung San, the father of detained Nobel laureate and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, considered the father of Burmese independence, led the fight for colonial liberation from Britain, which had ruled Burma since 1885.
However, Martyrs' Day ceremonies have often developed into demonstrations of political confrontation between the Burmese military regime and activists since the 1988 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters across the country.
Neither Suu Kyi nor members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party have been invited to the event and are thought to be barred from attending, according to an NLD leader.
“We have not heard from [lawyer] Nyan Win whether Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been invited to attend the Martyrs' Day ceremony,” said Ohn Kyaing, one of the party's central committee members. “Maybe we're not allowed to attend the ceremony as we have not register to contest the election.”
He added that several NLD members will hold a small meeting at the house of Tin Oo, the party's vice chairman, to commemorate Martyrs' Day.
Suu Kyi has been barred from attending Martyrs' Day ceremonies at Martyrs' Mausoleum in Rangoon since 2002.
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