Shortly before Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai revealed at Wednesday’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministerial retreat in Jakarta that he met imprisoned Myanmar democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during his recent secret visit, news website PanOrient News posted a controversial report on the meeting.
The report, citing anonymous sources, claimed that the detained leader told Don that “she neither recognizes nor supports the PDF or the NUG accused by the government of Myanmar of ‘terrorism and the killing of innocent people.’”
NUG is an acronym for Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government that was formed with elected lawmakers from Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party and their ethnic allies. The PDF (People’s Defense Force) is the NUG’s armed wing. Both enjoy popular support and have been trying to topple the military regime following the coup in 2021.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s alleged statement on the NUG and PDF, as quoted by PanOrient, triggered widespread confusion. But observers were quick to express suspicion that the quote had been concocted, pointing out that the democracy leader expressed support for the anti-regime resistance movement in a message she delivered through her former aide Sean Turnell. Others questioned the accuracy of the report, saying it echoed the regime’s narrative of branding the NUG and PDF as terrorist organizations.
Also, in his comments at the retreat, the Thai foreign minister mentioned nothing about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi referring to the NUG and PDF during their meeting.
A few clicks on the internet were all it took to shed light on the shady PanOrient outlet and its connections with the junta.
In May this year, the news outlet’s president, Khaldon Azhari, arrived in Naypyitaw for a meeting with the junta’s foreign minister Than Swe and information minister Maung Maung Ohn. Their talks focused on cooperation in the media sector and upgrading of junta mouthpiece English-language newspapers.
Many observers are now convinced the junta is using PanOrient to spread misinformation about the democracy leader with the aim of driving a wedge between anti-regime resistance forces, the NUG and the people of Myanmar.
NUG foreign minister Daw Zin Mar Aung wondered whether the news outlet is on the regime’s payroll for disinformation, as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has always said she would never go against the people’s will and would stand with them.
“So, for such a person, the question of whether she supports the NUG or the PDFs is totally unnecessary. The one thing that’s sure is that the junta is desperately trying to spread disinformation,” she said.
She also said if the junta really wanted to know whether the civilian leader supports the NUG and PDFs, it should give her the freedom to speak her opinion freely.
“What they should not forget is that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is still the NUG’s State Counselor,” Daw Zin Mar Aung added.
