A crowd of more than 500 people, including National League for Democracy (NLD) party members, poets, cartoonists, students and members of the Islamic community, turned out for a rally on Sunday in front of Rangoon City Hall to voice their support for Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Burmese leader has been under fire recently, at home and abroad, in particular for her apparent inability to deal with the escalating crisis in Arakan State that has seen hundreds of killings in recent months, and some 400,000 refugees streaming into Bangladesh.

Speaking to DVB from the rally site in central Rangoon yesterday, Mya Aye of the Peace and Open Society said that, “The ongoing crisis, involving racial and religious tensions, civil war, and inflation, did not just happen under the NLD government; it has been going on for decades under former administrations.

“Putting the burden for all these decades-old problems on the shoulders of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is synonymous to blaming the concept of democracy itself,” said Mya Aye. “I, for one, cannot accept such a reaction.”

Also yesterday, the NLD Complaints Department released a statement saying that “misunderstandings” among party members have been the main cause of more than 200 complaints lodged against incumbent ministers and MPs over the past 18 months since the party came to power.

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“Most cases are misunderstandings between party members and executive committee members and ministers,” said Dr. Myo Nyunt, the chairperson of NLD’s Complaints Department. “Ministers are very busy. We have a policy that they should attend regular meetings; however they cannot attend township-level meetings at the same time. Often they take actions without consulting the executive committee, and that is one of the most common complaints.”

Myo Nyunt said the Department, which consists of three staff, is reviewing complaints against a number of ministers, including a chief minister.

Pyae Phone Aung contributed to this report.