Events of 2001. "Burma is ruled by a highly authoritarian military regime. Repressive military governments dominated by members of the majority Burman ethnic group have ruled the ethnically Burman central regions and some ethnic-minority areas continuously since 1962, when a coup led by General Ne Win overthrew an elected civilian government. Since September 1988, when the armed forces brutally suppressed massive prodemocracy demonstrations, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), a junta composed of senior military officers, has ruled by decree, without a constitution or legislature. The Government is headed by armed forces commander Senior General Than Shwe, although Ne Win, who retired from public office during the 1988 prodemocracy demonstrations, continued to wield informal influence..."