VOA News on Burma

[tun@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

DATE=        JUNE 2, 1995
TYPE=        EDITORIAL
NUMBER=      0-06393
TITLE=       BURMA'S THWARTED ELECTIONS

CONTENT=THIS IS THE ONLY EDITORIAL BEING RELEASED FOR BROADCAST 
JUNE 2, 1995. 

ANNCR:
THE VOICE OF AMERICA PRESENTS DIFFERING POINTS OF VIEW ON A WIDE 
VARIETY OF ISSUES.  NEXT, AN EDITORIAL EXPRESSING THE POLICIES OF
THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.

VOICE:

    This year marks the fifth anniversary of the first free 
elections  in burma in more than thirty years.  On may 27th, 
1990, the national league for democracy won nearly sixty percent 
of the valid votes cast and over eighty percent of the 
parliamentary seats.  The message of the election was clear:  by 
an overwhelming margin, the burmese people wanted a parliamentary
democracy to replace the military junta that ruled the country.

    The junta had seized power in september 1988 after an 
unprecedented popular uprising ended the long misrule of the 
burma socialist program party.  In imposing direct military rule,
burmese troops brutally suppressed countrywide demonstrations.  
Thousands of opposition figures, including members of parliament,
were detained or exiled.  In july 1989, aung san suu kyi, a 
leader of the national league for democracy, was placed under 
house arrest.

    Believing that the opposition had been thoroughly 
intimidated, the junta felt safe in holding elections.  But the 
generals in rangoon miscalculated.  They underestimated the 
resentment of the burmese people at years of economic stagnation 
and political repression.

    After the people of burma made their political will clear by 
voting against the junta, the junta refused to accept the 
election results.  The military regime arrested opposition 
leaders not already in detention.  Hundreds of thousands of 
burmese citizens were forcibly driven from their homes and 
resettled in remote rural areas, often lacking basic necessities.
Ethnic minorities suffered forced labor, deportation, rape, 
torture and summary execution.  Basic civil liberties for all 
burmese citizens were severely restricted.

    The bayonets of the burmese military have proven a poor 
substitute for the ballots cast by the burmese people.  Once 
again, the united states calls on burma's military rulers to 
release aung san suu kyi and all other political prisoners and to
engage in dialogue aimed at an early restoration of democracy.

ANNCR:

    THAT WAS AN EDITORIAL EXPRESSING THE POLICIES OF THE UNITED 
STATES GOVERNMENT.  IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE HEARD ON THIS ISSUE, 
PLEASE WRITE TO EDITORIALS, VOICE OF AMERICA, WASHINGTON, D-C, 
20547, U-S-A.  YOU MAY ALSO SEND US A FAX AT (202) 619-1043.  
YOUR COMMENTS MAY BE USED ON THE AIR.

01-Jun-95 2:23 PM EDT (1823 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
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