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Bangkok Post : Suu Kyi sees next 2



Bangkok Post
July 25, 1998
Suu Kyi sees next 2 months as critical More than 40 NLD MPs arrested

Ralph Bachoe


Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has told the people of Burma that the next two months
will be a critical period for the country.

The Burmese opposition leader's reminder came after her National League for
Democracy set the ruling junta an Aug 21 deadline to reconvene parliament
in line with the 1990 general election the opposition won by a landslide.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been making this demand since May. The junta's
reaction has been to threaten the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize winner with legal
action for her statements. It said she was hampering the drafting of a new
national constitution by a government-appointed National Convention.

The All Burma Students' Democratic Front said more than 40 NLD MPs had
recently been detained "in connection with the NLD's demand to convene
parliament".

The so-called national convention has been an on-off affair since it was
inaugurated in 1993 with no new constitution in sight. The junta said it
would be democratic but at the same time insisted the military has a
leading political role to play.

During an interview with representatives of the European press and a
foreign NGO group, Aung San Suu Kyi said the people were afraid of military
intimidation and the military was itself afraid of the people.

"This fact must be made known to the Burmese people through the
international mass media," she told a German visitor at the July 15 meeting
at her home in Rangoon.

During the Aug 8, 1988 uprising, more than 3,000 people were killed by the
military. But in December 1996, when students at the Yangon Institute of
Technology demonstrated in support of a student union, no one was killed.
The street demonstrations, the biggest since 1988, ended after the students
were subdued by water cannon. Schools and universities were closed on Dec 9
but some have been partially reopened recently.

This, according to members of the European Union, is a great improvement on
the part of the military junta compared to that of the barbarism of 1988.
Burma observers say it is an indication that Slorc, or the SPDC, as they
are now known, are sensitive to criticism by the international community,
particularly universal condemnation of their methods of suppressing
dissent.

Aung San Suu Kyi said: "The people of Burma have nothing to fear nowadays.
Unlike 1988, we now have legally elected members of parliament who
represent the people." The Lady, as she is known, has displayed courage by
holding meetings with members of her party and using every opportunity to
make public speeches.

She concedes that political defiance by the people at home is not enough.
Pressure must also come from expatriate Burmese and the international
community, including the mass media, to ensure that the result of the 1990
election is realised and a democratic government is established in Burma.

The opposition leader said there were indications the junta also realised
the power of the international media and indicated the United States-run
Radio Free Asia may have been infiltrated by Slorc.

Her suspicions were aroused by an interview given by retired Brig-Gen Aung
Gyi with RFA on June 10 in Washington. Aung Gyi, while criticising the
military government, said Gen Ne Win was the only person who could save
Burma. He also said Aung San Suu Kyi should be sued for evading taxes on
monies granted her after winning the Nobel Peace Prize and other awards.

Burmese analysts believe Aung Gyi could not have given the interview
without the blessing of Slorc. He split with Aung San Suu Kyi after the
1988 uprising and had been jailed three times since the 1960s by the
military for his political beliefs.

Aung San Suu Kyi said the Burmese people should pay close attention to what
is being said on foreign radio broadcasts, namely Voice of America, British
Broadcasting Corporation, RFA and Democratic Voice of Burma, a student-run
station aired by Radio Oslo.