[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Myanmar opposition vows to convene



Myanmar opposition vows to convene parliament as call goes out for revolt

       Fri 21 Aug 98 - 12:36 GMT 

       YANGON, Aug 21 (AFP) - Myanmar's main opposition said Friday it would
form a new government by convening
       the parliament elected in 1990 but never allowed to sit as a major
dissident group urged a national uprising against
       the junta.

       "The National League for Democracy (NLD) will be convening a parliament
soon," the leading opposition party of
       Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi said in a statement.

       The statement did not say when it would be formed nor where it would
sit.

       The NLD call came as another leading Myanmar opposition group called
for a nationwide revolt after the junta
       failed to convene parliament.

       The Thailand-based All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF), one of
the biggest and most influential of
       opposition groups, said the junta had ignored the will of the people
and the international community by failing to
       hand over power to pro-democracy forces.

       "We therefore call on the people to begin an uprising, starting August
21, to bring democracy and human rights to
       Burma," the ABSDF said in a statement, using the former official name
for Myanmar.

       "We believe that there is no reason to continue to ask the military for
democracy and that the only way forward is
       through a people's movement."

       The NLD, which led the opposition to a landslide victory in 1990 polls
but has never been allowed to take power,
       had demanded the junta convene parliament by Friday or face unspecified
consequences.

       "The parliament been invested with powers. As representatives of the
people they must take on these
       responsibilities," the NLD said.

       "Given the prevailing situation today the parliamentarians have the
responsibility to draft a future constitution along
       democratic lines.

       "By failing to fulfill their obligations of convening this parliament
the authorities have ignored the desire of the
       people but they have have rescinded on their promises made earlier,"
the statement said.

       "The National League for Democracy has a responsibility to convene
parliament," it said.

       A junta spokesman said he had not seen the statement and declined to
comment: "We have nothing to say at the
       moment."

       Foreign diplomats said the NLD was serious in its pledge to form a new
parliament.

       "They gave their deadline," said one western diplomat.

       "The govermment predictably ignored them so they had to act," the envoy
said, adding: "Now we have to wait for
       the government's next move."

       Aung San Suu Kyi was camped out on a bridge 25 kilometres (15 miles)
from Yangon on Friday for a 10th
       consecutive day after being blocked from travelling to meet provincial
supporters as the junta ignored her protest
       and her deadline for convening the parliament, foreign diplomats said.

       The capital remained calm with no increased security presence other
than extra traffic police outside schools, where
       university exams are being staged for the first time since campuses
were closed after unrest in December 1996.

       Yangon markets have been abuzz with rumours that unrest will erupt if
the junta fails to convene parliament. There
       have also been widespread rumours of the impending release of key
political prisoners following the Tuesday talks.

       Truckloads of troops have been deployed late at night at strategic
locations this week in what residents said was an
       apparent bid to discourage any form of protest.

       The junta Friday showed no signs of bending in the last hours before
the NLD deadline for it to convene parliament,
       an ultimatum issued nearly three months ago, but the capital was calm.

       "They don't want to give anyone any reason to complain, about traffic
jams about anything," a resident said.

       Yangon's streets were quieter than usual amid an atmosphere of
apprehension, and truck drivers refused to leave
       Yangon to deliver supplies to outlying areas because of fears of
unrest, residents said.

       "I wouldn't say it is tense," one resident said.

       "I would say it is cautious."

       Exiled Myanmar opposition groups called for a campaign of mass civil
disobedience if parliament was not
       convened Friday.

       In Geneva, a UN human rights body Thursday urged the Myanmar government
to ensure the security of Aung San Suu
       Kyi and members of the NLD.

       A resolution on human rights activists adopted by a UN subcommission
requests Myanmar authorities to "in
       particular guarantee her freedom of movement and expression."

       The resolution, backed by 21 of the subcommission's 24 experts in a
secret ballot, also urges the government to
       allow the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar to visit the
country.

       In Bangkok, some 30 exiled Myanmar students maintained their vigil
outside Yangon's embassy to support the call
       for parliament to be convened.

       In Myanmar, the kyat currency has hit new lows amid the rising
political tensions.

       The kyat was trading at around 380 to the dollar in Yangon's black
market Friday, against 150 to the dollar before
       Asia became embroiled in an economic crisis last July and an official
rate of six kyat to the dollar.

                                                                              
          ©AFP 1998

____________________________________________________________________
More than just email--Get your FREE Netscape WebMail account today at http://home.netscape.com/netcenter/mail