Suu Kyi Vows To Defy Myanmar Gov't

[RANGOONP@xxxxxxx]

Suu Kyi Vows To Defy Myanmar Gov't

 .c The Associated Press 

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has vowed before
500 well-wishers at her home that her party will defy the government and
convene parliament, her supporter said Sunday. 

Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, has been warned by the
government that attempting to convene the parliament -- elected in 1990 but
never allowed to take power -- will be illegal and result in long prison terms
and a banning of the NLD. 

Tin Oo, an NLD vice chairman, said that Suu Kyi had received about 500 people
Saturday evening at her lakeside compound, where she has been recovering from
low blood pressure, weakness and other ailments since ending her 13-day
roadside standoff a week ago. 

``Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has told her party members that the NLD will convene a
parliament by itself,'' Tin Oo said. ``She appealed to NLD members to support
and help realize the convening of the parliament.'' Daw is an honorific. 

Suu Kyi, 53, the winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, spent 13 days parked in
a van on a bridge outside Yangon in protest after the authorities prevented
her for the fourth time from traveling to the provinces to meet supporters. 

The confrontations are one of the few political tools available to Suu Kyi.
The military has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962 and brooks
little dissent. 

The recent protest coincides with the 10th anniversary of a nationwide
uprising against military rule. It was crushed by troops, leaving an estimated
3,000 people dead. The recent agitation has not prompted Myanmar's frightened
people to return to the streets. 

The ruling State Peace and Development Council rejected an Aug. 21 deadline
set by the NLD to call the parliament. The party has said it will do so
unilaterally, though Suu Kyi has given no clear date. 

Suu Kyi, Tin Oo and NLD Chairman Aung Shwe met leaders of Myanmar's ethnic
minorities Saturday and discussed the moves to convene parliament, which
amount to a direct challenge to the legitimacy of the military government. 

An ethnic minority leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Suu
Kyi explained that the move is not illegal, as the government has said. 

The NLD won 392 of the 485 seats at stake in the 1990 elections, while ethnic-
based parties won more than 60. Faced with a crushing defeat for pro-military
parties, the ruling generals refused to relinquish power. 

They instead said that a new parliament would have to await a new
constitution. The committee they called to draft it has not met in two years.
The NLD has boycotted it since 1995, saying it was stacked in favor of
prolonged military r