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AFP-Exiled Myanmar MPs say oppositi



Exiled Myanmar MPs say opposition pressure could split military
Thu 17 Sep 98 - 07:01 GMT 

BANGKOK, Sept 17 (AFP) - Myanmar's government-in-exile said Thursday the
opposition's planned convention of parliament could split the powerful
military and called on the international community to support the move.

The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) said
pressure from the opposition was creating serious cracks within the
military which could lead to the collapse of the junta.



Speaking on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the military's seizure of
power, NCGUB Justice Minister Thein Oo said the National League for
Democracy (NLD) was close to fulfilling its promise to convene the
parliament elected in 1990, despite what he called the worst crackdown on
dissidents since 1988.



The NLD under Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi won 80 percent of the seats
in the election but the junta has refused to relinquish power and arrested
hundreds of democracy advocates.



"We can guess from our information that something crucial is about to
happen (in Myanmar)," Thein Oo told AFP in Bangkok.



"If the provisional government is formed there's the possibility that the
people will come out strongly in support in the way it happened in the
Philippines," he said, referring to Corazon Aquino's provisional parliament
in 1986 which, backed by a "people power" movement, toppled then-president
Ferdinand Marcos.



Thein Oo, speaking earlier at a press conference here, said there was "huge
dissent" in the Myanmar military's lower ranks, who were ready to join any
groundswell of popular and international support for the proposed
parliament.



"With the reality of the situation in Burma at the moment ... I'm sure this
would split the army in a very effective manner," he said.



He said the economic situation in Myanmar was deteriorating rapidly, with
the vast majority of soldiers poorly paid while the generals in the ruling
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) became wealthy.



The NLD -- Myanmar's main opposition party -- Wednesday announced the
formation of a 10-member representative committee to convene the assembly
sometime this month.



NLD chairman Aung Shwe was named head of the 10-member committee, of which
party general secretary Aung San Suu Kyi was a member.



The NLD said the committee would carry out the mandate of 251 of the
parliamentarians remaining from the original 485 elected in 1990.



The junta has said the move would be illegal and has rounded up hundreds of
NLD members in the past few days, according to the opposition.