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

NEWS - Myanmar Government Rejects O



Myanmar Government Rejects Opposition Parliament

            Xinhua
            18-SEP-98

            YANGON (Sept. 18) XINHUA - The ruling State Peace and
            Development Council (SPDC) of Myanmar on Friday poured scorn
on
            moves by an opposition "People's Parliament" to take over
the
            government of the country. 

            An government statement issued here said, "The government of
            Myanmar noted with interest the announcement by the National
            League for Democracy (NLD) on September 17 that it has
formed a
            10-person committee that will serve as a parliament to
govern
            Myanmar. 

            "It is also interesting to learn that the NLD has decided
that all laws
            enacted in Myanmar since September 18, 1988 are illegal,"
the
            statement added. 

            "It remains unclear which responsibilities of government
this new
            committee intends to take over, what its policies are, or
how it intends
            to implement those policies." it pointed out. 

            "Will the committee also serve as the judicial and executive
branches
            of government, or only as the legislative branch? Under what
            constitution will it govern? Will it defend Myanmar
sovereignty? Will it
            send envoys to other countries?" it added. 

            "While the NLD's committee puzzles over these issues, the
current
            government will continue to shoulder the real
responsibilities of
            governing Myanmar, and will continue the National Convention
that is
            writing a constitution that will lead to a stable,
sustainable democracy
            in Myanmar," it concluded. 

            Although the NLD won 396 out of 485 parliamentary seats in
the 1990
            general election, the ruling military argues that the
formation of a new
            parliament requires a new constitution. 

            A national convention began to work on a new basic law in
1993, but it
            has been suspended since 1996. 

            Aung San Suu Kyi, the general secretary of the NLD and the
most
            famous Myanmar dissident, was under house arrest for six
years until
            1995. 

            Besides establishing the "People's Parliament" to exert
pressure on
            the ruling military, the NLD also demanded the unconditional
release
            of all political prisoners.