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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.