Myanmar opposition defies govt with

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Subject: Myanmar opposition defies govt with new panels 

Myanmar opposition defies govt with new panels
07:08 a.m. Dec 11, 1998 Eastern
YANGON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Myanmar's opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD) defied the military government on Friday by announcing the
formation of 10 separate policy groups under its ``Committee Representing
the Parliament.''

The NLD, led by charismatic Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, said
in a statement the sub-committees would decide on a range of issues from
finance, international relations to social affairs.

Suu Kyi was named Secretary of Nationalities Affairs while NLD deputy leader
Tin Oo would lead a sub-committee on military affairs, it said.

The statement gave no reason for the formation of the new groups but they
are likely to provoke an angry response from the military government which
has accused the NLD of trying to subvert the constitution by setting up its
Committee Representing the Parliament.

The NLD says the committee represents members of parliament elected at
Myanmar's last democratic elections in 1990. The NLD won that poll by an
overwhelming margin but the result was ignored by the military.

The opposition party threatened in August to convene the parliament but the
military government responded with a swift crackdown, detaining many
hundreds of NLD members and representatives across the country.