Burma Net News May 28, 1996

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------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: May 28,1996
Issue # 424

Noted in Passing:
	If the Japanese government says it works, show us the proof or 
	some proof of development toward democracy. Constructive 
	engagement does not help us to achieve democracy in Burma.
	- Aung San Suu Kyi reportedly told the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.
	(See JAPAN URGED TO RECONSIDER PLANS FOR AID)


HEADLINES:
==========
THE NATION:SUU KYI FEARS INDEFINITE JAIL FOR SUPPORTERS
THE NATION: BURMESE OPPOSITION CRITICAL OF ASEAN RESPONSE
THE NATION:SLORC UNCERTAINLY ON HANDLING SUU KYI DETECTED
THE NATION: JAPAN URGED TO RECONSIDER PLANS FOR AID  
THE NATION: KIM YOUNG-SAM BACKS BURMA DEMOCRACY CAUSE  
BKK POST: JUNTA SAYS REBELS BOMBED TRAIN
BKK POST: WHAT CAN THE BURMESE PEOPLE DO NOW?
MAINICHI SHIMBUN : SUU KYI VOWS TO STAY COURSE
ISBDA : HUNDREDS OF ARRESTS IN BURMA BESIDES THE NLD MEMBERS
BURMANET : BRIEF BUSINESS REPORTS
-----------------------------------------------------------

THE NATION: SUU KYI FEARS INDEFINITE JAIL FOR SUPPORTERS
May 28,1996
Agencies

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi predicted yesterday the 
military regime will detain some of her jailed supporters 
indefinitely and said her personal assistant had been thrown into 
a prison notorious for torture.

On the second day of an opposition conference Suu Kyi said that 
the ruling junta had arrested at least 262 members of her National 
League for Democracy (NLD).

Among the detainees were 238 delegates to the party congress, 
which was called to unite surviving opposition candidates who won 
392 of 486 seats in parliamentary elections held in May 1990. The 
regime never honoured the election results and many of the winning 
candidates have already been killed, jailed or driven into exile.

"There are indications that the authorities are going to keep the 
elected representatives for much longer than we thought," Suu Kyi 
said. "Some delegates have had charges placed against them."

The charges probably would stem from Section 5 of the Emergency 
Provision Power Act, which give the military authority to 
indefinitely hold anyone alleged to be a threat to the peace and 
security of the country. Suu Kyi said that it was "almost certain" 
that Win Htein, her personal assistant, and several members of the 
NLD's youth wing had been transferred to the notorious Insein 
Prison near Rangoon.

Win Htein was taken into custody last week, the last after he 
notified the international media of the government's mass roundup 
aimed at stalling the party congress, which comes on the sixth 
anniversary of the elections and was seen as a symbolic challenge 
to the legitimacy of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration 
Council (Slorc).

Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, defiantly said in 
her opening conference speech on Sunday that the party will hold 
several congresses _ implicitly daring the junta to repeat the 
mass repression and ignite a fresh round of world condemnation.

Asked how the detainees at Insein would be treated, Suu Kyi 
replied, "It depends on the people. Some aren't treated too badly, 
but others have had to live in harsher conditions. Some were 
forced to sleep on concrete floors, in cold rooms, without food."

The location of the detainees is unknown. The Slorc claimed last 
week that they were only being "questioned ... as guests of the 
government". None is known to have been released.

Regarding the congress, Suu Kyi said the delegate total had risen 
to 18 after "a very brave and enterprising member of parliament 
 ... made a lot of effort to get here."

She said the time had not arrived to discuss whether anyone could 
mediate between the opposition and the junta, and discretion would 
be required in any case.

In remarks carried yesterday by the state-controlled newspaper New 
Light of Myanmar, junta leader Lt Gen Khin Nyunt called Suu Kyi 
and her followers puppets of a US-led conspiracy to colonise 
Burma. The same newspaper ran an editorial calling the democracy 
movement "maggots that can eat away into the flesh".

The crackdown has focused international attention on Burma and 
brought fresh criticism of foreign companies eager to profit by 
helping the junta to develop Burma's economy, destroyed during 
nearly 34 years of military rule.

Suu Kyi, daughter of Burma's independence hero, Aung San, emerged 
as opposition leader during street protests in 1988 that crushed 
when troops killed hundreds of people.

The United States, Japan, Britain, Germany, France and Australia 
have denounced the crackdown, but Burma's Southeast Asian 
neighbours, eager to trade with Burma, have been more circumspect. 
The White House announced plans to send a special envoy to Europe 
and Asia in an attempt to coordinate a response. (TN)

***************

THE NATION: BURMESE OPPOSITION CRITICAL OF ASEAN RESPONSE
May 28,1996

Exiled Burmese opposition member expressed strong disappointment 
yesterday that Asean nations have remained silent about the 
ongoing military crackdown in Burma.

They also criticised the international community for its lack of 
an immediate response to the arrest and detention of over 250 
members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) 
since last Monday by the Burmese junta.

Tin Maung Win, vice president of the Democratic Alliance of Burma, 
which is a platform of a dozen of exiled Burmese dissidents and 
ethnic groups, said he was "discouraged and saddened" that only 
five nations had stood up to condemn the action of the ruling 
Burmese regime known as the State Law and Order Restoration 
Council (Slorc).

He said if the arrests of a similar number of MPs took place in 
countries like Malaysia or Thailand, "the whole country would be 
outraged" and the world community "would vocalise their 
condemnation of the action".

"But now it is happening in Burma, and it's so unfair about what 
is happening," Tin Maung Win, together with two other exiled NLD 
MPs and a representative of the Pa-O ethnic group, said yesterday 
in Bangkok.

He urged Asean countries to speak up against Slorc's suppression 
of the pro-democratic movement in Burma.

"I'm very, very discouraged and so saddened that Asean nations are 
distancing themselves and remaining silent over the recent 
developments [in Burma]. I think if they [Asean members] are 
really democratic countries, they should be move vocal about 
condemning this outrageous action," he said.

Maung Maung Aye and Teddy Buri, two of the 18 exiled NLD MPs who 
fled Burma and now take refuge in India, Thailand and the United 
States, urged the international community to join with domestic 
Burmese pressure and put forward harsher measures to force Slorc 
into dialogue with the opposition and ethnic groups.

Maung Maung Aye said pressure from the world community "Is very 
crucial at this stage" in order to force Slorc into releasing all 
political prisoners and these latest detainees, and to engaged the 
opposition in political dialogue.

He suggested that the international community boycott Slorc's 
campaign for a "Visit Myanmar (Burma) Year", discourage foreign 
investment in the Southeast Asian country, as well as refusing 
visas for the ruling Burmese military.

Tin Maung Win urged Asean, especially Thailand, to review its 
"constructive engagement" policy towards Burma, saying the recent 
mass arrests have proved that the controversial approach "was a 
total failure".

Also in Bangkok, about 50 Burmese students and dissidents staged a 
protest in front of the Burmese Embassy yesterday afternoon, the 
second rally in less than a week to protest at the Slorc 
crackdown. (TN)

***************

THE NATION: SLORC UNCERTAINLY ON HANDLING SUU KYI DETECTED
May 28,1996
Reuters

Burma's military government has sent mixed signals to the country
's re-invigorated democracy movement, suggesting there may be some 
uncertainty about how to deal with the challenge to its power, 
analysts said yesterday.

A day after National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San 
Suu Kyi defined government detention of NLD supporters and vowed 
to carry on with and even step up the campaign for democracy, the 
military rulers seemed uncertain how to respond.

Commentaries in state-run Burmese-language newspapers yesterday 
were at odds, one warning the democracy camp it was committing 
treason while another took a milder tone, even suggesting support 
for democratic principles.

"This dual track does generally reflect there are urgent 
discussions going on within the Slorc," one diplomat said, 
referring to the ruling military State Law and Order Restoration 
Council.

He and other analysts said the reaction, and government attitudes 
toward the weekend congress of NLD members, showed there could be 
some change to the Slorc hard-line tactics. The Slorc in recent 
months has attacked the NLD and tried to make life difficult for 
Suu Kyi and her party.

It imprisoned one of Suu Kyi's close friends and other NLD 
supporters, prevented her from going to Mandalay and made a steady 
stream of attacks in official media on the opposition.

In a crackdown launched last week, the Slorc seized more than 250 
NLD members who planned to attend the three-day party congress 
that began at Suu Kyi's lakeside home on Sunday. After widespread 
international condemnation of the arrests, Slorc spokesmen said 
the NLD members had only been detained for questioning because the 
meeting might lead to "anarchy".

"What happened last week backfired," one diplomat said. "I think 
they underestimated the NLD" Far from being cowed by the arrests 
of most of the members due to attend the congress, Suu Kyi opened 
the meeting on Sunday saying the NLD would increase its activities 
and hold a series of conference to plan party strategy.

"It seems the Slorc has bungled. Far from dismaying the 
opposition, they have given it more strength," said another 
diplomat, agreeing with a comment Suu Kyi made earlier last week 
that the Slorc could be the NLD's secret friend." (TN)

***************

THE NATION: JAPAN URGED TO RECONSIDER PLANS FOR AID
May 28,1996
AFP

Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi  has again urged the 
Japanese government to reconsider its  plan to resume aid loans to 
Burma, Kyodo News said yesterday.

"Japan is one of Burma's aid countries. And that is why it is 
important," Kyodo quoted her as saying on Sunday, the same day she 
addressed up to 10,000 supporters outside her home in Rangoon.

Suu Kyi reportedly said she wanted Japan to see how far the ruling 
junta would go in allowing democracy to develop before it approved 
a 20 billion yen (Bt 4.75 billion) loan for the expansion of 
Rangoon airport.

National League for Democracy (NLD) sources said that Suu Kyi 
asked Japanese ambassador Yoichi Yamaguchi to convey some of the 
democracy movement's requests to the junta at two meeting earlier 
this month.

The meeting took place on May 17 and 20, shortly before the junta 
began arresting NLD candidates who won seats in Burma's election 
in 1990.

Suu Kyi's remarks came only days after she reportedly criticised 
Japan and members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations for 
their of "constructive engagement" with Burma.

"If the Japanese government says it works, show us the proof or 
some proof of development toward democracy. Constructive 
engagement does not help us to achieve democracy in Burma," she 
reportedly told the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.

Japan has so far brushed aside calls to halt aid to Burma although 
Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda urged visiting Burmese counterpart 
Ohn Gyaw to release detained activists during talks in Tokyo last 
Friday.

Last Thursday, Chive Cabinet Secretary Seiroku Kajiyama said Japan 
would not freeze grants to Burma. (TN)

***************

THE NATION: KIM YOUNG-SAM BACKS BURMA DEMOCRACY CAUSE 
May 28,1996
Agencies

South Korean President Kim Young-sam yesterday expressed deep 
concern over the arrests of over 250 political activists in Burma, 
in what his aides called a rare comment on the internal affairs of 
another country.

"The president fully understands the situation of Aung San Suu Kyi 
and the opposition leaders, as he spent years under house arrest 
under military dictators from 1980 to 1983," presidential 
spokesman Yoon yeo-Joon quoted the president as saying.

"President Kim is concerned about the arrests of pro-democracy 
figures in Burma ... and expressed strong hopes that the Burmese 
government will continue its efforts for democratisation and 
respect human rights," Yoon added.

Kim, himself a former dissident, became South Korea's first 
elected civilian president in 1983 after three decades of military 
rule in south Korea. On several occasions he was placed under 
house arrest.

In a presidential Blue House statement issued yesterday, Kim 
expressed deep concern about the continuing virtual house arrest 
of Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel laureate and pro-democracy leader and 
said human rights should be respected.

"President Kim strongly called upon the Myanmar [Burma] Government 
to exert a greater effort for democratisation and respect human 
rights," it said.

The spokesman added that Kim, in a November meeting with Burmese 
Foreign Minister U Ohn Gyaw, had urged the junta in Rangoon to 
promote democracy and allow Suu Kyi political freedom.

Kim's comments came as Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy 
(NLD) held the second day of a party congress despite the arrests 
of 257 NLD activists.

The opposition roundup has been condemned by Western countries, in 
particular the United States, which has announced the appointment 
of an official to investigate the detentions. South Korean 
opposition leader Kim Daw-jung, who was jailed under past South 
Korean military regimes, has frequent contacts with Suu Kyi.

In Manila, a prominent senator urged Philippine President Fidel 
Ramos to join the protest against what he called "fascist 
repression" in Burma. "I believe it is imperative for us and all 
governments that profess to respect human and democratic rights to 
condemn the arrests," Sen Ernesto Herrera said. Herrera, a labour 
leader and anti-drugs crusader, also chided Burma's military 
rulers for "coddling heroin producers."

There was no immediate reaction from Ramos, who has protested at 
the execution of Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and several 
others by the Abacha government. As a general at the time, Ramos 
played a key role when the late Ferdinand Marcos imposed 
authoritarian rule in the Philippines in 1972 and imprisoned 
thousands of political dissenters.

Ramos, however, later joined the opposition that overthrew Marcos  
in 1986 and helped quell a number of military coup attempts 
against the popular government of Corazon Aquino. (TN)

***************

BKK POST: JUNTA SAYS REBELS BOMBED TRAIN
May 28,1996

The Burmese Government blamed Karen minority rebels for last 
Tuesday's bombing of a passenger train near the city of Pegu in 
which nine people were killed and nine others injured.

According to Burmese television news reports monitored here, the 
bomb, planted on the railway tracks, exploded as the Rangoon-bound 
train originating from Mandalay was approaching Pyu, Pegu 
Division, about 145 kilometres north of Rangoon.

Southern Force commander Maj Kyi Aung suspected the bombing might 
have been the work of either the Karen National Union or the 
Karenni Progressive Party. (BP)

***************

BKK POST: WHAT CAN THE BURMESE PEOPLE DO NOW?
May 28,1996
U Aung

Burma obviously is on a collision course and it cannot be stopped. 
In any given political situation, especially under dictatorial 
regimes, if the predator is portrayed as victim, then this is one 
of the hardest problems for anyone to solve. Current apprehensions 
about political parties are deplorable and, honestly speaking, are 
"ethically reprehensible and rationally disgusting".

In order to have a correct perspective of the current milieu, we 
may need to go back to the crux of the problem: the general 
elections of May 27,1990.

At the time Burma's junta announced the date of the elections, all 
parties concerned said it would not be a free and fair election. 
United Nations supervision was even demanded for the poll.

As we understand, and the normal procedures and standards pertain, 
election time is a time for distributing party statements. Mass 
rallies are called for. True, distribution of party statements was 
allowed provided the parties had permission from the Literary 
Censor Board under the junta's Ministry of Information.

There were rifts between the authorities and the politicians 
during the elections and, yet, when the opposition won most of the 
seats, many jumped to the conclusion that the elections were fair. 
>From afar, we reached a different conclusion.

The elections were not free and fair whether the opposition won or 
the pro-junta party won. As a matter of fact, if the pro-junta 
party won the election, the election would surely be judged unfair 
and rigged.

We must ask ourselves what happened to our stand that the junta 
had no legal authority whatsoever to hold the election. The 
purpose of holding a election is to test the public mandate and, 
once completed, for the majority party or coalition of parties to 
claim executive and legislative powers no matter. This is 
regardless of whether the turnout is less than so and so percent 
or this or that.

All the reasons for not recognising the results of the election 
which the junta itself called are nothing but a farce. A true 
democratic system allows the majority party to rule for the 
prescribed tenure and also allows a method whereby the people can 
remove that party legally. The beauty of the democratic system may 
not necessarily be the way representatives are elected; it is how 
the elected representatives can be removed legally.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) under the leadership of 
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi won the general election held on May 27, 1990 
sponsored by the junta. Not long after the victory, the NLD 
convened a meeting at the Gandhi Hall attended by all the Peoples-
Representative-Elects (PREs).

The NLD had the moral duty to assume the executive and legislative 
duties at the time, but it performed its legislative duty by only 
making a few amendments to the constitution drawn up under the 
directives of the founding father of Burma, U Aung San, in 1947. 
As for the executive duties, instead of assuming power, the NLD 
asked that the state power be transferred from the junta. But the 
junta could not transfer power to which it had no legal title of 
possession. The title to stolen property cannot be passed.

This was the basic constitution point which the NLD failed or 
refused to declare, thus forfeiting its superior legal, 
constitutional and moral standing and absolute legitimacy. It was 
ten, not six years later, that the NLD should have assumed 
executive duties.

There is a Burmese saying which states that the tiger will not 
become a vegetarian out of pity for the wretched animals. By the 
same analogy, the junta should have negotiated then in 1990, right 
after the election, with the NLD, not three years later.

They ignored the results of their own creation. They wanted to 
participate in the country's political affairs, especially in the 
legislature. The NLD, with the overwhelming majority, could have 
accommodated the desire of the military leader through 
parliamentary proceedings if the junta's reasons were convincing 
enough.

Now, instead of making direct deals and adopting an honest 
approach, national affairs are conducted as through they are a 
personal vendetta. Mud-slinging and name-calling are for lowly 
cowards.

I am drawing a parallel for this situation with India's 
independence movement. When India was about to gain independence 
in August and September 1947, both Pakistan and India witnessed 
killings. Winston Churchill, then out of power, made the following 
remarks:

"The fearful massacres which are occurring in India are no 
surprise to me. We are, of course, only at the beginning of these 
horrors and butcheries, perpetrated upon one another with the 
ferocity of cannibals, by races gifted with the capacity for the 
highest culture and who had for generations dwelt side by side in 
general peace under the broad, tolerant and impartial rule of the 
British Crown and Parliament. I cannot but doubt that the future 
will witness a vast abridgement of the population throughout what 
has for 60 or 70 years been the most peaceful part of the world, 
and that at the same time will come a retrogression of 
civilisation throughout these enormous regions, constituting one 
of the most melancholy tragedies which Asia has ever known.

Gandhiji retorted: "If he knew that India would be reduced to such 
a state after freeing itself from the rule of the British Empire, 
did he for a moment take the trouble of thinking that the entire 
responsibility for it lies with the British Empire?"

The current eruption is a puzzle for the general masses because 
when Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was released, she repeatedly stated that 
"she and the junta have reached understandings but they cannot be 
revealed as understandings should be revealed only by both parties 
at the same time.

Nevertheless, the people should trust her." Trust, all right, but 
what are the understandings? What happened to these 
understandings? The people of Burma are not on the side of the 
junta, that's for sure, but they deserve to be informed what 
transpired and what took place so that we can judge for ourselves 
the situation. No matter what, we will keep our loyalty to the 
cause _ to restore democracy and human rights which includes the 
right to dignity.

As the information flows in, more and more PREs are apprehended 
or, according to the junta, temporarily detained for 
interrogation.

That reminds me of a story about a villager from a remote area 
travelling to another village. On the way he was stopped by a 
soldier and asked for his national registration card. The villager 
was puzzled and answered: "Why ask for my ID? I am here in front 
of you in person." That is, why interrogate the PREs?

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is right in front of you. If the authorities 
are short of gasoline to get to her, they can either ask her to 
come to them or give her a call. In case the authorities forget 
her phone number, it is 530365. Please stop this national circus; 
we are sick and tired of this show.

By all means, we are for national  unity and reconciliation. How 
it is to be achieved is not a problem, be it brokered or 
negotiated. We believe that the central venue for peace and 
prosperity is not in the meeting rooms of the UN or the 
chancelleries of Europe or Asia or in the US, but inside our 
country.

When it comes to the national cause, nothing is too late. 
Political settlement is something that can be achieved if the 
attitudes are right. The present confrontation makes me deeply 
concerned about my fellow countrymen. Allow me to ask both parties 
to restrain from extremities and save our nation and the lives of 
the people. (BP)
U Aung is the chairman of the Alliance for Democratic Solidarity, 
Burma.

***************

Mainichi Daily News, Sunday, May 26, 1996

SUU KYI VOWS TO STAY COURSE
==============
Mainichi Shimbun
==============

RANGOON -- Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi declared her will
to continue the struggle against the country's military rulers, in an
interview with the Mainichi Shimbun on Friday.

"They are just nervous.  They are just frightened.  They're acting like
this because they are frightened," says Suu Kyi, the leader of the National
League for Democracy (NLD), in her first exclusive interview with a news
organization after the junta detained over 200 opposition activists.

"They just want to stop the conference and they want to stop democracy
because they don't want to give up power,"she said.

The NLD plans to hold a party conference starting Sunday to mark its
victory in abortive general elections in 1990, when the NLD took 392 of 485
contested seats.

"We can't ignore the results of the 1990 elections, and the government is
trying to ignore them but can't ignore them," said Suu Kyi.  "We will go
ahead with the conference and we will do what we have to do."

"When I was released (from house arrest in July last year), I said nothing
has changed.  I was released and that was all," the Nobel Peace Prize winner
said.  "Now you can see I was right.  This is not progress.  This is going
backwards."

Suu Kyi appeared tense but showed no signs of exhaustion during the interview.
She criticized Japan and ASEAN countries for their "constructive
engagement" with Burma, a policy of strengthening trade ties and providing
economic assistance to promote the democratization of Burma.

"If the Japanese government says it (constructive engagement) works, show
us the proof, or some proof of development toward democracy.  Constructive
engagement does not help us to achieve democracy in Burma."  She urged Tokyo
to reconsider its policy.

Activists urge halt to aid

In response to the junta's crackdown on opposition activists, Burmese
pro-democracy organizations in Tokyo also called for an immediate halt to
Japanese economic assistance and investment.

Win Khet, chairman of the National League for Democracy Liberated Area,
urged the Japanese government to stop its assistance, including humanitarian
aid.

The government has granted a total of 1.6 billion yen for a nursing school
in Rangoon.
	
At a press conference held Friday at the Foreign Ministry, Win Khet said
there is no system to verify if aid granted by Japan is actually used for
Burmese in need.  He gave as an example a welfare association that had
received a Japanese grant run by the wife of a high-ranking military official.

Aung Thu, secretary of Burma Youth Volunteer Association, also said at the
Tokyo press conference that the Burmese people do not like the fact that the
Japanese government and corporations are working with Burma's military rulers.

According to the Myanmar Investment Committee, Japanese private investment
in Burma reached about 107 million dollars during the first nine months of
1995.  Japan is the seventh largest investor in Burma, following Britain,
Singapore, France, Thailand, the United States and Malaysia.


**************************************************

 HUNDREDS OF ARRESTS IN BURMA BESIDES THE NLD MEMBERS

Released by ISBDA on May 27, 1996.

A Rangoon University teacher said that about 200 student activists have
been arrested by the authorities during the current crackdown against the
democratic forces of Burma.  As these students are not the members of NLD,
the number of recent detainees reaches to at least a total of five hundred.
On May 24, two young monks were arrested in public because they were
holding pro-democracy placards at a bus-stop nearby Sule Pagoda. 
Many of the NLD MPs and other detainees including  monks were already
transferred to Insein Jail. Eyewitness could not identify the detainees
because their faces were covered by blankets. 

Meanwhile, a rumor spreads in Rangoon that a violent clash broke out
between some students from Medical College No. 2 and a group of heavily
drunk SLORC soldiers at N. Okkalapa town.

***********************************
BURMANET : BRIEF BUSINESS REPORTS
May 27, 1996
Compiled by Burma Net from information provided by Mbeer.

Contents:
Thai banks in Burma (an attempt at creating news by SLORC)
Detailed overview of SLORC constitution.
Burma tourism article
Motor Car Expo
Dr. Sein Win calls on Japan to reconsider its policy on ODA

-------------------

THAI BANKS LOOK FORWARD TO JOINT VENTURES IN MYANMAR

Xinhua News Agency
Bangkok, may 27
Thai banks are looking forward to joint ventures with Myanmar counterparts,
according to tossatis roprasert, assistant vice-president and chief
representative for Bangkok bank's branch in Yangon.  Myanmar is opening up its
banking industry to foreigners in a move likely to widen the industry's scope
from conventional deposit and lending services.  Siam city bank plc on April 11
became the first Thai bank to reach an agreement with Yangon to set up a new
joint venture, the Myanmar may flower bank.  Other thai banks are studying
similar plans, as 17 Myanmar banks are eligible to join forces with foreign
counterparts.  Five of the six Thai banks with representative offices in Yangon
held discussions with the Myanmar finance ministry and the central bank last
week on joint investments and shareholding, said Somchai Srisampan, manager of
the Thai Farmers bank's representative office in Yangon.  The five are the Thai
military bank, Krung Thai bank, the Thai Farmers bank, the bank of Ayudhya and
Bangkok bank.

**************************

THE COUNTRY ACTS TO FINE-TUNE THE CONCENTRATION OF POWER

HEADLINE: Myanmar works towards shaping its constitution
BYLINE: Tin Maung Maung Than
IN April 1992, Myanmar's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC) announced that it would convene a meeting for formulating "the basic
principles for the drafting of a firm and stable Constitution". Subsequently, in
October, the National Convention Convening Commission (NCCC) was formed, being
chaired by the (then) Yangon Region Commander and composed of ranking military
officers and senior judicial and administrative officials.

The NCCC classified eight categories of delegates for the National Convention
(NC): nominees of political parties; representatives-elect; nationalities;
peasants; workers; intellectuals and intelligentsia; service personnel; and
other invited delegates. For the first category, each of the 10 existing
political parties which had contested the 1990 General Election was allowed five
nominees.

Six political parties were invited to send altogether 99 delegates from among
their elected representatives. All eight elected representatives which stood as
independents were included. Also invited were 215, 93 and 48 nominees
representing the nationalities, peasantry and workers, respectively, who were
selected by a hierarchy of state/division, township zone and township
supervision committees.  Each 15-member selection committee comprised heads of
local government agencies and respected residents of the community concerned.
Forty-one delegates from the intellectual/intelligentsia category were
"prominent intellectuals" and "knowledgeable" persons. Their selection was
scrutinised by a committee led by the Director-General of the Government Office
and comprising heads of government organisations and selected members of the
intellectual/intelligentsia community.  

The state service personnel group's 92 members were selected by selection
committees formed within the respective ministries and agencies. Of the eight
category's 57 delegates, 42 "invitees" were chosen from members of the ethnic
groups which had given up their armed struggle against the government, while
others were "experienced persons in political, economic, social and
administrative fields in the State". However, 86 delegates from the National
League for Democracy -a party which won 80 per cent of the seats in the 1990
General Election -left the NC in protest at the beginning of the plenary session
in November 1995 and were subsequently excluded for breaching the NC rules.

The National Convention commenced on Jan 9, 1993, guided by six objectives
envisioned by the NCCC as: non-disintegration of the state; non-disintegration
of national solidarity; perpetuation of sovereignty; flourishing of a "genuine
multiparty democracy"; "further burgeoning" of "justice, liberty and equality";
and enabling the military "to participate in the national political leadership
role of the future state".

Subsequently, 15 chapters for the constitution were spelt out and detailed
principles pertinent to each chapter were discussed at length by the
participants. Altogether 104 "fundamental principles" underlying the prospective
constitution were distilled by the National Convention Convening Work Committee
from the various proposals put forward during the proceedings and were later
prescribed by the NCCC as a basis for future deliberations under each chapter
heading. Though the NC has yet to reach a conclusion, the essential points
regarding the state structure, the legislature, the executive, and the role of
the military has been delineated as follows.

The state structure is based on a secular republic comprising seven "regions"
and seven "states". There will be "Union" territories (under central
government), a hierarchy of district, township, and village/ward under each
region or state, and self-administered territories for ethnic communities
whereby a distinct "national race" constitutes a majority within its boundaries.
In this regard, the NC had endorsed the establishment of self-administered areas
for Naga, Danu, Pa-O, Palaung and Kokang races and the Wa self-administered
region.

For the legislature, a bicameral parliament with a five-year tenure in the
form of the 440-seat Pyithu Hluttaw (House of Representatives) and the 224-seat
Amyotha Hluttaw (House of Nationalities) which together constitute the
Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Union Parliament) is envisaged. There will also be a hluttaw
(provincial parliament) for each region or state.  One- quarter of all seats in
the legislature is reserved for military representatives nominated by the armed
forces Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C).

In the executive branch, the head of state will be the President. The Union
Cabinet, comprising ministers and the attorney-general, will be appointed by the
President and its members need not be elected representatives. The Chief
Minister of the region or state government is also a presidential appointee.
Self-administered areas will be governed by "leading bodies" whose members will
be represented in the territorially relevant region or state government.
Administration at district and township levels will be by civil servants.
Administration of wards and village-tracts is by appointed personnel.

As for the military, it will enjoy complete autonomy with its C-in-C
designated as the supreme commander. Ministerial portfolios for defence,
security/home affairs, and border areas in the Union Cabinet are reserved for
military personnel nominated by the C-in-C, who will also nominate the deputy
ministers. Furthermore, co-ordination with the C-in-C is required to appoint
military personnel to any other minister/deputy-minister post. The assignment of
military personnel to leading bodies of self-administered areas is also the
C-in-C's prerogative. Moreover, there will be a provision for the supreme
commander to assume state power in a national emergency.

The President, whose parents must also be citizens, will play a crucial role
in the governance of the Myanmar state. The candidate must not only have a
minimum of 20 years continuous domicile in Myanmar but also satisfy the
requirement that the "President of the Union himself, parents, spouse,
children and their spouses" must not owe allegiance to or "be a subject of
foreign power or citizen of a foreign country" and shall not be "entitled to the
right and privileges of a subject or citizen of a foreign country". Another
condition that the person be "well acquainted with the affairs of State such as
political administrative, economics and military affairs" would rule out most
political figures.

The presidential election procedure is significant. The electoral college
comprises three groups from the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw: equal numbers of elected
representatives from regions and states; representatives "elected on the basis
of population"; and military representatives nominated by the C-in-C. Each group
shall elect one Vice-President who need not be an elected representative. The
President will then be chosen from among them by the entire electoral college
after scrutiny by a body composed of leaders and deputy leaders of the two
hluttaws. The unsuccessful candidates will assume the vice-presidencies for the
five-year term of office.

The wide-ranging powers of the Union President allow unprecedented control
over the executive branch. The president can designate ministries and appoint or
dismiss ministers, deputy ministers, attorney-general, auditor-general, as well
as members of the Union Civil Service Board. He can prescribe the ministries and
the number of ministers for the region or state government and also nominate the
respective chief ministers (from amongst elected representatives of
region/state).

The President can assign region/state ministers and chairmen of
self-administered areas/regions (nominated through the chief minister by the
respective leading bodies) in coordination with the relevant Chief Minister. All
such assignments must be confirmed by the respective hluttaw but the latter have
no right to reject the President's nominee provided the person satisfies the
Constitution's provisions.

Thus, the President and the armed forces C-in-C, between them, wield
considerable authority and all important government executives are ultimately
responsible to the President only. The political parties will face a situation
whereby the executive positions may be filled with personnel external to the
body politic.

Even when elected representatives are chosen to serve in the government they
have to forego their party affiliations and resign from the legislature. In this
way, the elected representatives' role will generally be confined to legislative
and deliberative functions and the raison d'etre of competitive politics, that
is, to form a government, will be obviated. It effectively de-links state power
from political competition and representation of voting constituencies.
Consequently, a corporatist state may evolve in which the ruling elite will be
insulated from electoral politics.

Currently, the successful conclusion of the NC, which would lead to the
actual drafting of Myanmar's future constitution according to the agreed-upon
principles, has become imperative. Meanwhile, the NC has opted for
constitutional principles, which emphasise the autonomy of the executive under
the leadership of the President and the authoritative dual role of the military
as a counterpoise to the apparent failings of politicians. This will result in
an unprecedented and unique constitution for the Union of Myanmar which is
different from the previous ones which, in contrast, were premised on
governance by elected representatives.

Tin Maung Maung Than is a Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies.

*****************************

DILEMMA OVER TRAVEL TO BURMA, 
SUBJECT OF MAGAZINE ARTICLE, TO BE

Distribution: To business and travel editors
Published on tuesday, May 28
The dilemma over travel to Burma is the subject of a major twenty page
feature to be published in the June 1996 issue of Conde Nast Traveler magazine,
on newsstands Tuesday, May 28 nationwide, the magazine announced today.

"The Dilemma On the Irawaddy" is by Andrew Cockburn*, a Washington D.C.-based
journalist who is also a contributing editor at Vanity Fair magazine.  

NEW YORK, May 25 He is currently writing a book about the trafficking to
other countries of the former Soviet Union's weapons.

Cockburn traveled to Burma in November 1995 to do the reporting for the
travel magazine's article.

Burma's State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) dubbed 1996 a "Visit
Myanmar Year".  (SLORC renamed Burma in 1989.) However, Nobel Laureate San Suu
Kyi argues that tourism revenues will advance no interests other than those of
the ruling junta.  Her pro-democracy group's conference on Sunday, May 25 is the
current object of a major crackdown by SLORC.

For more information about the feature article this weekend or to arrange an
interview with Andrew Cockburn, please call Susan Soriano, Editorial Publicity
Manager, 212-880-2579, or Cockburn directly at 202-342-9488.
    (*pronounced "CO-BURN")
      CONTACT: Susan Soriano of Conde Nast Traveler, 212-880-2579

************************************

MOTOR CAR EXPO OPENS IN YANGON
Yangon, May 25; 

A four-day Myanmar motor car expo, co-organized by Myanmar industrial
development committee and cp exhibition of Hong Kong, was inaugurated here this
morning.  This is the first international motor car expo in Myanmar in recent
years.  Over a dozen international firms from Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong,
Japan, South Korea and China displayed their products at the expo, which will
last from may 25 to 28.  Myanmar motor car market has been dominated by
Japan-made cars.

*************************************


MYANMAR PREMIER-IN-EXILE URGES JAPAN TO RETHINK POLICY
Japan Economic Newswire

Kohei Murayama
 Washington, May 24, Kyodo
Myanmar's government-in-exile urged Japan on Thursday to reconsider its
policy on extending official development assistance (ODA) so as to more
efficiently influence the ruling military junta in Yangon.

 'The Japanese government should reconsider it very, very carefully,' Sein
Win, the prime minister-in-exile of the National Coalition Government of the
Union of Burma (Myanmar), said in an interview with Kyodo News.

Japan suspended ODA to Myanmar after a military coup in 1988 and limited its
aid to humanitarian needs.  But shortly after the release of pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest last July, Japan partially lifted the
freeze and decided to offer grants-in-aid for programs such as nurse training.  

'That's too generous and too early, and it's now time to reconsider it,' Sein
Win said in referring to arrests this week by the military regime of some 200
members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Nobel Peace Prize
laureate Suu Kyi.

The United States and some other Western nations maintain sanctions by
cutting off official aid to Myanmar, while Japan and some Southeast Asian
nations are taking a policy of 'constructive engagement' with the junta.

'We are thankful that the Japanese government has issued some expressions of
concern and also we know that the Japanese ambassador in Rangoon (Yangon) is
trying to negotiate or mediate between Aung San Suu Kyi and the military,' said
Sein Win, a cousin of Suu Kyi.

'We would like Japan to be a mediator...but we also want Japan to be
impartial and it is too early to resume (official aid),' he said.  'Otherwise,
they (the military) are hoping for Japanese foreign aid and my opinion is that
the Japanese government should set some conditions.'

Noting that 80% of the current ODA to Myanmar comes from Tokyo, Sein Win
said, 'Japan has a great influence on the military in Rangoon.'

'The military hope for very much from Japan.  They want all the aid not only
at the financial level, but also as a sign of their legitimacy,' he said.  'And
they hope that after all the aid, the Japanese business circles will jump in and
that will give them time to go their own way.'

Sein Win also blasted China, saying Beijing is selling arms to Myanmar instead
of cooperating with the global efforts to influence the military junta.

'It's having a negative effect on everything,' he said, noting that Chinese
arms exports to Myanmar have reached more than 1 billion dollars since 1988.

On the current situation in Myanmar, Sein Win said he is worried that the
military crackdown may 'escalate.'

Referring to the mass arrests prior to an NLD gathering planned by Suu Kyi
this weekend, he said, 'Primarily, it is to disturb or block the meeting.  But
it could go further than that.  Maybe they will take this as an excuse to crack
down further on the NLD party.'

The NLD won more than 80% of the parliamentary seats at stake in the May 1990
general election, but the junta has refused to hand over power.

Noting that four nonmembers of the parliament were also detained in this
week's roundup, Sein Win said, 'We think that it is more than to prevent this
conference.'

Sein Win also voiced concern over Suu Kyi.  'She said she would go ahead with
the conference...But the situation in Rangoon is very tense and they may arrest
her again,' he said.  'We can't exclude that possibility.'

Asked if that could lead to direct conflict with the military regime, Sein
Win said, 'Right now, the NLD and Suu Kyi are nonviolent.  She doesn't want any
kind of confrontation.'

But even if the situation worsens, 'we can't exploit that kind of upheaval
again,' he said, referring to the 1988 pro-democracy uprising which the military
crushed, killing hundreds of civilians.

Sein Win said the exiled coalition government has some 20 activists abroad,
with two members at the Washington headquarters and other members in Thailand
and India.

Their activities at the Washington headquarters include lobbying the U.S.
government and the United Nations, and offering information to Myanmar by
sending newsletters sent through facsimile machines and other means and
broadcasting a short-wave radio program from Oslo for about an hour every day.

Funds are provided mainly through nongovernmental organizations, including
those in Canada, the U.S. and Norway.

'We would like to do more than what we're doing now and that depends on
financial power,' Sein Win said, lamenting a lack of funds.

*******************************
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