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NLD Calls Parliament



Defiant Myanmar opposition to call parliament

By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Myanmar's opposition National League for Democracy
(NLD) turned up the heat on the military government on Friday by saying it
would shortly convene a ``People's Parliament.'' 

The NLD, led by 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, had set Friday
as a deadline for the government to convene a parliament of members elected in
the country's last general elections in 1990. 

The NLD won those elections by a landslide but the military government has
ignored the result, saying the country needed a constitution before a
parliament could be convened. 

``By failing to convene a People's Parliament the authorities ignore the
desire of the people and (abandon) their commitment to the state and the
people,'' the NLD said. 

``Therefore, the NLD hereby announces that it will convene a People's
Parliament comprising people's representatives of the national races within a
short period.'' 

The statement, issued in the Myanmar language, could also be interpreted to
mean the parliament will be called ``within a few days.'' 

It was a defiant challenge to military, which has been in direct power since
1988 when it crushed a nationwide uprising for democracy. 

Opposition supporters say thousands of protestors died in the crackdown in
1988. The government puts the death toll at no more than a few dozen. 

On Thursday, a government spokesman dismissed the NLD demand, saying:
``Calling for a parliament in the absence of a constitution is like forcing a
bald person to dye his hair.'' 

But the NLD rejected any suggestion that the country had to have a
constitution in order to convene a parliament. 

Its statement said it had also asked the authorities to fix a date for a
Myanmar parliament in 1996 but they had not done so or even replied to its
request. 

Residents of Yangon said the capital was calm on Friday, despite the NLD
deadline. They said that had been no visible increase in security. 

As the NLD made its announcement, Suu Kyi was about 32 km (20 miles) outside
Yangon, spending a 10th day in a roadside protest against restrictions on her
freedom of movement. 

She and three supporters have been stuck in a minivan on a small bridge at the
village of Anyarsu since August 12, having been denied permission to travel to
the west of the country and in turn refusing government demands to return to
Yangon. 

NLD vice chairman Tin Oo told Reuters earlier on Friday that Suu Kyi would
hold out until the goverment released 97 detained party members, even though
she was showing signs of jaundice and her blood pressure was a little low. 

In Bangkok, the All Burma Students' Democractic Front, formed by students who
headed Myanmar's 1988 pro-democracy uprising and later fled the country,
called on the Myanmar people to start a new uprising from Friday. 

In a statement, it urged people to begin a campaign of non-cooperation with
the authorities to press the NLD demand for a parliament. 

It said workers and civil servants should stay away from work and students to
boycott exams. It also urged people to wear yellow clothes and carry yellow
objects to show support for the democracy movement.