22/23-AUG-98:THE REUTER/AFP NEWS

[uneoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

22.8.98/REUTERS/BURMA MILITARY SILENT ON DEFIANT OPPOSITION CALL
23.8.98/AFP/TENSIONS RISE IN BURMA AFTER OPPOSITION VOW TO FORM GOVT
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BURMA ASIA: BURMA MILITARY SILENT ON DEFIANT OPPOSITION CALL 
DATE: 13:29 22-Aug-98 

 By Aung Hla Tun

 RANGOON, Aug 22 Reuters - Burma's government today remained silent 
to the pro-democracy opposition's defiant  announcement that it would 
call a "People's Parliament".

 State media carried no response to yesterday's announcement from 
the National League for Democracy (NLD), which  significantly raised 
the pressure on the government.

 The NLD's challenge came after the government ignored a deadline 
yesterday which had been set by the opposition for  convening the 
parliament elected in 1990 polls, which were later annulled by the 
government.

 But political analysts in Rangoon said the government had put out 
signals that a crackdown on the opposition could be in the  offing.

 Ahead of the NLD announcement yesterday, two state newspapers ran 
commentaries which asked why the government had  not taken action 
against the NLD and its charismatic leader Aung San Suu Kyi. 

 They suggested the NLD should be disbanded and Aung San Suu Kyi 
deported.

 The New Light of Burma newspaper presented the argument as a 
conversation between two friends in a pub.

 "The NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi have gone too far," one said.

 "They have been doing things detrimental to the interest of both 
the nation and the people all along...Why hasn't the  government done 
anything to take action against them?"

 Calling on the government to listen to the "silent majority" he 
added: "The NLD should be disbanded and she should be  deported...".

 The friend replied: "Don't worry my friend, the state authorities are 
giving them time to realise the truth and mend their  ways".

 Residents said Rangoon was abuzz with speculation about the political 
standoff today, but was otherwise calm.

 The NLD won Burma's last general election in 1990 by a landslide, 
but the military ignored the result, saying a constitution
 was needed before a parliament could be convened.

 On Thursday, a government spokesman said: "Calling for a parliament 
in the absence of a constitution is like forcing a bald  person to dye 
his hair".

 The military government annulled the country's existing constitution 
after taking power in 1988. 

 A constitutional convention has been drafting a new constitution over 
the past few years but it is not expected to be  completed anytime soon.

 But the NLD rejected that argument.

 "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," it said in a statement released yesterday.

 "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."

 It was the opposition's most direct challenge to the military, which 
has been in direct power since 1988, when a mass  uprising for democracy 
was crushed.

 However, diplomats said the absence of a specific date for calling 
parliament might leave the door open for the government  to respond.

 Government and NLD leaders held talks on Tuesday for the first time 
in a year but the opposition party stressed afterwards  the meeting did 
not constitute a "dialogue", which could not take place without Suu Kyi.

 Today, Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, entered an eleventh 
day of a marathon roadside protest against  restrictions on her freedom 
of movement.

 Since August 12 she and three supporters have been stuck in a minivan 
about 32 kilometres (20 miles) outside Rangoon,  having been denied 
permission to travel to the west of the country and in turn refusing 
government demands to return to  Rangoon.

 NLD Vice Chairman Tin Oo told Reuters yesterday that Suu Kyi would hold 
out until the government released 97 detained  NLD members, even though 
she was showing signs of jaundice and her blood pressure was a little low.

 REUTERS lm


BURMA ASIA: TENSIONS RISE IN BURMA AFTER OPPOSITION VOW TO FORM GOVT 
DATE: 02:06 23-Aug-98 

 RANGOON, Aug 22 AFP - Political tension escalated in Burma today after 
the opposition declared it would form its own  government despite stern 
opposition from the country's junta.

 There was no immediate response from the junta to the announcement 
from the leading opposition National League for  Democracy (NLD) party 
of Aung San Suu Kyi but foreign diplomats said the military rulers 
could not allow the new  parliament to be convened.

 "You'd have the NLD dominating the parliament and issuing announcements 
effectively as the government of Burma," said  one western envoy.

 The NLD statement late yesterday came as a leading dissident group 
called for a nationwide uprising against the junta when  it failed to 
meet an opposition deadline to convene the parliament elected in 1990 
but never allowed to sit.

 "The National League for Democracy (NLD) will be convening a parliament 
soon," a party statement said.

 The statement did not say when it would be formed or where it would sit, 
but most elected members of parliament are  believed to be active. A 
number have died since the polls, and others have quit their parties or 
left Burma.

 The Thailand-based All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF), one of 
the biggest and most influential of opposition  groups, said the junta 
had ignored the will of the people and the international community by 
failing to hand over power to  pro-democracy forces.

 "We therefore call on the people to begin an uprising, starting August 
21, to bring democracy and human rights to Burma,"  the ABSDF said in a 
statement.

 "We believe that there is no reason to continue to ask the military for 
democracy and that the only way forward is through a  people's movement."

 In a statement a group of students said they planned to hold a hunger 
strike outside the embassy to protest the junta's failure  to convene 
parliament.

 But some 30 students protesting outside the embassy late today said 
they had not heard of any such plan and protest leaders  said although 
they had earlier planned a hunger strike the plan had been dropped.

 "As far as I know nobody is having a hunger strike because the NLD is 
now convening parliament," the foreign affairs  secretary of the ABSDF, 
Aung Naing Oo, said.

 The NLD, which led the opposition to a landslide victory in 1990 poll 
but has never been allowed to take power, had  demanded the junta convene 
parliament by yesterday or face unspecified consequences.

 "The parliament has been invested with powers. As representatives of 
the people they must take on these responsibilities,"  the NLD said.

 "Given the prevailing situation today the parliamentarians have the 
responsibility to draft a future constitution along  democratic lines.

 "By failing to fulfil their obligations of convening this parliament 
the authorities have ignored the desire of the people but  they have 
rescinded on their promises made earlier," the statement said.

 "The National League for Democracy has a responsibility to convene 
parliament," it said.

 The opposition umbrella group National Council for the Union of Burma 
urged all Burma nationals to "boldly, explicitly ...  and orderly support 
the NLD's endeavour to convene parliament".

 The junta had "viciously suppressed the will of the people," the 
Thailand-based organisation added in a statement, saying it  was also 
"cold bloodedly" preventing Aung San Suu Kyi from travelling freely.

 Aung San Suu Kyi was camped out on a bridge 25 kilometres from Rangon 
today for the 11th consecutive day after being  blocked from travelling 
to meet provincial supporters as the junta ignored her protest and her 
deadline for convening the  parliament, foreign diplomats said.

 AFP cdh