Exile MPs Say Opposition Could Spli

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Exiled Myanmar MPs say opposition pressure could split military
Thu 17 Sep 98 - 07:01 GMT
BANGKOK, Sept 17 (AFP) - Myanmar's government-in-exile said Thursday the
opposition's
planned convention of parliament could split the powerful military and called
on the international
community to support the move.
The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) said pressure
from the
opposition was creating serious cracks within the military which could lead to
the collapse of the
junta.
Speaking on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the military's seizure of
power, NCGUB Justice
Minister Thein Oo said the National League for Democracy (NLD) was close to
fulfilling its
promise to convene the parliament elected in 1990, despite what he called the
worst
crackdown on dissidents since 1988.
The NLD under Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi won 80 percent of the seats in
the election
but the junta has refused to relinquish power and arrested hundreds of
democracy advocates.
"We can guess from our information that something crucial is about to happen
(in Myanmar),"
Thein Oo told AFP in Bangkok.
"If the provisional government is formed there's the possibility that the
people will come out
strongly in support in the way it happened in the Philippines," he said,
referring to Corazon
Aquino's provisional parliament in 1986 which, backed by a "people power"
movement,
toppled then-president Ferdinand Marcos.
Thein Oo, speaking earlier at a press conference here, said there was "huge
dissent" in the
Myanmar military's lower ranks, who were ready to join any groundswell of
popular and
international support for the proposed parliament.
"With the reality of the situation in Burma at the moment ... I'm sure this
would split the army in
a very effective manner," he said.
He said the economic situation in Myanmar was deteriorating rapidly, with the
vast majority of
soldiers poorly paid while the generals in the ruling State Peace and
Development Council
(SPDC) became wealthy.
The NLD -- Myanmar's main opposition party -- Wednesday announced the
formation of a
10-member representative committee to convene the assembly sometime this
month.
NLD chairman Aung Shwe was named head of the 10-member committee, of which
party
general secretary Aung San Suu Kyi was a member.
The NLD said the committee would carry out the mandate of 251 of the
parliamentarians
remaining from the original 485 elected in 1990.
The junta has said the move would be illegal and has rounded up hundreds of
NLD members in
the past few days, according to the opposition.