Three Nld Offices Shut in Myanmar

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Three Nld Offices Shut in   Myanmar, Coercion Blamed 

               Asia:Myanmar

               Three Nld Offices Shut in
               Myanmar, Coercion Blamed

               Reuters
               11-NOV-98

               YANGON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Myanmar's state media said on
Wednesday
               three township offices of the main opposition party had
closed down voluntarily,
               but diplomats and the opposition blamed intimidation by the
military government.

               The state-owned Myanma News Agency said members of the
National League
               for Democracy in Bilin township in southern Mon State had
resigned from the
               party on November 9. 

               They did so "of their own volition...since they no longer
wished to continue to
               part in the NLD's political activities," the report said. 

               Earlier the agency said two other township offices-- in
Thanbyuzayat in Mon
               State and Sittway in Rakhine State bordering Bangladesh--
had dissolved
               themselves for the same reasons. 

               The NLD has blamed coercion for the closures and said the
dissolutions had
               taken place without the knowledge of party headquarters. 

               A diplomat contacted in Yangon from Bangkok said the members
of the
               township offices were likely to have been forced to close. 

               "The standard way is that the government will put pressure
on people to shut
               down their offices, usually in subtle and fairly indirect
ways." 

               NLD members and their relatives could find themselves
blacklisted for jobs and
               their children discriminated against at school, the diplomat
said. 

               It was unclear if those NLD members reported to have
resigned were among the
               hundreds the government has "invited for exchanges of views"
at state guest
               houses over the past two months. 

               A government statement on Wednesday said 27 more of these
had been
               released, bringing the number freed so far to 335. 

               However, the Central Executive Committee of the NLD said in
a statement that
               920 of its members, including 183 elected representatives,
were in detention as
               of November 10. 

               Most have been detained since an NLD committee announced in
               mid-September it would act for a parliament elected in the
country's last national
               election eight years ago. 

               The NLD, which is led by 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung
San Suu Kyi,
               won the election by a landslide but the military has not
allowed it to govern. 

               In recent weeks the state media have given prominence to
pro-government
               rallies in 190 towns and cities around the country, which
have called for the
               disbanding of the NLD and deportation of Suu Kyi. 

               The government has said it is dealing leniently with the
party but has warned it
               may be forced to take stronger action if it endangers
national unity and state
               security. 

                            Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.All rights
reserved. 





                                                   

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