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Oppositions Vow to Convene Parliame



Myanmar opposition vows to convene parliament
Fri 21 Aug 98 - 12:59 GMT
YANGON, Aug 21 (AFP) - Myanmar's main opposition said Friday it would form a
new
government by convening the parliament elected in 1990 but never allowed to
sit, while a major
dissident group urged a national uprising against the junta.
"The National League for Democracy (NLD) will be convening a parliament soon,"
the leading
opposition party of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi said in a statement.
It did not say when it would be formed nor where it would sit.
The NLD call came as another leading Myanmar opposition group called for a
nationwide
revolt after the junta failed to convene parliament.
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, using the former
official name for
Myanmar.
"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."
The NLD, which led the opposition to a landslide victory in 1990 polls but has
never been
allowed to take power, had demanded the junta convene parliament by Friday 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 fulfill 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desire of the people but they have rescinded on their promises made earlier,"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.
A junta spokesman said he had not seen the statement and declined to comment.
Foreign diplomats said the NLD was serious in its pledge to form a new
parliament.
"They gave their deadline," said one western diplomat.
"The govermment predictably ignored them so they had to act," the envoy said,
adding: "Now
we have to wait for the government's next move."
Aung San Suu Kyi was camped out on a bridge 25 kilometres (15 miles) from
Yangon on
Friday for a 10th 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.
The capital remained calm with no increased security presence other than extra
traffic police
outside schools, where university exams are being staged for the first time
since campuses were
closed after unrest in December 1996.
Yangon markets have been abuzz with rumours that unrest will erupt if the
junta fails to convene
parliament. There have also been widespread rumours of the impending release
of key political
prisoners following the Tuesday talks.
Truckloads of troops have been deployed late at night at strategic locations
in what residents
said was an apparent bid to discourage any form of protest.
Exiled Myanmar opposition groups called for a campaign of mass civil
disobedience if
parliament was not convened Friday.
The kyat currency has hit new lows amid the rising political tensions.
The kyat was trading at around 380 to the dollar in Yangon's black market
Friday, against 150
to the dollar before Asia became embroiled in an economic crisis last July and
an official rate of
six kyat to the dollar.