Junta Warns Opposition Breaking Law

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Junta warns Myanmar opposition breaking law, as Suu Kyi's health fails
Sun 23 Aug 98 - 12:07 GMT
YANGON, Aug 23 (AFP) - Myanmar's junta Sunday warned that an opposition
decision to
convene its own parliament was illegal, as the health of pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu
Kyi was said to be deteriorating on the 12th day of a stand-off with the
military.
"Such a move by any individual political party would be in contravention of
Myanmar law and
seems designed to derail the ongoing discussions between the government and
the NLD," a
junta spokesman said in a statement.
The National League for Democracy, lead by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi, Friday
said it would convene the parliament elected in 1990 in polls which were won
in a landslide by
opposition forces. The junta has since refused to relinquish power.
The NLD, meanwhile, said Aung San Suu Kyi's health was deteriorating as she
spent a 12th
consecutive day in a roadside stand-off with the junta.
"Her personal doctor went to examine her on the 21st of August, after which he
sent a medical
report to the authorities stating that her general health condition was
getting worse, that her
blood pressure going down and that she was suffering from giddiness," the NLD
said in a
statement.
"She has had no food intake for 10 days, and is suffering from constipation
and can go into
shock at any time," it quoted the doctor as reporting, adding that the medic
had been refused
permission by the junta to examine Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday.
"The NLD is complaining about the prevention of medical treatment being
provided to a citizen.
If anything happens to her the authorities will be held totally responsible."
Aung San Suu Kyi was committed to staying at the site of the stand-off until
all NLD members
detained or subject to travel restrictions in recent months were released, the
statement said.
She has been camped out on a bridge in a minibus 25 kilometres (15 miles)
northwest of
Yangon since being blocked from travelling to meet provincial supporters. It
was her fourth
failed bid to travel outside Yangon in little over a month.
The junta, sensitive to international criticism, has been at pains to
demonstrate it is concerned
for her welfare and says it has provided her, as well two drivers and an NLD
official
accompanying her, with food, water and even music cassettes and outdoor
furniture. A
government ambulance has also been deployed at the scene in case she falls
ill, it said.
In a statement Sunday the junta repeated its assertion that it was too
dangerous for her to
continue her journey, citing threats of violence against "prominent persons"
by rebel groups.
The junta has repeatedly urged Aung San Suu Kyi to return to Yangon.
A junta spokesman Sunday said the NLD decision to convene parliament would
jeapordise
fledgling negotiations between the usually bitter foes, noting senior
officials from both sides held
talks last Tuesday for the first time this year.
Sunday's comment was the first official reaction to the NLD announcment on
convening
parliament.
The junta spokesman said officials hoped to continue talks with the NLD.
"It is the government's view that those talks marked the beginning of a period
on conciliation,
cooperation and mutual help in building a better future for the people of
Myanmar, and the
government would be disappointed if radical and provocative actions by NLD
leaders made
further discussions impossible."
The spokesman said the economic crisis gripping Asia made it particulalrly
important for the
country to unite "rather than to play politics."
"The government encourages the NLD to join the governemnt in a meaningful
discussion and to
avoid actions which would disrupt national peace, stability and development."
Exiled Myanmar opposition groups, however, have called for a campaign of mass
civil
disobedience and expressed full support for the NLD in its bid to covene
parliament.
Yangon was calm Sunday, but in Bangkok some 30 exiled Myanmar students
maintained their
vigil outside Yangon's embassy in a protest now underway for two weeks.
A protest spokesman said demonstrators would petition Thai Prime Minister
Chuan Leekpai to
let them remain outside the embassy after officials said they could be forced
to move, even if
only across the road to improve access to the mission.