[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

AFP-Students Demo Another Pointer T



Myanmar student demo another pointer to junta's demise: analysts

       Mon 24 Aug 98 - 13:57 GMT 

       BANGKOK, Aug 24 (AFP) - A student pro-democracy protest in Yangon
Monday reflected Myanmar's increasing
       political tensions and the rising confidence of the isolated state's
opposition movement, analysts said.

       "It was a pretty bold move," said one diplomat in the Myanmar capital.

       "Perhaps a little foolish, too, as some of them have gone to jail.
But the point is they felt strong enough to make the
       gesture."

       Dozens of student protestors were detained when riot police swiftly
broke up the demonstration at a major intersection
       Monday. No injuries were reported when the protest ended after some
90 minutes, witnesses said.

       Up to 150 protestors and some 1,000 onlookers scattered as the riot
police advanced on the demonstration, the biggest
       such protest in Yangon since December 1996.

       The protestors were wearing headbands carrying the "fighting
peacock" symbol of the pro-democracy movement and
       chanted slogans, witnesses said.

       "Unity among students and the people," they chanted. "Bring down the
military dictatorship government."

       The protestors, and the supportive crowd of onlookers they
attracted, were a clear indication that people were gaining
       courage to oppose the junta, said an Asian envoy.

       "We haven't seen anything at this level for quite a while," the
envoy added. "We've seen leaflets left around the place or
       handed out but not a group of people just sitting there and
protesting."

       Many foreign envoys believe that although the opposition enjoys wide
support, it is the spread of the Asian fianncial crisis
       to Myanmar which has given it the extra boost.

       The value of the kyat currency has plummetted, prices are rising,
infrastructure is unable to cope and foreign investors
       are pulling out, they said.

       "It's an economic disaster and as long as the rest of Asia is in the
doldrums then Myanmar will suffer too," said a
       European diplomat.

       "The (Myanmar) government says most people don't care about
democracy," he added.

       "And that is true to a large extent. They care about food, they care
aboput water, and, if they have it at all, they care
       about electricity supplies. They certainly care about the price of
rice and fuel. What is the point having a vote if you don't
       have the basics for survival?

       "The government has no answers for these problems but the opposition
doesn't either. The difference is the government
       has already had its turn so maybe people feel it's time for a change."

       Myanmar's junta long saw Indonesia's ultimately doomed Suharto
regime as a model. But the diplomats do not expect the
       same disintegration in Yangon as occurred this year in Jakarta in
the lead-up to Suharto's resignation in May.

       "They will reach some deal," said another European diplomat, a
regional political affairs specialist.

       "Perhaps the military can handle defence and some other portfolios
and the opposition can handle some other matters. I
       don't think there would be a great problem if the opposition handled
most domestic affairs. 

       "After all, plenty of other countries have similar arrangements and
we (the West) support them."