SCMP 110 members of opposition held

[tinkyi@xxxxxxx]

South China Morning Post 
Tuesday  September 8  1998

Burma 

110 members of opposition held 

             WILLIAM BARNES in Bangkok 
             The leading opposition party said
             yesterday the military had arrested 110
             of its MPs and officials to try to derail
             its plans to convene parliament this
             month.

             Diplomats and opposition sources said
             it appeared to be the start of a widely
             predicted crackdown designed to stop
             the National League for Democracy
             (NLD) creating an alternative power
             centre.

             "This is a pre-emptive strike - if the
             NLD attempts to call parliament there
             will be no-one there," said a Western
             diplomat in Rangoon.

             "Whether this will stop the NLD
             leadership making the gesture anyway,
             I don't know."

             Observers have warned the two sides
             appear to be on a collision course.

             Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
             has been using the threat of a "people's
             parliament" to pressure the ruling
             generals into political negotiations.

             A government spokesman admitted last
             night that many party members had
             been "taken in for questioning" over the
             past two days.

             He also issued a thinly-veiled threat to
             Ms Aung San Suu Kyi and the other
             party leaders by warning that the
             Government would "take appropriate
             action if they convene parliament".

             The political temperature has been
             raised in recent days by the biggest
             student protests for two years.

             Hundreds of students at the Yangon
             Institute of Technology complained
             first about the regime keeping
             universities closed since late 1996, but
             also called for an end to military rule.

             "Given the level of repression, this is
             an extraordinary signal to the Army.
             They want to keep the pressure on the
             SPDC [State Peace and Development
             Council, the junta]," a member of the
             student underground said.

             The campus was reported to be quiet
             yesterday as students took exams.

             The All Burma Students Democratic
             Front in Bangkok said protesters had
             been forced on to buses which ferried
             them to the examination halls.

             The NLD said 50 of its MPs and 60
             officials had been arrested.

             One of the detained MPs was
             84-year-old Thakin Khin Nyunt, one of
             the founding members of the main
             anti-colonial resistance organisation,
             the Dobama Asiayone.

             Ms Aung San Suu Kyi's party won 392
             of the 485 seats in the 1990 general
             election, easily defeating the other 92
             parties, including one representing the
             military.

             The ruling junta simply ignored the
             result.

             It currently claims no parliament can
             be called until a new constitution has
             been drawn up.

             It is not clear how many MPs are likely
             to try to make their way to Rangoon to
             support Ms Aung San Suu Kyi.

             The party's other elected
             representatives have dropped out, been
             jailed, exiled or have died.

             The authorities have placed travel
             restrictions on opposition MPs for
             several weeks to try to stop them
             travelling to Rangoon.

             Police and military intelligence have
             also stepped up their checks on
             households.