Reuters-FOCUS-Myanmar's defiant NLD

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

FOCUS-Myanmar's defiant NLD names parliament head 
09:14 a.m. Sep 17, 1998 Eastern 

By Aung Hla Tun 



YANGON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The winners of Myanmar's last election issued a
provocative challenge to the country's ruling generals on Thursday,
choosing a head for a parliament the military never allowed to convene. 



They also declared laws introduced in the past 10 years illegal unless
approved by the body. 



In a statement issued on the eve of the 10th anniversary of Myanmar's
takeover by the military, a committee formed this week by the opposition
National League for Democracy said it would act on behalf of the parliament
since most representatives elected in the 1990 poll had been detained. 



``The Committee Representing the People's Parliament, which is vested with
the authority of the parliamentary representatives, shall carry out tasks
on behalf of the parliament,'' it said. 



It named Saw Mra Aung, head of the Arakhan League for Democracy, chairman
of parliament. He has been detained since September 6 along with hundreds
of other opposition members in a government crackdown aimed at preventing
the NLD from carrying out its vow to convene a ``People's Parliament'' this
month. 



The NLD, led by 1991 Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, won the 1990
election in a landslide. But the military, which seized direct control of
government exactly ten years ago on Friday by crushing a pro-democracy
uprising, refused to accept the result. 



The party says that since May, when it resolved to convene a parliament,
more than 800 of its members, including 195 elected representatives, had
been detained. The government has said some NLD members had been
``invited'' to state guest houses. 



The NLD formed the committee in response to the detentions and said 251 of
its 459 surviving elected representatives had empowered it to act on their
behalf. 



The NLD committee said it would ``act on behalf of parliament until the
convening of parliament is accomplished in accordance with the 1990
multi-party democracy general election law.'' 



``Laws, bylaws, regulations, orders and announcements which were enacted
since September 18, 1988 are not legal so long as they are not approved by
the 'People's Parliament','' it said. 



Parliamentary terms would last until a constitution acceptable to the
people and conforming to democratic principles was approved and adopted by
the parliament. 



The statement said the armed forces were an essential national organisation
but should stick to their duty of defence and ``always put the desire of
the people at the fore.'' 



It said all political prisoners should be released immediately and
parliamentary representatives should be exempt from legal action when
carrying out political duties. 



Earlier, two of the NLD's elected representatives in exile told a news
conference in Bangkok the party might soon form a provisional government.
They said the NLD committee was likely to make a ``crucial'' announcement
in the next few days. 



``Most likely it is going to declare the forming of a provisional
government,'' NLD exile Teddy Buri said. ``I would like to take this
opportunity to appeal to the international community to support such a
government in case it is formed.'' 



Another exiled NLD member, Thein Oo, said a decision to form a provisional
government was made at an NLD congress in May. 



``The NLD planned to hold the 'People's Parliament' to endorse the forming
of the government. But since the military continues its suppression and
detaining its members, NLD representatives then gave the mandate to the
10-member committee to form the provisional government,'' he said. 



The exiles, who both won seats in 1990, said the provisional government was
a direct challenge to the military. 



Teddy Buri and Thein Oo are members of the National Coalition Government of
the Union of Burma (NCGUB) which was formed by NLD members who fled to the
jungles in 1990. 



``When the provisional government is formed in Yangon, the NCGUB will
automatically be dissolved,'' Teddy Buri said. 



They said they had not had direct contact with Suu Kyi before the news
conference and that information about the NLD's move was relayed to them
from Yangon.