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SCMP-Junta defends policies on nint



Subject: SCMP-Junta defends policies on ninth anniversary of annulled

election 
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South China Morning Post
Friday  May 28  1999

Burma

Junta defends policies on ninth anniversary of annulled election

AGENCIES in Bangkok, Rangoon and Washington
On the ninth anniversary of an opposition election win it ignored, Burma's
military Government said yesterday it believed it was on the right political
track.

In Bangkok, three of 200 protesters outside Rangoon's embassy slashed their
arms, dripped blood on a Burmese flag and set it alight.

Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy won the 1990 poll in a
lANDSlide, called on its members on Thursday to remain loyal to the cause of
democracy.

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in a statement beamed yesterday to
Burma by Radio Free Asia, accused the junta of abusing power and called for
it to begin a "meaningful dialogue with the democratic opposition".

Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, Burma's powerful intelligence chief, said his
Government's chosen path would guarantee peace, stability and prosperity.
"There have been some allegations casting doubt on the political future of
the nation," he told a meeting in Rangoon. "I wish to take this opportunity
to state categorically that Myanmar [Burma] is on the right political track.

"At the moment, the Government may be in the form of a military [one] but it
is an administration which is laying the foundations for the establishment
of a democratic system."

General Khin Nyunt said a "constitutional government" would be be
established once the drafting of a new constitution had been concluded.
Drafting of a new constitution began in the early 1990s but has been stalled
for years.

He said the work the Government was doing to improve the economy would help
create a modern, developed state.

Nobel Peace laureate Aung san Suu Kyi told NLD members: "Be loyal to the
objectives set for democracy, be loyal to the multiparty democracy general
elections held in 1990, be loyal to the resolution we have made.

"We are sure to succeed, but I can't say when for sure," she told about 350
people at party headquarters in Rangoon.

"The greater the unity and the loyalty, the faster it will come," she added
in a remark directed at a group of renegade NLD MPs elected in 1990 who

earlier this month accused the party leadership of being too confrontational
towards the military.

The NLD waved an olive branch yesterday, with vice-president Tin Oo saying
it was willing to talk with the military at any time.


Asean and the European Union wrapped up a landmark meeting in Bangkok
yesterday after sidestepping differences on Burma which derailed relations
for two years.
But despite the upbeat spin officials put on the meeting - which they said
launched a "new dynamic" in inter-bloc relations - they hinted that
differences over Burma's human rights record were likely to cause more
problems in the future.

"These are questions that have to be considered," EU Director for South and
Southeast Asia Emiliano Fossati said.