Burma At the Edge of Anarchy

By Jill Smolowe

Column upon column, they clogged the streets of Rangoon, cheering and clapping, chanting and waving flags. As the numbers swelled into the hundreds of thousands, representatives from almost all walks of Burmese life could be identified among the waves of protesters who marched 20 abreast through the capital. Roman Catholic priests and nuns paraded behind a banner proclaiming JESUS LOVES DEMOCRACY. Government employees brandished a MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS sign, while retired military men proudly unfurled a banner reading ASSOCIATION OF FORMER COMMANDERS AND OLD COMRADES. From self-identified housewives to state factory workers and students, all were there to demand "Dee-mah-cra-see!"

Orderly and friendly, yet adamant and determined, the people of Burma pressed their demand for the three-week-old government of President Maung Maung to step down and open a path to a free, democratic state. Finally the regime began to buckle under the pressure. At an extraordinary session on Saturday, the ruling Burma Socialist Program Party gave way -- at least, partway -- to the popular clamor and declared an apparent end to the country's 26 years of one-party domination. The B.S.P.P. said elections would be held and multiple parties would participate. But the government set no date for the balloting and continued to refuse to meet the main demand of the burgeoning opposition forces, that it relinquish power.

Previously Maung Maung and the party faithful had only agreed to discuss a referendum on one-party rule. If they hope their latest concession will buy some time, they are almost certain to be disappointed. In the wake of the election announcement, loudspeaker trucks raced through the streets, calling for new demonstrations to bring down the ruling clique. The same kind of insurgent spirit has gained the upper hand in most of the rest of the country.

The boldest individual challenge to the beleaguered government last week came from an unexpected source: former Prime Minister U Nu, 81. Toppled from power in 1962 by General Ne Win, who ruled Burma for the next 26 years, U Nu asserted last week, "Though I have been robbed of my power, I am still the legitimate Prime Minister." In a remarkable display of Burmese-style chutzpah, U Nu named a government and announced that general elections would be held on Oct. 9 to ratify his claim to power.

U Nu did not name to his government two popular opposition figures, retired Brigadier General Aung Gyi and Aung San Suu Kyi. That omission all but doomed the effort. Aung Gyi, who won wide support for his public challenges to the defunct Ne Win regime, called U Nu's action "preposterous." Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of a martyred national hero, told TIME that "U Nu is a possibility" to head an interim government. But she savors comparisons of herself with the Philippines' Corazon Aquino, and when asked if she was willing to head a government, she responded, "If I thought it necessary, I would."

More threatening for the government, there is evidence of growing disarray in the military. Late last week 200 uniformed members of the air force, most of them sergeants and privates, defected to the antigovernment opposition. But it remained unclear which way the country's 20 or so generals would tilt should the government press the military into heavy-handed action against civilians, as happened last month.

With the situation on the edge of anarchy, several countries, including the U.S. and the Soviet Union, evacuated dependents of embassy employees last week. What happens next may depend on the military. "Don't leave," a senior military figure advised at week's end. "The next few days should be interesting."

With reporting by William Stewart/Rangoon