Jurist Named New Burma Leader, Pleads for Patience

Atty. Gen. Maung Maung, a close ally of Burma’s former strongman Gen. Ne Win, was named the country’s president Friday and immediately pleaded for time to make changes to lead his country out of turmoil.

But Maung Maung, 63, chosen by the ruling Burma Socialist Program Party after his predecessor Sein Lwin was forced out by popular rebellion, appeared to rule out a multi-party democracy.

Students who led the rebellion immediately rejected the selection of Maung Maung, the nation’s first civilian leader in 26 years, and called for nationwide demonstrations, Western diplomats reported.

‘Severe Storm’

In a speech to the party that was televised nationwide Friday, Maung Maung acknowledged that while fundamental reforms were being debated, the country was hit by a “severe storm of demonstrations,” referring to anti-government protests that have racked Burma for months and reportedly killed up to 3,000 people.

He cautioned against anger and vengeance against the rioters, telling party leaders that they must fulfill “the just and explicit desires of the people . . . Simply lecturing others is not sufficient. We should also . . . improve ourselves.

“We should find ways and do everything we can to avoid similar disastrous and dangerous events emerging again in the future.”

But he added that the 1974 constitution, which enshrined the exclusive rule of the Burma Socialist Program Party, was endorsed at the time by a referendum. “The people have already decided they want that constitution,” he said.

Yale Law Degree

Maung Maung, elected in an emergency, five-hour session of the ruling party and endorsed by the People’s Assembly (Parliament), has a law degree from Yale University, where he taught for two years, and has held several party and government posts over the last two decades. He has authored about a dozen books.

Rangoon Radio said Friday, in a broadcast monitored in Bangkok, that the People’s Assembly has set up a commission to consider ways of meeting the “economic, political and social wishes of the people.” Headed by Chief Justice Tin Aung Hein, it has been ordered to report by the end of September.

However, even as Maung Maung and the government struck a conciliatory note, diplomats reported a peaceful demonstration by tens of thousands of students, doctors, monks, lawyers and teachers in the northern city of Mandalay and a rally by hundreds at Rangoon General Hospital.

“Students have called for a nationwide strike on Monday,” one Western diplomat in Rangoon said by telephone. “They’re agitating for abolition of one-party rule. The more militant leaders are disappointed (in Maung Maung).”

Students led the mass protests that brought down Sein Lwin on Aug. 12. Sein Lwin, hated by many Burmese for his role in suppressing dissent, had been appointed to succeed Ne Win, who ruled Burma for 26 years before resigning July 23 amid anti-government demonstrations.

Reforms Announced

The government, trying to head off more clashes, announced a number of reform measures this week. It said Friday that some nationalized newspapers will be handed back to their original private owners.

It was also announced that in the future, non-party members will be able to run for the People’s Assembly and for membership in the People’s Committees, which run day-to-day life at a local level.

Maung Maung, attorney general since Ne Win resigned, has served as justice minister, chief justice and in many top party posts over the years.

He is the author of a flattering biography of Ne Win, the former general who led his country on an isolationist path after taking power in a 1962 coup.

Under Ne Win, Burma was transformed from a democracy and one of Southeast Asia’s wealthiest countries to one of its poorest, rivaled only by Communist-ruled Laos and Cambodia. Rampant inflation, food shortages and other economic hardships have fed popular resentment and support for the student demands.

Close Ties to Military

Maung Maung has been closely associated with the military-dominated system that the protesters want to dismantle. In his 1974 autobiographical work “To a Soldier Son,” he wrote: “The army has remained my second home in all my wanderings over the years.” He saw combat in Burma’s war for independence against Britain and retained close ties to the military.

He was one of the architects of Burma’s 1974 constitution, which formalized Ne Win’s “Burmese Way to Socialism”--an amalgam of socialism, Buddhist philosophy and centralized, one-party rule.