Masses March as Strike Resumes in Rangoon

Burmese students, workers and Buddhist monks resumed their general strike Wednesday, trying to force a stubborn regime to give way to an interim government.

Hundreds of thousands marched through Rangoon, their pro-democracy chants of past demonstrations replaced by militant threats. “If they don’t fall, make them fall,” some of them shouted.

“No one’s at work,” a Rangoon-based Western diplomat said when contacted by telephone from Bangkok.

Life in Rangoon, a city of 3.5 million people, has been paralyzed by the political struggle, and rice and fuel supplies are said to be desperately short.

Opposition political leaders, who took their first unified action Monday when they rejected as insufficient a surprise government agreement to hold multi-party elections, continued their effort to patch together a definitive proposal on an interim regime.

Tin Oo, a former defense minister sacked by Burmese strongman Ne Win in the mid-1970s, told the Reuters news agency that he and other opposition leaders were prepared to form an interim government but wanted to give Burma’s ruling party “a few days” to agree to surrender power.

He called on student leaders, the shock troops of a popular, nationwide rebellion against a quarter century of one-party, military-dominated rule, to continue nonviolent demonstrations.

“With democracy at hand,” the former general was quoted as saying, “moral courage is the only way to achieve success.” Establishing a rival regime, he said, “could lead to unnecessary problems and disturbances.” And he added, “We expect a response from the government within two or three days.”

There was no immediate government response to Tin Oo’s comments. President Maung Maung has said an interim regime is not practicable.

Not Backing U Nu

A rival government proclaimed last week by former Prime Minister U Nu has failed to win support in the opposition camp.

The government, meanwhile, has held off on its threats to dislodge protesters occupying government offices nationwide.

“Everybody’s just watching each other,” the diplomat said.

Three key opposition leaders met this week with a five-man commission appointed by the government to oversee the proposed elections, which could be held as early as next month.

Aung Gyi, a former general who broke with Ne Win in 1963, a year after his coup ended the country’s first experiment with democracy, said he told Ba Htay, the head of the commission: “I am confident you want to hold a free and fair election, but after 26 years of this rule, most people in the country do not know you and will not have confidence. . . . People do not trust any government-appointed commission.”

Aung Gyi was joined at the meeting by Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burma’s independence leader, Aung San and Tin Oo.

“The government is simply going to have to make further concessions if both sides are going to work together to end all this,” the Western diplomat said.

So far, Aung Gyi and the other emerging opposition leaders have resisted the militant line endorsed by many students.

No violence was reported in Wednesday’s massive demonstrations in Rangoon, which were matched by protests in Mandalay and other cities. The military made no move to stop the marches.

No looting has been reported in the past few days. Last week, vigilantes in several areas of the capital seized and beheaded a number of men they accused of being government provocateurs trying to spread panic by means of disruptive acts, including looting and alleged poisonings. But the violence subsided with Saturday’s government promise to have elections.

Gasoline $16 a Gallon

Meanwhile, several opposition organizations this week began efforts to relieve the city’s food and fuel shortages. Gasoline now costs $16 a gallon on the black market, and the price of a 4.4-pound bag of rice has risen from $1.70 to $5.80 in a month. There are food supplies outside the capital, but they cannot be brought in because of transport strikes and the fuel shortage.

Burma’s main refinery , located on an island in the Irrawaddy River south of Rangoon, has for years operated far below capacity because of mismanagement and poor maintenance, according to a knowledgeable businessman in Bangkok.

“The country’s broke,” he said. “They have no money for spares.”

The squeeze tightened Tuesday when Japan, Burma’s major source of aid, suspended financial assistance on political grounds.