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Victorious 1990 politicians plan to sue junta

Politicians who won a majority of votes in the 1990 general election – but were denied the right to take up their seats in parliament – have vowed to sue the leaders of the military junta that previously ruled Burma.

According to the committee’s secretary Aye Thar Aung, the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP), formed of politicians who technically won in the 1990 election, on Wednesday marked the quarter-century anniversary of the polls by announcing its plan to pursue legal action against the military leaders of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, or SLORC, that later changed its name to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), for nullifying the poll results.

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“We plan to sue SLORC and SPDC leaders for unjustly neglecting the results of the 1990 election,” said Aye Thar Aung, adding that the CRPP also prepared a report on series of events during the polls.

Dr Zaw Myint, the 1990 National League for Democracy (NLD) candidate in Irrawaddy Division’s Henzada, told DVB: “We are going to sue the previous government – but not the current U Thein Sein government – for lying to the public. We plan to sue the whole government institution, and are not specifically targeting individuals.”

The election of 27 May 1990 was the first multi-party election since 1960, when the country had been ruled by a military dictatorship.

It came after the protests of 1988 in which students sparked a nationwide uprising against the corruption, economic mismanagement and harsh social restrictions of then-ruler Gen. Ne Win. Thousands were killed in the authorities’ infamous crackdown.

In the wake of the massacre came the creation of the NLD led by charismatic returning exile Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence hero Aung San. The pro-democracy party won a landslide victory in the 1990 election with 392 out of 492 seats. Under the now-deceased Snr-Gen Saw Maung, the SLORC regime refused to recognise the poll results and detained many of the victorious candidates, some of who died in prison.

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