ABSTRACT
In 1988, the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), built up after General Ne Win's 1962 coup, unravelled under popular protest. General Ne Win resigned and the experiment with military socialism lasting over a quarter century was over. In May 1990 democratic elections were held, in which the National League for Democracy, co-founded by Aung San Suu Kyi, over-whelmingly won the elections. However, by early 1991 it became clear that the military was in no hurry to hand over the instruments of government, for they gradually routinized themselves from a temporary committee running the country into a ‘government’. Indeed, the generals today call themselves ‘Ministers’, and General Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council and Minister of Defence, calls himself today ‘Prime Minister’.
