President Maung Maung today rejected protesters' demands for an interim government but said he will allow the formation of student unions, which have been illegal in Burma. Earlier today, striking employees closed Rangoon's airport despite a government warning. Striking public employees said 1 million people would turn out for an anti-government rally at a park, but only about 100,000 showed up. In a speech broadcast over state-run Rangon radio, Maung Maung said any changes in Burma's one-party government must follow constitutional procedures. He said the government already plans a Sept. 12 meeting to consider holding a referendum on one-party rule, a process that could lead to amendment of the constitution and general elections. He added that Article 11 of the Constitution, under which only the ruling Burma Socialist Program Party is legal, must be changed. In what was seen as a gesture to students who have been at the vanguard of pro-democracy protests, Maung Maung said the government would permit student unions as long as they were ``properly formed.'' He also said that after passions cooled, the government would rebuild the Rangoon University student union building, which the military destroyed in July 1962 after Ne Win led the coup that ended democracy in Burma. Ne Win, who resigned in July after 26 years of authoritarian rule, abolished all political parties except his own, outlawed all unions and opposition groups and imposed rigid controls on the media. Since Maung Maung came to power Aug. 19, replacing hardliner Sein Lwin, masses of demonstrators have rallied and held strikes demanding immediate formation of an interim government to restore democracy. On Aug. 24, Maung Maung promised the party would hold an emergency meeting to consider a referendum on the issue. But the call did not end protests. On Sunday, students announced they had formed an illegal student union. The airport strike halted all international flights and further isolated the Southeast Asian nation. Union Burma Airways last Friday suspended both domestic and international service, but flights by other carriers had continued from Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand. The All Services General Strike Committee, an illegal government association that was formed Tuesday, had called for 1 million workers from government departments and state-owned corporations to rally at Bandoola Gardens, the capital's largest park. People marched along Rangoon's main streets this morning and by noon, several thousand striking state employees and students had gathered outside the park. But the crowd appeared poorly organized and no attempt was made to enter the park. An hour later, all but a few hundred demonstators had peacefully dispersed. Two small rallies, one outside the nearby U.S. Embassy and one at a nearby government building, also broke up. On Wednesday, the government of President Maung Maung warned it would take action against demonstrators illegally occupying government buildings and facilities. Crowds in cities throughout Burma have taken over and sometimes destroyed offices of the government and of the ruling Burma Socialist Program Party. Government troops, who have not intervened in protests since five days of bloody riots forced Sein Lwin to resign Aug. 12, took over local government offices in the Bahan and Sanchaung areas of the capital Wednesday night and began repairing them. Members of former leader Ne Win's entourage, meanwhile, went to the Foreign Trade Bank on Wednesday and tried to transfer the equivalent of $3 million to a bank in London, a senior bank official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said junior bank employees heard about the request and demanded the bank not comply. They said Ne Win no long had authority to order such transfers. As word spread of the transfer request, a crowd gathered arond the bank and senior bank officials eventually rejected it, the official said. He declined to identify the people who sought the transfer or the bank in London. In another development, at least five illegal newspapers have appeared on the streets of Rangoon, selling briskly at 83 cents a copy, about 10 times the cost of the six government-approved newspapers. They have been reporting news of anti-government activities.
