Burma Socialist Programme Party - Demise

Demise

The BSPP Congress accepted the resignations of Chairman Ne Win and Vice Chairman San Yu but rejected the resignations of General Secretary Aye Ko, Joint General Secretary Sein Lwin and Central Executive Committee member Tun Tin. Joint-General Secretary Sein Lwin (former Brigadier, d. April 9, 2004) was chosen and appointed as the new Chairman of the Party by the Party Congress. The appointment of Sein Lwin, who was widely perceived to be mainly responsible for the shootings and killings of more than 100 students at Rangoon University on July 7, 1962, shortly after Ne Win's coup d'etat, as well as the killings of students and civilians in March and June 1988, earning the epithet "Butcher of Rangoon", sparked widespread protests in the country.

The Extraordinary Party Congress of July 1988 also rejected Ne Win's call for a national referendum. The election of Sein Lwin as Party Chairman as well as the refusal by the BSPP to take steps to move towards a multi-party system led to massive demonstrations to which the military responded by shooting and killing hundreds if not thousands of demonstrators in many towns and cities across the country from August 8–12, 1988. On August 12, 1988 Sein Lwin resigned as both Party Chairman and State President. After the selection by the BSPP Central Committee of Dr Maung Maung (January 31, 1925-July 2, 1994) as Party Chairman on August 19 and later by the one-party Pyithu Hluttaw (People's Parliament) as State President on August 20, 1988, the uprising against the BSPP government intensified.

On September 10, 1988 in yet another hastily reconvened Congress, the BSPP decided to hold 'multi-party elections' and the next day the Pyithu Hluttaw passed a resolution to hold multi-Party elections 'not earlier than 45 days and not later than 90 days'. However massive demonstrations in Rangoon and the rest of the country continued, demanding for the resignation of the BSPP government led by Dr Maung Maung in favour of a neutral interim government in order to supervise multi-party elections. On September 18, 1988 the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC or na wa ta), led by the army Chief of Staff General Saw Maung (d. July 1997) took over after crushing what is now known as the failed 8888 Uprising of August 8, 1988. The BSPP re-formed itself as the National Unity Party (NUP - Taing-yintha Silone Nyi-nyut-yay Party or ta sa nya) on September 24, 1988. At the May 27, 1990 elections the NUP contested in virtually all the constituencies but won only 10 out of 485 seats in the new National Assembly which the SLORC and its successor State Peace and Development Council (SPDC or na a hpa) never convened. The NUP Chairman from September 1988 until his death in early 2005 was U Tha Gyaw, a former army officer who later served as a Minister in the post-1974 BSPP government.