<hdr>The World Factbook 1994: Burma<nl>Government</hdr><body>
<list>
<item><hi format=bold>Names:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>conventional long form:</hi> Union of Burma
<item>• <hi format=ital>conventional short form:</hi> Burma
<item>• <hi format=ital>local long form:</hi> Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw (translated by the US Government as Union of Myanma and by the Burmese as Union of Myanmar)
<item>• <hi format=ital>local short form:</hi> Myanma Naingngandaw
<item>• <hi format=ital>former:</hi> Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma
</list>
<item><hi format=bold>Digraph:</hi> BM
<item><hi format=bold>Type:</hi> military regime
<item><hi format=bold>Capital:</hi> Rangoon (sometimes translated as Yangon)
<item><hi format=bold>Independence:</hi> 4 January 1948 (from UK)
<item><hi format=bold>National holiday:</hi> Independence Day, 4 January (1948)
<item><hi format=bold>Constitution:</hi> 3 January 1974 (suspended since 18 September 1988); National Convention started on 9 January 1993 to draft chapter headings for a new constitution
<item><hi format=bold>Legal system:</hi> has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
<item><hi format=bold>Suffrage:</hi> 18 years of age; universal
<item><hi format=bold>Executive branch:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>chief of state and head of government:</hi> Chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Gen. THAN SHWE (since 23 April 1992)
</list>
<item><hi format=bold>State Law and Order Restoration Council:</hi> military junta which assumed power 18 September 1988
<item><hi format=bold>Legislative branch:</hi>
<item><hi format=bold>People's Assembly (Pyithu Hluttaw):</hi> last held 27 May 1990, but Assembly never convened; results—NLD 80%; seats—(485 total) NLD 396, the regime-favored NUP 10, other 79; was dissolved after the coup of 18 September 1988
<item><hi format=bold>Judicial branch:</hi> none; Council of People's Justices was abolished after the coup of 18 September 1988
<item><hi format=bold>Political parties and leaders:</hi> Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), leader NA; National Unity Party (NUP; proregime), THA KYAW; National League for Democracy (NLD), U AUNG SHWE
<item><hi format=bold>Other political or pressure groups:</hi> National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), headed by the elected prime minister SEIN WIN (consists of individuals legitimately elected to Parliament but not recognized by the military regime; the group fled to a border area and joined with insurgents in December 1990 to form a parallel government; Kachin Independence Army (KIA); United Wa State Army (UWSA); Karen National Union (KNU); several Shan factions, including the Mong Tai Army (MTA); All Burma Student Democratic Front (ABSDF)
<item><hi format=bold>Flag:</hi> red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing, all in white, 14 five-pointed stars encircling a cogwheel containing a stalk of rice; the 14 stars represent the 14 administrative divisions