Maung Maung, Dr.

   (1924-1994)

   The only intellectual known to have been close to General Ne Win during his long military and political career, Dr. Maung Maung served briefly in 1988 as chairman of the Burma Socialist Programme Party and president of Burma. He was in the Burma Defence Army/Burma National Army during World War II. After the war, he studied at Mandalay College and Rangoon (Yangon) University. He pursued his studies abroad at Lincoln's Inn, London, the University of Utrecht, and Yale University, earning doctorates at the latter two institutions. In the mid-1950s, he established the Guardian magazine and newspaper. After Ne Win's coup d'état in March 1962, Dr. Maung

   Maung was appointed Chief Justice and was one of the main authors of the Constitution of 1974. After Sein Lwin's resignation as head of the party and state in the face of popular indignation, Maung Maung assumed these posts, on August 19, 1988. He enjoyed little credibility among the populace, however, being nicknamed "the Puppet." On September 10, he announced to the second BSPP Extraordinary Congress that multiparty democratic elections would be held in the near future. After the State Law and Order Restoration Council assumed power on September 18, he retired from public life.

   Dr. Maung Maung wrote a number of books on Burmese history and law, including Burma and General Ne Win and The 1988 Uprising in Burma, which are well-written apologies for Ne Win and his regime.

   See also Democracy Summer; Four Eights Movement.