Burma's opposition said yesterday it would shortly call a "people's parliament", raising the pressure on the country's military rulers who ignored the result of a general election eight years ago.
The defiant announcement from the National League for Democracy came after the government ignored yesterday's deadline set by the opposition for the convening of parliament.
Diplomats said the move set the stage for a more intense round of political confrontation in coming days.
"By failing to convene a people's parliament, the authorities ignore the desire of the people and [abandon] their commitment to the state and the people," the NLD said in a statement.
"Therefore, the NLD hereby announces that it will convene a people's parliament comprising people's representatives of the national races within a short period."
The NLD, led by the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, won Burma's last general election in 1990 by a landslide, but the military ignored the result, saying the country needed a constitution before a parliament could be convened.
As the NLD made its announcement, Ms Suu Kyi was about 32km outside Rangoon, spending a 10th day in a roadside protest against restrictions on her freedom of movement.
She and three supporters have been stuck in a minivan on a small bridge at the village of Anyarsu since August 12th, having been denied permission to travel to the west of the country and in turn refusing government demands to return to Rangoon. In Bangkok the All Burma Students' Democratic Front urged people to begin a campaign of non-co-operation to press the NLD demand for a parliament.