 |
| Aung San Suu Kyi speaks at a press conference on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Naypyidaw, June 6, 2013.AFP |
Speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia in Naypyidaw, the 67-year-old Nobel laureate made her most explicit comment about her political ambitions so far.
“I want to run for president and I’m quite frank about it,” she said.
“If I pretended that I didn’t want to be president, I wouldn’t be honest, and I would rather be honest with my people than otherwise.”
“But for me to be eligible for the post of the presidency, the constitution will have to be amended.”
Myanmar’s constitution, written in 2008 during the junta regime that held the National League for Democracy (NLD) party president under house arrest for years, includes a provision blocking anyone whose spouse or children are foreign citizens from taking the presidency.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s two sons with her late British husband hold U.K. citizenship and the clause is widely believed to be targeted at her.
Since taking power two years ago as the military junta stepped down, Myanmar’s current President Thein Sein has stunned the international community by implementing wide-ranging reforms that included landmark by-elections that ushered Aung San Suu Kyi into parliament.
But critics and opposition leaders have asked how far the reforms will go, an issue that was the focus of the WEF’s panel on Myanmar as the once-pariah country hosts the prestigious regional business and political summit for the first time.
Amending the constitution
Aung San Suu Kyi told the summit that her party will work to amend Myanmar’s constitution to allow her to be eligible for the presidency, but said fundamental changes first needed to be made to the amendment process which is still dominated by members of the military.
“There are many other aspects of the constitution which should be a worry to those who believe in democracy,” she said.
“We must start by amending the requirements for amendments. We have first got to make the constitution amendable.”
Changing parts of the text requires the support of 75 percent of parliament, where 25 percent of the seats are reserved for members of the military.
Asked if she thought reforms undertaken in Myanmar so far were irreversible, Aung San Suu Kyi said that if everyone in the country benefitted from democratic reforms, it would be harder for them to be rolled back.
Earlier on Thursday, Thein Sein said in his opening remarks to the three-day WEF summit that his government is "working hard to move from military rule to democracy" and is committed to ending ethnic conflicts and reforming the economy.
"I promise you that we will not waver in this task," he said.
Thein Sein has left open the possibility of seeking another term in office in the 2015 election, saying the choice will depend “on the needs of the country.”
Late last year, Thein Sein predicted that his military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) will face "neck-and-neck" fight with the NLD in the election.
In the last general election in November 2010, which the NLD boycotted, the USDP won three quarters of the seats in parliament up for grabs.
But in April 2012 by-elections, the NLD won 43 out of 44 seats it contested, making it the largest opposition party in parliament.
Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.
