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Aung San Suu Kyi Plans to Lead Myanmar if Her Party Wins National Election Next Month

Thursday, October 8, 2015
BANGKOK: Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has vowed to lead Myanmar behind the scenes if her party wins elections next month, signalling a post-poll power struggle with the country's entrenched military rulers.

The 70-year-old Nobel Prize winner and leader of the popular National League for Democracy declared in an interview she hopes to circumvent a clause in the constitution that bars her from the presidency.

"I've made it quite clear that if the NLD wins the elections and we form government, I'm going to be the leader of that government whether or not I am president", Ms Suu Kyi told an Indian television station.

"Why not? Should you have to be president to lead a country?," she said.

The NLD is expected to sweep large parts of the country in an election on November 8 that is seen as a key test of democratic progress after half a decade of often-brutal military rule.

Myanmar's military rulers have blocked repeated attempts to amend the constitution that bars Ms Suu Kyi from becoming president because her late husband and two sons are not Myanmar citizens.

Directly challenging the army, Ms Suu Kyi said her party would nominate a civilian member for of the official role of president should it win the election, rather than endorsing a military candidate.

She said the constitution will have to change to allow civilian authorities to have democratic authority over the armed forces.

"I am sure they won't like it. I don't expect them to like it," she said.

"But I do believe there are many members of the army who want what is best for the country, and if we can agree with one another what would be best for the country, we can come to some arrangement."

In Myanmar, also known as Burma, the president is chosen by the elected MPs and military appointees after they are sworn into parliament.

The army has in the past put down any threat to its power, ignoring elections in 1990 that the NLD won in a landslide.

In August, incumbent president Thein Sein, a former military officer, purged parliament's speaker Shwe Mann from leadership of the ruling United Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), an army proxy.

Mr Shwe Mann was an ally of Ms Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years under house arrest.

Ms Suu Kyi also urged voters to be "vigilant" on polling day, saying she fears unrest could force the closure of polling stations.

"This is the most important election in the history of independent Burma," she said, using the former name for Myanmar.

"Vigilant, cautious, careful and very, very brave, that's what people need to be."

Despite its popularity the NLD faces a tough battle to win the election because a quarter of seats in parliament are reserved for the military.

Ms Suu Kyi said she is concerned about the possibility of increased anti-Muslim sentiment in Myanmar and religion being used for political means, saying there are "very, very worrying signs of religious intolerance which we did not have in this country before".

Ms Suu Kyi defended herself against accusations she has failed to speak out on the plight of persecuted Rohingya Muslims in the country's western Rakhine state.

"What people would like to hear are flaming words of condemnation," she said. But she said it was the wrong way to achieve reconciliation.

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Ms Suu Kyi is one hell of a lady. Very smart, brave and a ton of guts.
I hope she can turn Burma around for the better and its people.
Cheers

Posted by Chaseable on October 8, 2015 12:40

Editor Comment:

Not enough courage, though, to speak out about the Rohingya and racism in her homeland. Everything she does is for herself.


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