Suu Kyi wants to run for president
Myanmar’s opposition leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi made it for the first time clear that she wants to run for the country’s presidency in the 2015 elections.
“There are those who say I shouldn’t say I would like to be president,” Suu Kyi told a panel during the first day at the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Myanmar on June 6 broadcast on the World Economic Forum’s website.
“But 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.”
However, for Suu Kyi to be eligible, Myanmar’s charter needs to be changed. The 67-year old, who was married to a British citizen, anthropologist Michael Aris, is ineligible to become head of state because the constitution says the president and two vice presidents cannot have a child who is the citizen of a foreign country, and her two sons are British citizens.
Amendments to the constitution need more than 75 per cent of votes to pass, thus the military effectively can veto any changes. Amendments to certain sections, including the one that bars Suu Kyi from presidency, also need a referendum.
Myanmar's opposition leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi made it for the first time clear that she wants to run for the country's presidency in the 2015 elections. “There are those who say I shouldn’t say I would like to be president,” Suu Kyi told a panel during the first day at the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Myanmar on June 6 broadcast on the World Economic Forum’s website. “But 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.” However, for Suu...
Myanmar’s opposition leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi made it for the first time clear that she wants to run for the country’s presidency in the 2015 elections.
“There are those who say I shouldn’t say I would like to be president,” Suu Kyi told a panel during the first day at the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Myanmar on June 6 broadcast on the World Economic Forum’s website.
“But 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.”
However, for Suu Kyi to be eligible, Myanmar’s charter needs to be changed. The 67-year old, who was married to a British citizen, anthropologist Michael Aris, is ineligible to become head of state because the constitution says the president and two vice presidents cannot have a child who is the citizen of a foreign country, and her two sons are British citizens.
Amendments to the constitution need more than 75 per cent of votes to pass, thus the military effectively can veto any changes. Amendments to certain sections, including the one that bars Suu Kyi from presidency, also need a referendum.
