Yangon. Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Saturday that her party would contest a national election in November, ending months of uncertainty about its participation in a vote that will be crucial for the scope of the country’s reforms.

Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi has laid the groundwork for running in the Nov. 8 parliamentary poll, but her National League for Democracy (NLD) had held out until now to commit to a ballot that is being billed as Myanmar’s first legitimate election in 25 years.

“This decision to run in the election was made to continue the unfinished democratization process for the country,” Suu Kyi told a news conference in the capital Naypyitaw.

“If the NLD won the election, national reconciliation will be the first priority. To make a country develop, stability in politics, economy and in various sectors are very important. If the NLD runs the government, we will prioritize this.”

The NLD won Myanmar’s last free and fair election in 1990 in a landslide, but the result was ignored by the then ruling military, which only began ceding power in 2011.

The NLD boycotted a 2010 poll held under military rule.

The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which is dominated by military and civil servants who retired to become candidates, will be the NLD’s biggest opponent.

Suu Kyi was under house arrest at the time of 2010 vote, but was released six days later. The NLD eventually agreed to join the quasi-civilian system in 2012, winning 42 house seats in a by-election. Suu Kyi will run in the constituency of Kawhmu, a delta town outside the biggest city, Yangon.

The NLD is expected to do well in an election which will determine representatives of the bicameral parliament and regional chambers for five-year terms.

The ballot will decide three-quarters of parliamentary seats, with a quarter reserved for the military, which appoints those lawmakers from within its ranks.

The newly formed upper and lower houses will nominate and vote on who will be president later.

Suu Kyi’s own presidential aspirations are curtailed by a clause in the constitution that bars individuals with children holding foreign citizenship from becoming head of state.

She said if the NLD won in a landslide, it would ensure the next president was suitable.

“We will make an arrangement for presidency which the people can accept,” she said.

Reuters

The post Myanmar’s Suu Kyi Says Her Party Will Run in November Election appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.

Naypyitaw, Myanmar. A move to amend Myanmar’s constitution to remove the military’s legislative veto on key decisions fell short of the required 75 percent support in parliament on Thursday, preserving the armed forces’ powerful political stake.

The failure to trim the share of house votes needed to amend the constitution to 70 percent was no surprise given that unelected members of the military, which ruled Myanmar for half a century until 2011, hold a quarter of the seats.

Another vote on a clause that effectively bars Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president also fell short of the support needed. The motion voted on would have only partially amended that clause, however, meaning the 70-year-old democracy icon would still have been ineligible had it been passed.

Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) won the last free election by a landslide in 1990 — a result ignored by the junta — cannot become president because her two children are British citizens, as was her late husband.

The NLD suffered persecution under the former junta and says the military’s ability to shoot down changes to the constitution puts a limit on democratic reforms in Myanmar, where a general election is expected in November.

Critics see it as an enshrined safeguard to protect the armed forces sizeable economic and political interests.

Just one of the proposed changes voted on Thursday was accepted, a minor tweak to a clause that requires a presidential candidate to be “well-acquainted” with various affairs, removing the word “military” and replacing it with “defense.”

Any approved changes require endorsement in a public referendum.

The NLD’s attempts to change the constitution prior to the election have met with resistance from the military and ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which has former officers and businessmen with ties to the army among its ranks.

Only just over two-thirds of lawmakers present backed the motion to effectively remove the military’s veto.

Military lawmakers gave a series of speeches during the debate, which began on Tuesday, defending the continued political role of the armed forces and arguing that Myanmar’s transition to democracy was still fragile and needed to be protected.

The NLD, which has a history of boycotting what it saw as flawed political processes inspired by the former military dictatorship, has yet to confirm whether or not it will run in the election. The party says it will wait for the date to be set.

Suu Kyi, reiterated concern on Tuesday that unrest could hinder voting, but did not state any specific threat.

Reuters

The post Myanmar Military Retains Veto After Constitution Change Vote Fails appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.