Burma’s controversial 2008 Constitution would have to be amended if
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi were ever to become president, according to
elected politicians in the new Parliament.
The prospect of Suu Kyi’s
potential presidency was raised this weekend by none other than the incumbent
President Thein Sein of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party
(USDP). During a televised interview on the BBC program “Hardtalk,” Thein Sein
raised eyebrows by declaring that he “would accept” Suu Kyi as president if the
majority voted for her in the 2015 general election.
“Whether Aung San Suu Kyi becomes
the leader of the nation depends on the will of the people. If the people
accept her, then I will have to accept her,” Thein Sein said.
“There isn’t any problem between
me and Aung San Suu Kyi. We are working together,” he told the BBC.
Speaking with The Irrawaddy on
Monday, Win Htain, an elected MP and senior member of Suu Ky’s party, the
National League for Democracy (NLD), said, “We have to welcome his [Thein
Sein's] statement if that is what he really meant.”
However, he said, “A
constitutional amendment must be made ahead of the election in 2015. Suu Kyi
cannot become president in accordance with the current Constitution.”
The 2008 Constitution
disqualifies any Burmese national whose family member or members are foreign
citizens or who hold foreign citizenship from running for president or
vice-president.
Under Chapter III, Article 59 (f)
states: The President and Vice-Presidents “shall he himself, one of the
parents, the spouse, one of the legitimate children or their spouses not owe
allegiance to a foreign power, not be subject of a foreign power or citizen of
a foreign country. They shall not be persons entitled to enjoy the rights and
privileges of a subject of a foreign government or citizen of a foreign country.”
Pe Than, a Lower House MP for the
Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, told The Irrawaddy that, in his
opinion, Suu Kyi could not be president because her family members are
foreigners. He said the Constitution must be amended first.
Suu Kyi married Michael Aris, a
British scholar, in 1971 and gave birth to her eldest son, Alexander, the
following year in London. Her younger son, Kim Aris, was born in 1977. Both of
her sons have UK citizenship.
Thein Sein told the BBC program
that military representatives will continue to play a central role in Burmese
politics as they will continue to retain 25 percent of the seats in Parliament,
a provision that is also enshrined in the existing Constitution.
Several observers likened Suu
Kyi’s situation with the case of Myint Swe, the chief minister of Rangoon
Division. On July 10, Myint Swe was nominated for vice-president. However, he
was later disqualified in accordance with the constitution after it surfaced
that one of his children lives in Australia and has become an Australian
citizen.
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