Myanmar’s Suu Kyi calls for constitutional amendments

dpa | 14 March 2012 ... 

Aung San Suu Kyi

Yangon (dpa) – Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi called for sweeping amendments to the pro-military constitution in a speech scheduled to air on state-run television Wednesday.

Copies of the 15-minute campaign speech, scheduled to air at 8 pm (1330 GMT), were leaked Tuesday to YouTube and Facebook.

“We know that the current constitution is not in line with democratic principles,” Suu Kyi said of the 2008 charter that was pushed though by the former junta.

“Giving an obvious well-known example, the citizens know that the parliament comprises 25 percent of parliamentary representatives who are not elected,” she said.

The military appoints 25 percent of lawmakers, who have special veto power over any legislation that might undermine the institution’s influence over politics or the economy.

A criticism of the lack of “rule of law” under the previous regime had been censored out of the speech, sources from Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) said.

All 17 parties contesting the April 1 by-election have been allowed 15-minute slots on state television to get their campaign messages across to the public.

Suu Kyi and 46 members of the NLD are contesting the polls to fill 48 seats left vacant when the current cabinet members took office a year ago.

The NLD had originally fielded 48 candidates, but one, Saw Hlaing, was disqualified because his parents did not have Myanmar citizenship cards, party spokesman Nyan Win said.

The NLD won the previous election in 1990 by a landslide but was blocked from power for 20 years. It boycotted the November 7, 2010 polls.

The party agreed to contest the April by-election after President Thein Sein opened a political dialogue with Suu Kyi and encouraged her to participate in domestic politics.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The current elected government is led by the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party, which is packed with ex-generals.

“I believe that the military must play a role in the development of the country,” Suu Kyi acknowledged in her campaign speech. “I also believe that the military, which was founded by my father, General Aung San, is always ready to serve in the interest of the country.”

BM
http://bikyamasr.com/62009/myanmars-suu-kyi-calls-for-constitutional-amendments/