Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said she wants to run for president in elections two years from now and rebuffed criticism that she has been silent over the repression of a Muslim minority in the country.
"There are those who say I shouldn't say I would like to be president," Suu Kyi told a panel in Naypyidaw today 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."
Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years under house arrest, has sought closer ties with the military since joining parliament last year as she pushes for a constitutional change that would allow her to lead one of Asia's poorest countries. President Thein Sein's move to democracy since 2010 elections prompted the U.S. and European Union to ease sanctions, attracting companies such as Google Inc. (GOOG), General Electric Co. and Norway's Telenor ASA.
Suu Kyi, 67, is ineligible to become head of state because the constitution says the president and two vice presidents can't have a child who is the citizen of a foreign country, and her two sons are British citizens. The constitution automatically grants the military a quarter of seats in parliament.
Since amendments need more than 75 percent of votes to pass, the military effectively can veto any changes. Amendments to certain sections, including the one that bars Suu Kyi from the presidency, also need a referendum.
Suu Kyi also defended herself against criticism that she has not said enough to defend the country's minority Muslim Rohingya. Human Rights Watch has accused the government of ethnic cleansing in displacing more than 125,000 Rohingya who are denied citizenship in the country.
"At the moment nobody seems to be very satisfied with me because I'm not taking sides," Suu Kyi said. "I have not been silent," she added. "It's just that they are not hearing what they want to hear from me."
Suu Kyi said the government must establish "rule of law" in Rakhine state, where violence has occurred, before the country reassesses the citizenship law. Many of Myanmar's 64 million people view the 800,000 Rohingya as illegal migrants from what is now Bangladesh, and refer to them as Bengali.
To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok at dtenkate@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rosalind Mathieson at rmathieson3@bloomberg.net
06 Jun, 2013
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Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFKJeDimvO3Q4lMyDKZng-7CMsmKg&url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-06/suu-kyi-says-she-wants-myanmar-presidency-if-charter-changed.html
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