Suu Kyi pushes president on four-way summit plan

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has criticised President Thein Sein for giving an indecisive response to her proposal to hold a four-way summit to discuss constitutional amendments.

In an interview for the Myanmar-language programme on Radio Australia on Sunday, the National League for Democracy chairperson called on the president to give a clear answer as to whether or not he wants to hold the meeting. This was in response to Thein Sein’s earlier statement that he did not wish to overstep the Union Parliament by calling such a meeting.

“The union parliamentary speaker has to be included, of course. As the union parliamentary speaker will be included, there is no reason to say we want to overstep the Union Parliament. Our intention is to aid the tasks implemented by the Union Parliament. We requested the meeting with the prior intention of making this task smoother. I can only say [the president] is responding this way because he wants to avoid it,” Suu Kyi said.

She added that only the president could call for such a meeting, not the Parliament. Furthermore, Thein Sein’s explanation for declining to call the meeting – that it is improper to meet with only one out of 58 political parties – is similar to the reasoning of the military government when the NLD tried to meet with it in 1998.

“This kind of meeting between the military, the Parliament, the executive branch, and the largest opposition party, to speak on behalf of the public, is something that should really be done. Only then can we understand the military’s position and can they understand our position,” said Suu Kyi.

The Nobel laureate said she would continue to do what needs to be done if the four-way meeting is not held by the end of January 2014, the designated deadline for the constitutional review committee to submit its report.

“However, if there is a meeting, I believe it can help strengthen constitutional amendments. That’s why we are requesting this. Now it seems that the executive branch does not want to make amendments to the constitution,” she added.

The decision to call for the four-way summit was made on November 23 during the NLD’s central executive committee meeting. After Suu Kyi sent a letter to the president calling for the meeting, the president rejected the idea by saying that the NLD should respect the views of other political parties and should be wary of overstepping the Union Parliament’s authority.