Charter change on the agenda

Myanmar’s political moves yesterday captured world attention with its president holding an unprecedented meeting with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the parliament putting the charter amendment that currently bars her from becoming president up for discussion.
Ahead of the meeting, US President Barack Obama held telephone talks with both President Thein Sein and Suu Kyi. He encouraged Thein Sein to ensure next year’s elections are “inclusive and credible”, after decades of disastrous military rule.
Thein Sein and Suu Kyi walked into the meeting together to begin discussions in the capital Nay Pyi Taw ahead of the 2015 general elections, which are viewed the world over as a key test of democratic reforms under the quasi-civilian government.
The meeting opened with Thein Sein welcoming delegates including Suu Kyi, other party leaders, army chief and the election commission chief.
This comes a day after Obama spoke to the two leaders and less than a fortnight before he visits Myanmar to attend a major regional conference.
In a statement the White House quoted Obama as telling Thein Sein that he “underscored the need for an inclusive and credible process for conducting the 2015 elections”.
Obama also spoke to Suu Kyi about how Washington would “support efforts to promote tolerance, respect for diversity, and a more inclusive political environment”.
Last week, Myanmar authorities announced that the country’s national elections would be held in the last week of October or first week of November next year.
Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Ye Htut said parliament would consider amending the constitution, which blocks Suu Kyi from becoming president. “They agreed to discuss the issue of amending the constitution in parliament, according to the law,” Ye Htut told reporters after the president held the talks with Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi is pushing for key sections of the constitution to be changed ahead of the elections, which are widely expected to be won by her National League for Democracy (NLD) – if they are free and fair. As it stands, Suu Kyi is not eligible to become president because a clause in the 2008 charter blocks anyone whose spouse or children are overseas citizens. The Nobel laureate’s late husband was British, as are her two sons.
Myanmar’s last general election in 2010 was marred by widespread accusations of cheating and was held without Suu Kyi, who was kept under lock and key until days after the vote, and without her NLD party.
The 2010 election came as the military relinquished its outright control of the government, after decades of misrule in which they turned Myanmar into a diplomatic pariah and drove the economy into the ground. Now, under former general Thein Sein, Myanmar is now at a crossroads as it grapples with thorny political and constitutional questions and the search for a nationwide ceasefire to several rebellions.
Trevor Wilson, a former Australian ambassador to Myanmar and visiting fellow at the Australian National University, said the timing of yesterday’s meeting ahead of Obama’s visit was highly significant.
“Without a doubt this is carefully timed. Even if [the outcome of] this meeting wasn’t positive, he [Thein Sein] could certainly say to Obama I’ve tried and made an effort to listen to people.”
In the 2012 by-elections Suu Kyi’s party won almost every seat available and she became an MP for the first time. The NLD is now expected to win a major slice of
the legislature next year after which parliament will select a president.
Thein Sein has surprised the international community in recent years with a number of dramatic reforms that have seen international sanctions removed as the country opens up to the world.
Most political prisoners have been released, Suu Kyi moves freely as a political player, and the government has set its sights on ending multiple civil wars with armed ethnic minority rebels.