Suu Kyi wants West to spur reform not reimpose sanctions

Suu Kyi, who is ineligible to become president after planned parliamentary elections next year because of a technicality in the constitution, criticised the West for being too optimistic about change but said it could help by pushing for talks.

 "That's a problem with the international community. They have not lost interest in Burma, they still want Burma to have a happy ending," she told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, using the country's old name.

"But they think that they'll get a happy ending simply by insisting that it is a happy ending and that's not how things happen."

 Myanmar began its emergence from international pariah status in 2011 when military leaders launched reforms after nearly half a century in power and installed a quasi-civilian government, but the military still holds substantial sway.

US President Barack Obama visited last month, saying the law that barred Suu Kyi from becoming president "doesn't make much sense".

Suu Kyi, who wants the constitution amended so she can run for president, said reforms were not going "too well" and that the government wasn't keen on genuine change with many people in the military continuing to believe they were the only ones who could hold the country together.

 But she strongly rejected the idea of reintroducing European Union sanctions which were lifted in 2013 to reward Myanmar for progress in moving towards democracy.

 “I don't like going backwards," she said. "I like going forwards so I think rather than reintroducing old methods I think what would help greatly is if everybody seriously put their minds to doing whatever they can to encourage negotiations. That is the doorway to the future.”

In November 2012, the US’s decision to lift some sanctions against Myanmar injected a new life into the economy.

The sanctions were imposed in May 1997, following the junta government’s large-scale repression of the democratic opposition. In July 2012, the US government issued a general licence to authorise the exportation of US financial services to Myanmar, permitting the first new US investment in the country in nearly 15 years. The lifting came with an exception that jadeite and rubies mined or extracted from Myanmar cannot be imported to the US. 

Following the lifting, a number of US companies have explored business opportunities in the country, alongside European nations following the European Union’s decision months before that.

Myanmar has been eagerly awaiting the lifting of all sanctions by the US, the world’s largest economy, as the country desperately wants to boost its exports. 

Some sanctions have remained, pending further reforms.

President Thein Sein has surprised the international community in recent years with a number of dramatic reforms that have seen international sanctions removed as Myanmar opens up to the world. But the country still faces a myriad of challenges - including an opaque legal system, creaking infrastructure and significant poverty levels - that will need to be tackled by any new government after next year's election.

Earlier this month, plans to reform its graft-plagued judicial system were announced, a move met with scepticism by lawyers and activists long used to red tape and poor access to justice during the junta era. 

Courts across the country, which have long been viewed as a corruption-riddled arm of the army-dominated government, are to be modernised and committed to "integrity", independence and the rule of law, according to the new three-year plan unveiled by the Supreme Court.