Suu Kyi urged to take prime minister post

“Unless Section 59(F) is amended, Suu Kyi will be suitable for the position of speaker of the parliament. Personally, I think she should be the prime minister. I proposed that she take the position of prime minister,” Khin Aung Myint said on June 9.

During President Thein Sein’s term, the prime minister post has been vacant. 

Under Section 59(F) of the 2008 Constitution, individuals with foreign spouses or children cannot join the presidential race.

Khin Aung Myint said that he told Suu Kyi of his idea during a discussion on charter amendment, adding that the prime minister post will not be entangled in Section 59(F).

President Thein Sein, Union Speaker Thura Shwe Mann, senior general Min Aung Hlaing and Aung San Suu Kyi are all expected to vie for the presidency. 

When journalists asked Khin Aung Myint who should be president, he said: “All the candidates will have to compete in the elections with all-out effort. We won’t see a landslide victory like the 2010 elections. The NLD did not participate in the 2010 general elections,” Khin Aung Myint said.

“I want the country to develop. I want the situation before and after the elections to remain stable. Many political parties want to be leaders. Small parties should join hands with big ones,” he said.

On the constitutional amendments, he noted that the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party wants to amend a lot of sections.

Proposals to amend the Constitution need the support of at least 20 per cent of MPs. 

“We all need to have the same mind. But we need to wait and see whether or not to amend the Constitution,” Khin Aung Myint said.

There is a growing call for the second six-party talks to seek the military’s consent to charter amendments. 

On this, Khin Aung Myit said that the commander-in-chief of defence services would need to answer whether the Constitution should be amended. 

“The commander-in-chief is meant to be responsible for this. The military representatives are also members of the parliament,” he said.

He also reckoned that the would-be president must be the person whom the ethnic minorities and the people long for, or undesirable incidents may occur.

Suu Kyi on June 10 kicked off her 5-day visit to China, where she will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.

NLD delegations have visited China at the invitation of Chinese Communist Party, but this is the first for Suu Kyi.

The process to collect 20 per cent approval from MPs for a bill to amend the Constitution was completed. The bill proposed by the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) was submitted to Parliament yesterday.

A member of the Constitutional Amendment Implementation Committee (CAIC) said the bill would include amendment of Section 59(f) and Section 436(a), which controls the processes needed to change the charter. NLD has already agreed to support the bill together with Rakhine, Mon, Chin and National Unity parties.

Some MPs are concerned about the tight schedule to review the bill, given that the general election is about five months away.

Parliamentary Speaker Thura Shwe Mann told political party leaders on May 29 that only some amendments could be made before the election. 

The proposal to review the 2008 charter was submitted by MP Thura Aye Myint from the USDP in March 2013. The Parliament formed a joint committee for constitutional review which submitted its report in January 2014. A constitutional amendment implementation committee followed which submitted a report in October 2014. The report suggested that 210 out of 457 sections of the Constitution should be amended.