Burma to consider reform to allow Aung San Suu Kyi to be elected president

The NLD has focused on altering a provision that currently ensures the

military in the former junta-ruled nation has a veto on any amendment to the

previous charter.

To alter the constitution there needs to be support from a majority of over 75

percent of parliament.

The president and Ms Suu Kyi met on Friday to begin talks that are the first

of their kind in the nation as it moves to emerge from decades of outright

military rule.

The meeting in the capital Naypyidaw came a day after the White House said

Obama spoke to both politicians about the polls, less than a fortnight

before the US leader visits Burma.

Obama “underscored the need for an inclusive and credible process for

conducting the 2015 elections” during telephone talks with Mr Sein, the

White House said in a statement.

<sup>Aung San Suu Kyi shakes hand with Burma’s military commander-in-chief

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (EPA)</sup>

Last week Burmese authorities announced the country’s landmark elections would

be held in the last week of October or the first week of November 2015.

The country’s last general election in 2010 was marred by widespread

accusations of cheating and were held without Ms Suu Kyi, who was kept under

lock and key until days after the vote, or her National League for Democracy

(NLD) party.

President Obama also spoke to Ms Suu Kyi about how Washington can “support

efforts to promote tolerance, respect for diversity, and a more inclusive

political environment”, the White House said Thursday.

Article source: http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2014/0920/645156-leonard-cohen-at-80-i-like-life-on-the-road/

The NLD has focused on altering a provision that currently ensures the
military in the former junta-ruled nation has a veto on any amendment to the
previous charter.


To alter the constitution there needs to be support from a majority of over 75
percent of parliament.


The...

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