Could Suu Kyi become Myanmar President?

Naypyitaw/Yangon : Myanmar's parliament will begin its election of the new president on March 17, cutting very close to an April 1 deadline, suggesting talks between Aung San Suu Kyi's victorious party and the military are likely to take longer than planned.

But a top military lawmaker on Monday denied that Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) and the armed forces were discussing provisions to change the Constitution and allow the democracy champion to become the country's new President.

The NLD swept the historic November 8 election, securing some 80 percent of elected seats in parliament, or enough to push through its President. That kicked off a lengthy transition process during which the military and the NLD have been locked in negotiations, most probably over the shape of the new government and transfer of power, but details of the talks have been murky.

"There is no discussion between the military and NLD about Article 59 (f)," Brigadier General Tin San Naing, the spokesman of the military caucus in parliament, told Reuters. The article, which bars anyone with foreign children and spouses from becoming president, is seen as being aimed at Suu Kyi, whose children are British. It could only be amended with the Army's approval, Tin San Naing added.

"The article can't be suspended. It's against the Constitution. It has already been discussed in the parliament so it should not be proposed and discussed again." The article had been "put in the constitution intentionally, to protect our people from foreign invasion," he added. Under the junta-drafted constitution, parliament chooses the president.

Each of the two chambers nominates its vice-presidential candidate, while the military MPs, who are guaranteed a quarter of the seats, nominate the third. Once the candidates are in place, a joint-chamber session picks the president for a five-year term. The two losing candidates become vice-presidents.

After a quiet period following Suu Kyi's massive election win in November, negotiations have entered a critical stage since a meeting between army chief Min Aung Hlaing and Suu Kyi on January 26, lawmakers and diplomats close to the process say.

"Our first priority includes amending laws which are out of date and not in harmony with the present situation," Tun Tun Hein, a member of the NLD's governing council, told reporters after being appointed chairman of the key lower house bill committee. "The constitution also needs amending since it's one of the laws."

Asked about the chances that the constitution could be amended to allow Suu Kyi to be president, Major General Tauk Tun, the most senior military lawmaker in the lower house, did not entirely rule it out, while at the same time sticking to the military's line on the sanctity of the 2008 charter.
Even if the two sides were to agree to change the constitution, it would still require a nationwide referendum.

To circumvent that lengthy process, the Article 59 (f) could be suspended, according to Aung Ko, a former general and Suu Kyi ally, and NLD legal experts. Whether that would be lawful remains open to debate, and even some Suu Kyi supporters worry about the precedent it could set.

By Antoni Slodkowski & Simon Webb