By Prashanth Parameswaran
Key constitutional amendments fail to pass the country’s parliament.
On Thursday, a move to amend Myanmar’s constitution largely failed in the country’s parliament, confirming that the military’s effective veto will remain and that opposition leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi cannot become president heading into elections scheduled for later this year.
Constitutional reform has been a buzzword of sorts in Myanmar as the country prepares for polls following a historic opening in 2011 after a half a century of military rule. But hopes have dimmed in recent months, with Suu Kyi telling The Washington Post in an interview earlier this month that “the government is totally opposed to constitutional amendment.”
After three days of parliamentary debate, two key amendments failed to be adopted because they fell short of the voted required. The first was one to trim the share of votes needed to amend the constitution from 75 percent to 70 percent, which would have ended the effective veto that unelected members of the military have by holding a quarter of the seats.
The second was amending a clause that bars anyone whose spouse or children are loyal to foreign countries from becoming president or vice-president – a clause believed to be directed at Suu Kyi whose late husband and two sons are British citizens. The amendment would not have stricken the clause entirely; it would have just dropped the reference to foreign spouses. Suu Kyi, who heads the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), would still have been ineligible to run for president.
Read the full story at The Diplomat