Aung San Suu Kyi says Burmese constitution needs reform
(see related) (ANSA) – Rome, October 28 – Burma’s constitution, which bans her from the presidency, is undemocratic and must be reformed, Burmese opposition Aung San Suu Kyi said Monday.
Suu Kyi, who has said she intends to run for president of Burma in elections scheduled for 2015, said that her country’s constitution has been rewritten so as to exclude her from holding office. “A democratic constitution cannot be based with only one person in mind,” said Suu Kyi, who was held under house arrest as a political prisoner for 15 years in Burma.
“It’s clear that this constitution was written thinking about my case,” she added during a news conference with Foreign Minister Emma Bonino.
Earlier in the day, Premier Enrico Letta said he supported the transition to democracy and constitutional reforms in Burma.
Burma’s constitution forbids individuals with a spouse or children who are foreign citizens from serving as president – apparently, a direct reference to Suu Kyi’s case, as both her children are British citizens and live outside of Burma.
Her husband Michael Aris, who died of cancer at 53 in 1999, was a British scholar of Tibet and Himalayan culture, who met Suu Kyi when she was a student at Oxford.
Suu Kyi, who received honorary Roman citizenship one day earlier, also met on Monday with Pope Francis.