Hopes fade for Suu Kyi deal as Myanmar’s parliament hastens presidential vote

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar: Myanmar’s parliament will bring forward a vote for the next president to March 10, it was announced yesterday, leaving little time for Aung San Suu Kyi to strike a deal to let her take the top office.

The democracy icon is currently banned from becoming president under the junta- era constitution.

Since her National League for Democracy ( NLD) party’s crushing victory at elections in November, Suu Kyi has been locked in negotiations with the powerful military in hopes of unblocking her path to the presidency.

But news that the presidential vote has been brought forward by one week raises serious doubt about any deal.

“We are going to hold the meetings... for MPs to be able to elect the president and vicepresidents on March 10, Thursday, a week earlier than was previously announced,” Win Khaing Than, speaker of Myanmar’s combined houses of parliament, told lawmakers on Tuesday.

The handover from a halfcentury of military rule to a popularly elected government has been complex and drawn- out.

It is still unclear who will take over on March 31 from President Thein Sein, the former general who has steered dramatic reforms since 2011.

In typically cryptic comments on the leadership issue, NLD party spokesman Win Htein said the party stood behind an eventual Suu Kyi presidency.

“Aung San Suu Kyi must become the president... it just depends on whether it is earlier or later,” he told reporters in the capital Naypyidaw. — AFP