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Aung San Suu Kyi holds rare talks with Burma's military leadership
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Aung San Suu Kyi has held rare talks with Burma’s military leaders and its president Thein Sein, raising hopes of a possible ceasefire in the country’s conflict with ethnic minority rebels.
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Thein Sein’s government has launched a series of political and economic reforms since taking power in 2011 after nearly 50 years of military rule, but many people feel the process has stalled with the military still holding extensive powers.
Nobel laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was scathing about what she called Thein Sein’s “hardline regime” in an interview with Reuters this month. She said that boycotting the election expected in November was an option if a constitution drafted by the military and which grants the institution substantial political power remains unchanged.
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The meeting in the capital, Naypyitaw, included the army chief, General Min Aung Hlaing, the speakers of both houses of parliament and Aye Maung, a representative of ethnic minority parties.
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It was only the second time all such top officials had met, the first having been last October ahead of a visit by Barack Obama.
“We discussed three things, the constitutional amendment, the upcoming election and the peace agreement in a very friendly and cordial atmosphere,” Aye Maung said.
The two-hour meeting will be seen as a positive step after worry both at home and abroad about the pace of reforms and Aung San Suu Kyi’s recent comments. Aye Maung declined to give further details of the talks, but said the participants had agreed to meet again before parliament resumes on 10 May.
Zaw Htay, a senior official in the president’s office, said in a Facebook post that the leaders had reached common ground on a framework, format and timing for dialogue.
Spokesmen for Aung San Suu Kyi’s party were not available for comment.
The constitution, drafted by the former junta, reserves a quarter of parliamentary seats for military delegates, which in effect allows them to veto any constitutional change. It also bars presidential candidates with a foreign spouse or child. Aung San Suu Kyi’s late husband was British, as are her two sons.
The government has said it wants to achieve a national ceasefire before the elections, and last week negotiators agreed on the text of a draft agreement.
