Suu Kyi returns to Myanmar parliament

He called for paving way for the new parliament to serve the nation and the people more efficiently.

Members of Myanmar opposition National League for Democracy party pose for photos in front of a graffiti art depicting party leader Aung San Suu Kyi created by artist Arker Kyaw outside the party’s headquarters in Yangon, Myanmar, Nov 13, 2015.

The NLD bulldozed the current army-backed ruling party in polls set to dramatically reshape the country’s political landscape.

Among those soldiers were reformers like President Thein Sein and his team of “super ministers”, who sought global help to overhaul of an economy shackled by sanctions and decades of corruption and inept military rule.

The military has also said that it would abide by the election result, and respect the voice of the people. However, history shows otherwise with the military dictatorship unwilling to let go of power.

The party’s success has relied heavily on the almost supernatural aura of its leader Aung San Suu Kyi, channeled effectively by a campaign that elevated “Mother Suu” over any substantial discussion of platform or policy. The old law-making body would continue as the caretaker legislature until January.

The willingness of the generals to accept an NLD-led government flows from the junta’s shift since 2011 away from close ties with China and toward Washington.

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi attended the closing session of the current parliament Monday. Twenty five percent of all parliamentary seats are awarded to unelected military officials meaning the NLD will need to co-operate with its former antagonist.

Experience has however made Suu Kyi wiser and she has checkmated the army at the first round by declaring the results of the election in advance from her party headquarters as the counting progressed.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Ko Ni, a lawyer on the NLD’s constitutional reform committee, complained: “Once the military ruled the country by force and by arms”.

These include national reconciliation, continuing efforts to end ethnic rebellions and pushing forward with development. Several chapters of the 2008 constitution prevents Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president, an example being chapter 3 which states that the president must be someone who “he himself, one of the parents, the spouse, one of the legitimate children or their spouses not owe allegiance to a foreign power”.

“Many pro-NLD supporters were disillusioned by her behavior after her release and when she became an MP”.

U Hla Maung Shwe, a senior advisor at the Myanmar Peace Center, said U Thein Sein’s government is trying to build a foundation for the peace process.

Religious and racial tensions involving the ethnic Rohingya minority and other Muslims – a cause of deadly clashes that have left as many as 140,000 people internally displaced – are another challenge, complicated by the nationalist politicking of influential radical Buddhist monks.

A potential problem for an NLD government is that the new legislative session is expected to pass a new budget, which may allocate funds in ways it may not favour, such as to defence at the expense of health or education.