Wednesday, February 27, 2008
RI Wants Myanmar Junta to Allow Suu Kyi in Elections
Source: The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia wants Myanmar to allow detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi to participate in the military junta's planned referendum and elections in order to make the process credible and inclusive, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said Wednesday.

"Our concern is ... to allow the participation of groups including Madam Suu Kyi, (her) NLD party as well as minority groups," Hassan said after meeting his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Myanmar has told the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) its new constitution, slated for referendum in May, would in essence bar widow Suu Kyi from running in elections because she married a foreigner.

Suu Kyi married British-born Michael Aris, who died of cancer in 1999, and her two sons have British nationality.

But Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) has insisted Suu Kyi's family has unrivaled national credentials because her father, Gen. Aung San, gave his life to lead the struggle for independence from Britain.

If approved, the constitution would clear the way for elections in 2010 -- the first since NLD won by a landslide in the 1990 polls, which the junta never recognized.

Hassan said Indonesia welcomed Myanmar's decision to allow UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to return in the first week of March, which would be his third visit to promote reconciliation.

Analysts have, however, sneered at such a speech by citing less than considerable results out of ASEAN's approach to one of its youngest members.