{"id":31504,"date":"2014-11-14T15:32:24","date_gmt":"2014-11-14T07:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=31504"},"modified":"2014-11-14T15:32:24","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T07:32:24","slug":"obama-calls-for-more-progress-toward-reform-in-myanmar-criticizes-rule-preventing-suu-kyi-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/11\/14\/obama-calls-for-more-progress-toward-reform-in-myanmar-criticizes-rule-preventing-suu-kyi-run\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama calls for more progress toward reform in Myanmar, criticizes rule preventing Suu Kyi run"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Aung<\/a>
Aung San Suu Kyi. Micha\u0142 J\u00f3zefaciuk \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

YANGON, Myanmar\u2014President Barack Obama gave a blunt assessment Friday of the need for further reform in Myanmar\u2019s move toward democracy, weighing into sensitive controversies over the treatment of religious minorities and a prohibition keeping opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from running for president.<\/p>\n

Suu Kyi, released four years ago from more than two decades of confinement, is now a member of Myanmar\u2019s Parliament but is unable to run in next year\u2019s presidential election because of a constitutional rule barring anyone with strong allegiances to a foreign national from standing for the presidency. Suu Kyi\u2019s sons are British, as was her late husband.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand a provision that would bar somebody from running for president because of who their children are,\u201d Obama said, with Suu Kyi by his side. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t make much sense to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obama and Suu Kyi took questions from reporters from the back patio of the house where she spent much of her time under house arrest. The two were warm and affectionate in their interactions, sharing a long embrace after their opening statements and joking with each other throughout their remarks.<\/p>\n

Obama has been pressing Myanmar\u2019s leaders to amend the Constitution, but has been careful to not directly endorse his fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate as the country\u2019s next president. He also raised an issue that has led to criticism for the opposition icon\u2014her reluctance to address the abuse of minority Rohingya Muslims who are deeply disdained by most people in Myanmar.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiscrimination against the Rohingya or any other religious minority I think does not express the kind of country that Burma over the long term wants to be,\u201d Obama said. \u201cUltimately that is destabilizing to a democracy.\u201d Myanmar is also known as Burma.<\/p>\n

Obama and Suu Kyi met briefly Thursday on the sidelines of a regional summit in the capital city of Naypyitaw. On Friday, Obama flew to the city of Yangon to hold more substantial talks with Suu Kyi and also toured the Secretariat Building, where Suu Kyi\u2019s father, independence hero Gen. Aung San, was assassinated by political rivals in 1947.<\/p>\n

Obama had broadly embraced Myanmar\u2019s move away from a half-century of military rule, suspending U.S. sanctions and rewarding the country with high-level visits from American officials. But Myanmar has stalled in fulfilling its promises of political and economic reforms, and in some cases has lost ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t deny that Burma today is not the same as Burma five years ago,\u201d Obama said. \u201cBut the process is still incomplete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Obama and Suu Kyi warned against complacency in the move toward democracy. Suu Kyi described the process as going through \u201ca bumpy patch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suu Kyi opened the press conference by addressing reports of tension between the U.S. and those working for democratic reforms in Myanmar. \u201cWe may view things differently from time to time but that will in no way affect our relationship,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Obama notably held his news conference on his visit to the Southeast Asian nation with Suu Kyi , not the country\u2019s president. Obama said he told President Thein Sein that he will be judging whether reforms are being fully realized first off by whether next year\u2019s election is held on time and whether the constitutional amendment process reflects inclusion.<\/p>\n

Suu Kyi said it\u2019s flattering to have a constitutional provision written with her in mind but it\u2019s not how the law should be written. The 69-year-old said she and her supporters are working to change it and welcome Obama\u2019s support.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Constitution says all citizens should be treated as equals and this is discrimination on the grounds of my children,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Associated Press White House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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