Burma Nationalists Rally Against Constitution Change
Hundreds of nationalist Buddhist monks and their supporters rallied in Burma’s biggest city Sunday in support of retaining a constitutional clause barring Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the country’s recently elected ruling party, from becoming head of state.
Supporters of Burma nationalist groups raise their hands in support of preserving a constitutional clause barring Aung San Suu Kyi, the popular leader of the country's new ruling party, from becoming head of state, in Yangon, Burma, on Feb. 28, 2016. Sunday's rally drew at least 350 people. The clause disqualifies anyone with a foreign spouse or children from assuming the presidency. Suu Kyi's late husband was British, as are her two sons, leaving her ineligible despite her mandate as the head of the National League for Democracy (NLD), which secured a landslide victory in a general election last November. AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe
YANGON, Burma/Myanmar—Hundreds of nationalist Buddhist monks and their supporters rallied in Burma’s biggest city Sunday in support of retaining a constitutional clause barring Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the country’s recently elected ruling party, from becoming head of state.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party is set to take over government in March after winning November’s election in a landslide. But Suu Kyi cannot become president because an article in the military-dictated constitution bars anyone whose immediate family members are foreign nationals from holding the office. Her two sons are British, as was her late husband.
The National League for Democracy, or NLD, floated the idea of trying to have the article suspended, but seems to have abandoned it due to apparent opposition from the military.
National League for Democracy party (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi delivers a speech during a ceremony to mark Burma's 68th anniversary of Independence in Yangon, Burma, on Jan. 4, 2016. AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe
