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Suu Kyi questions military's thirst for power
Irrawaddy - March 12, 2012
"A true democratic system has not yet emerged in the country, and it is still not clear if the military will raise its head again or not," Suu Kyi told the crowd at a village six miles out of Moulmein, the capital of Mon State.
Despite such uncertainty over the military role that continues to play a dominant factor in the country's politics, Suu Kyi said that her National League for Democracy (NLD) party will contest all 48 vacant seats in the parliamentary by-elections scheduled for April 1 because of its belief in democratic standards.
Suu Kyi vowed to change the undemocratic elements in the current Constitution drafted by the military, and also to change the existing repressive laws previously used by the military rulers against dissidents.
"The fundamental reasons we can't accept this Constitution is firstly because it is not drafted by elected representatives of the people," she said. "We believe that the people have the right to write laws meant to rule over them.
"Secondly, there are many things in this Constitution that run contrary to democratic norms. So, in general, this is an undemocratic Constitution."
On Saturday, she said that part of her campaign speech – scheduled to be broadcast on state-run TV on March 14 and 15 – was censored by the government because in it she made reference to the continued lack of rule of law and repressive laws under the previous military dictatorships.
Suu Kyi travelled to Naypyidaw on Monday morning to make the recording for her campaign speech.
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