Aung San Suu Kyi says wants West to spur reform in Myanmar, not reimpose sanctions
Opposition leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 urges western governments to encourage greater reform in Myanmar
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday called on the West to encourage her country’s government to enter meaningful reform talks but told it not to reintroduce punitive sanctions even though democratic reforms were foundering.
Suu Kyi, who is ineligible to become president after planned parliamentary elections next year because of a technicality in the constitution, criticised the West for being too optimistic about change but said it could help by pushing for talks.
“That’s a problem with the international community. They have not lost interest in Burma, they still want Burma to have a happy ending,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, using the country’s old name.
“But they think that they’ll get a happy ending simply by insisting that it is a happy ending and that’s not how things happen.”
Myanmar began its emergence from international pariah status in 2011 when military leaders launched reforms after nearly half a century in power and installed a quasi-civilian government, but the military still holds substantial sway.
US President Barack Obama visited last month, saying the law that barred Suu Kyi from becoming president “doesn’t make much sense”.
