Myanmar to Create New Post for Aung San Suu Kyi, Cementing Her Power

International New York Times | 31 March 2016

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, center, during a ceremony in Parliament in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on Wednesday. Credit Aung Shine Oo/Associated Press

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar — The governing party of Myanmar’s democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi took a step to formalize her role as the country’s leader on Thursday, circumventing a stricture in the Constitution that prevents her from being president.

Her party, which won elections in a landslide last fall, introduced a bill in Parliament to create a new post for her as “state counselor,” which some analysts are comparing to prime minister.

The position would cement her influence over the executive and legislative branches, which are already controlled by her allies, and would cap a remarkable rise for a woman who was a political prisoner for 15 years.

Along with the four cabinet positions she was sworn into on Wednesday, including foreign minister, and her leadership of the majority party in Parliament, the array of titles will officially make her the most powerful person in the government.

“If Daw Suu becomes the counselor of the state, it is clear she would be guiding both the government and the Parliament,” said U Yan Myo Thein, a political analyst in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar.

Myanmar’s Constitution, drafted by the military that ruled for 53 years, prohibits Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president because her children are British citizens, as was her husband.

She vowed during the election campaign last year that she would be “above” the president, at least until she could achieve her goal of amending the Constitution. For the first time, her party, the National League for Democracy, is making it clear how that will happen.

The state counselor bill was introduced in the upper house of Parliament on Thursday. The National League for Democracy controls large majorities in both houses of Parliament, ensuring the bill will easily become law.

Richard Horsey, a political analyst and former United Nations official in Yangon, said the main point of creating the position was not to give the democracy leader more power but to allow her to use the power she already had more effectively.

“Most important, I think, is that it allows her to meet any person, and report to the legislature, which means she can advise the speakers with less risk of being accused of violating the strict separation of powers in the Constitution,” he said, referring to the speakers of each house of Parliament.

But members of the Union Solidarity and Development Party, the military-aligned party that governed this country until this week, denounced the move as a power grab.

“It seems she wants to hold as many posts as she can,” said U Hla Swe, a former lawmaker with Union Solidarity and Development. “Using her hands, feet and her teeth, she is holding those posts. I want to say she is crazy for power.”

He said that under the existing laws, the post of minister of the president’s office — one of her four ministerial positions — would give her all the authority she needs to be involved in any issue.

U Aung Kyi Nyunt, a member of her party who helped draft the bill, described the position as “coordinator between the government and the Parliament.”

Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s longtime ally, U Htin Kyaw, was sworn in as president on Wednesday and is openly seen as her proxy. On Wednesday, he asked the public to be patient as the country’s first predominantly civilian government took over after decades of military rule.

It is a sign of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s dominance over her party and Parliament that the first bill introduced to the legislature was the state counselor bill. The bill not only creates the position but designates her to fill it.

In addition to her post as minister of the president’s office, she was sworn in as minister of foreign affairs, education, and electric power and energy.

The Constitution gives the armed forces chief the authority to appoint the ministers of defense, home affairs and border affairs. The division of power means that Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party will have to negotiate with the military in matters of national security, ethnic issues and major foreign policy.

After the November election, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi negotiated with the military to try to waive the constitutional restriction that bars her from the presidency, but without success. The military’s control of a quarter of the seats in Parliament gives it enough votes to block any constitutional amendments.

Mr. Aung Kyi Nyunt said that the advisory position would give her the authority to weigh in with top officials in Parliament and the government on the most important issues facing the nation.

“With the adviser to the state role, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi can advise two house speakers on important matters of the country such as peace, democratization and development,” he said.