Myanmar president Thein Sein backs constitutional amendment

Myanmar’s leader on Thursday lent his support to reform of the country’s junta-era constitution, indicating he would back changes to allow opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to become president.

Thein Sein, a former general who has won international praise for dramatic reforms since he became president in 2011, said lively debate about revising the charter showed increasing “political maturity”.

“I believe that a healthy constitution must be amended from time to time to address the national, economic, and social needs of our society,” he said in a speech published in the English-language New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

He said he supported amending provisions that exclude anyone whose spouse or children are overseas citizens from becoming president – a clause widely believed to be targeted at Suu Kyi whose two sons are British.

“I would not want restrictions being imposed on the right of any citizen to become the leader of the country,” Thein Sein said.

Suu Kyi has vociferously campaigned for a change to the 2008 constitution, which also ring-fences a quarter of the seats in parliament for unelected military personnel.

The charter change issue is rising to the fore as Myanmar prepares for key next year parliamentary elections, seen as a definitive test of whether the military is willing to loosen its grip on power.