World

Aung San Suu Kyi to be Released, said Burmese Diplomat (Again)

by swu | November 9, 2009 at 04:39 pm

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A senior Burmese diplomat said Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's opposition leader, may be released soon. Pro-democracy activists question if Burma's junta will honor the claim, as the repressive regime is known for breaking promises. Campaigners thought the promise as a mean to have economic sanctions lifted in order to get approval for the election next year.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel peace prize winner of 1991, has been under house arrest for 14 out of the last 20 years. She was given 18 more months after an American intruder who swam across a lake to her Yangon home and stayed for 2 days.

Aung San Suu Kyi had won a landslide victory in the 1990 election, but was denied power by the junta. Burma's military juntas have ruled the country since a 1962 coup.

It is unclear if Aung San Suu Kyi will be able to participate in next year's election if she is released, as Burma's constitution has provisions that bar her from holding office.

"There is a plan to release her soon ... so she can organise her party," Min Lwin, a director-general in the foreign ministry, to ld the Associated Press. He gave no details and it was unclear whether Aung San Suu Kyi would be allowed to campaign or stand for election.

Despite the conciliatory remarks, the country's constitution includes provisions that bar her from holding office and ensure the primacy of the government in the military.