AFP

YANGON

MEMBERS of Aung San Suu Kyi’s Myanmar opposition party elected in recent landmark polls could boycott parliament over a row about the constitutional oath, one of its members said on Thursday.

“If we attend the parliament, we have to take an oath to become an MP officially saying we will safeguard the constitution. This is a problem,” said the National League for Democracy (NLD) member, who did not want to be named.

“The government has amended the wording in the election law to ‘respect the constitution’ that’s why we accepted the amendment and took part in the election.

But the wording hasn’t changed yet in the constitution.” He said Suu Kyi had asked President Thein Sein to amend the oath and the NLD elected members would discuss the issue at a meeting next week.

“If we decide not to attend parliament meeting because of the wording, there can be a constitutional crisis.” Suu Kyi, who spent 15 of the past 22 years locked up by the junta, and the other parliamentarians have been invited to take their seats in the lower house on April 23 after a decisive NLD victory in by-elections this month.

Observers say the regime needs Suu Kyi in parliament to bolster the legitimacy of its political system and spur an easing of Western sanctions.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner has said one of her priorities will be to push for the amendment of the 2008 constitution, which was written by the then-ruling military junta.

Suu Kyi on Wednesday travelled to the capital Naypyidaw for private talks with Thein Sein.

“I am satisfied,” the Nobel Peace Prize laureate told when asked about the meeting with the former general.

But she declined to reveal what was discussed during the one and a half hours of one-to-one talks and made no further comments.

The NLD secured 43 of the 44 seats it contested in this month’s elections, becoming the main opposition force in a national parliament that remains dominated by the military and its political allies.