[TODAYONLINE] Myanmar's Parliament yesterday voted against constitutional amendments, ensuring that the military's veto power remains intact and that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi cannot become president in an election this year.
The legislature ended a three-day debate on proposed changes to the 2008 Constitution, which bars Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, from seeking the presidency and gives the military an effective veto over constitutional amendments.
Changes to both those clauses were rejected in the vote. Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) is expected to see heavy gains against the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in an election most likely to take place by November. No date has been set. |