Myanmar opposition leader lays down law to MPs in waiting

By Joshua Carroll

YANGON, Myanmar

The leader of Myanmar's opposition has laid down the law to her victorious candidates, telling them that National League for Democracy (NLD) success depends on maintaining a good relationship with voters.

Local media reported Monday that Aung San Suu Kyi and party patron U Tin Oo had warned MPs-elect at a Nov. 28 restaurant meeting to obey the law, particularly in terms of personal finance.

“If they don’t trust you, it’s over. So please do your best,” said U Tin Oo, underlining that “wrongdoings” must be corrected.

“Do not forget that you owe your success to Daw Suu,” the Myanmar Times reported him as saying Monday, using a local honorific that means “aunt”. “But it’s up to you to continue that success.”

Meanwhile, the Nobel Peace laureate focused on such party campaign themes as “Vote for the party, not the candidate”, and “We will punish candidates who do not serve the people”.

One MP-elect, Thet Thet Khaing, said he and other winning candidates were told that anyone who failed to report their assets or who took bribes would end up in prison.

The party is set to take power from the military-backed regime next year following a landslide victory in the Nov. 8 election, but Suu Kyi will not be allowed to become president because the constitution, drafted by the former junta, bars her from the position.

The NLD won a huge majority of 77.1 percent -- 887 of the 1,150 seats contested -- enough to form a government, nominate a president, and push a complete legislative program through both houses of parliament.

Suu Kyi, meanwhile, has vowed to be “above” the president as a means of circumventing the clause, which says no one with foreign relatives can take the job and is believed to have been written with her two sons in mind.

Monday's report said, however, that the Nobel Peace laureate had left party members in no doubt as to who was in charge of the party, with one representative saying she warned those gathered not to expect positions in government.

Suu Kyi also told the MPs they would have their salaries docked by 25 percent to help prevent corruption in the party.

“The NLD is not rich. Some of our offices are located in the homes of supporters and donors, who could thus gain influence over the party and its activities,” she said. “The money taken from MPs’ salaries will pay for rental fees for party offices.”

Suu Kyi warned the MPs in waiting not to “build small tents under the shadow of my building,” meaning she would tolerate factionalism within the party, said Thet Thet Khaing.

When the NLD takes power, Suu Kyi will make the big decisions, she has said, while a colleague acts as a puppet president. "A rose by another name," she joked.