{"id":35777,"date":"2013-11-04T12:00:51","date_gmt":"2013-11-04T12:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=35777"},"modified":"2015-05-05T22:21:15","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T21:21:15","slug":"suu-kyi-the-army-must-be-the-foundation-of-the-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2013\/11\/suu-kyi-the-army-must-be-the-foundation-of-the-country\/","title":{"rendered":"[Nobel Peace Laureate] Suu Kyi: \u2018The Army Must Be the Foundation of the Country\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi visits the UK military academy Sandhurst on 25 October 2013 (Reuters)<\/p><\/div>\n

Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday [25 Oct 2013] praised the British military, insisting that she wanted to learn \u201chow a good, professional\u00a0army operates\u201d in order to take lessons back to Burma.<\/p>\n

On a visit to the UK military academy Sandhurst, the Nobel laureate said Burma\u00a0needed to have a \u201cgood, professional\u00a0army\u00a0that is respected and honoured by the people\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe country should not be the servant of the army,\u201d she told an audience of academy members. \u201cThe\u00a0army\u00a0must be the foundation of the country. That is exactly what you\u2019re trying to teach people at Sandhurst. You serve to lead.\u201d<\/p>\n

She met with cadets over a cup of tea and praised Sandhurst for teaching \u201cthe right kind of leadership that will make an\u00a0army\u00a0body that is meant to defend rather than to destroy\u201d.<\/p>\n

Suu Kyi, whose father Aung San is the founder of the modern Burmese army and hero of the campaign for independence from Britain, is currently on a diplomatic tour of Europe where she has met with political leaders, including Prime Minister David Cameron.<\/p>\n

Britain has already offered to deliver training to the Burmese military, which they say will focus on human rights and democratic accountability, but has sparked concerns among campaigners who worry that it could fuel abuses in ethnic minority regions.<\/p>\n

The opposition leader spent much of two decades under house arrest at the hands of the former military regime, before finally being released in November 2010. She has since taken a seat in parliament and has expressed hopes of running for president in the next general elections in 2015.<\/p>\n

But she has insisted that the current constitution, which bars her from the presidency and is considered deeply undemocratic, must first be reformed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just to do with me as a possible president, the constitution as it stands is meant to create a very, very limited form of democracy,\u201d she said. \u201cThe whole world thinks that\u00a0Burma\u00a0is on the path to democratisation, with this constitution we\u2019d only get so far and no further.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suu Kyi, who has transitioned from icon to politician in little over a year, has also come under increased media scrutiny. Last week, she faced a barrage of criticisms for an interview with the BBC <\/i>in which she appeared to trivialise a wave of anti-Muslim violence to grip the country.<\/p>\n

According to government figures, almost 250 people have been killed and 140,000 people displaced in several bouts of clashes, which kicked off in western Arakan state last year and has since spread to other parts of Burma.<\/p>\n

A UN envoy warned last week that the violence, which has disproportionately targeted Burma\u2019s Muslim minority, threatens to derail the country\u2019s reform process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI condemn all violence and hatred but I don\u2019t believe in condemning people. It\u2019s the axe we don\u2019t like,\u201d Suu Kyi told Reuters <\/i>in an interview. \u201cThe people we can reform, people can be made to see things in a different light. If we want to get them together, condemnation is not the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way is to make them feel secure enough to be able to look at each other\u2019s problems objectively and to recognise that everybody has his own fears and hatreds, and we\u2019ve got to try to get rid of those.\u201d<\/p>\n

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