President Barack Obama mounted a warm show of support on Friday for Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, voicing opposition to a constitutional rule that’s preventing the pro-democracy icon from seeking the presidency next year. While crediting Myanmar for progress in its transition to democracy, he offered a blunt assessment of the distressing shortcomings that have called that transition into question.
In his joint appearance with Suu Kyi, on the back porch of her lakeside home, Obama stopped short of an explicit endorsement for her potential campaign for president. But his affection and deep admiration for Ms. Suu Kyi was clear, from his praise for her efforts to liberalize the government to the ease with which he whispered in her ear as they walked arm in arm into the home where she was once confined as a political prisoner.
Although Mr. Obama was quick to caution he didn’t want to dictate how Myanmar should pick its next president, he said told President Thein Sein the night before that he saw little wisdom in a rule barring the 69-year-old Ms. Suu Kyi from running next year because her children hold British citizenship.
“I don’t understand a provision that would bar somebody from running for president because of who their children are,” Ms. Obama said. “That doesn’t make much sense to me.”
Ms. Suu Kyi, a member of Parliament demure in her support for changing that provision, said it was flattering to have a constitution written with her in mind. But she said that wasn’t how it should be done in a democracy, urging supporters not to get too caught up in whether she wins next year’s pivotal elections.
“Of course any party wants to win the elections I’m sure the president will tell you that,” she said with a grin. What’s more important, she said, is how you win. “I’d rather lose than win in the wrong way.”
Mr. Obama and Ms. Suu Kyi took questions from reporters on the final day of Mr. Obama’s visit to Myanmar, an impoverished country struggling to reinvent itself. Mr. Obama is heavily invested in Myanmar’s progress, having made a historic trip here two years ago to signal a strong U.S. commitment to democratization in the country and the broader region.
On this visit, prompted by economic summits in the capital city of Nay Pyi Taw, Mr. Obama faced profound concerns by Myanmar’s citizens that its transition to democracy is backsliding. At a town hall meeting on Friday with young Southeast Asians Mr. Obama told an ebullient crowd their generation has more potential than any before to shape Myanmar’s society.
“The future of this region your region is not going to be dictated by dictator or by armies,” Obama said. “It’s going to be determined by entrepreneurs and inventors and dreamers.”
