Suu Kyi wins re-election as Myanmar opposition leader
March 11, 2013 -- Updated 0957 GMT (1757 HKT)
Aung San Suu Kyi speaks during the National League for Democracy's party conference in Yangon on Saturday
Yangon, Myanmar (CNN) -- Pro-democracy icon Aung San
Suu Kyi won re-election as Myanmar's opposition leader at a gathering
of opposition members Sunday.
It was the first
conference of opposition members in 25 years -- another indication of
the military junta loosening its reins and allowing such a gathering.
At the summit in Yangon,
120 members of the National League for Democracy voted for Suu Kyi on
the third day of the party's meeting.
Myanmar is gradually
emerging from decades of authoritarian military rule that resulted in
internal oppression and international isolation.
Suu Kyi spent years under
house arrest before authorities released her in 2011. Many members of
her National League for Democracy party were imprisoned under the
military junta.
President Thein Sein, a
former military official, has overseen the introduction of greater
political freedoms, peace talks with ethnic rebels and the successful
participation of Suu Kyi and her party in legislative elections.
Aung San Suu Kyi: The Choice
Wed 28 Nov 2012, 9:30pm
Built around an extended intimate interview with Aung San Suu Kyi, The Choice explores the personal sacrifices the Nobel Prize-winning leader has had to make to bring freedom to her people.
An international icon of resistance and hope.
Filmed over a year of tumultuous change, the film features a
remarkably candid interview with Suu Kyi, in which she talks of her
regrets at not being able to see her sons grow up. It also features US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, one of her closest supporters who
compares her to Nelson Mandela, as well as exclusive interviews with
some of those closest to her in Burma and Britain – including her
younger son, Kim Aris.
Interwoven with the political is Suu Kyi’s tragic personal story, of her marriage to an Englishman, Tibetan scholar Michael Aris, and of how she turned from being an Oxford housewife and mother into the national leader of Burma.
The film explores Michael Aris' death from cancer on his 53rd birthday in 1999 and the pressure his final illness put on his wife. Aris, who worked tirelessly for his wife’s release, was unable to realise his wish of dying in her arms because the Burmese government refused to grant him a visa. Suu Kyi was told she could leave the country to join him but knew she would not be allowed back into Burma. As The Choice reveals, she spoke to Aris every day and he told her repeatedly not to come. On his deathbed in Oxford, he sent a message to his wife: “Tell Suu we have done our best.”
Suu Kyi talks of regrets but no doubts over the decisions she took, while her colleagues outline the ongoing gamble that they are all taking now in compromising with the regime. Even some of her closest political allies feel she is making a mistake in trusting the country’s reformist President, Thein Sein.
Transformed from an icon into a politician, she now has to reform one of the most intransigent regimes in the world. Will her personal sacrifice – and that of her family – have been worth it?
More:
Interwoven with the political is Suu Kyi’s tragic personal story, of her marriage to an Englishman, Tibetan scholar Michael Aris, and of how she turned from being an Oxford housewife and mother into the national leader of Burma.
The film explores Michael Aris' death from cancer on his 53rd birthday in 1999 and the pressure his final illness put on his wife. Aris, who worked tirelessly for his wife’s release, was unable to realise his wish of dying in her arms because the Burmese government refused to grant him a visa. Suu Kyi was told she could leave the country to join him but knew she would not be allowed back into Burma. As The Choice reveals, she spoke to Aris every day and he told her repeatedly not to come. On his deathbed in Oxford, he sent a message to his wife: “Tell Suu we have done our best.”
Suu Kyi talks of regrets but no doubts over the decisions she took, while her colleagues outline the ongoing gamble that they are all taking now in compromising with the regime. Even some of her closest political allies feel she is making a mistake in trusting the country’s reformist President, Thein Sein.
Transformed from an icon into a politician, she now has to reform one of the most intransigent regimes in the world. Will her personal sacrifice – and that of her family – have been worth it?
More:
Aung San Suu Kyi and the power of unity
October 2, 2012 -- Updated 1853 GMT (0253 HKT)
Suu Kyi stands to
address both houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall, London, on June
21 as Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow, right, and Speaker of
the House of Lords Baroness D'Souza stand beside her. Suu Kyi made a
historic address to both houses of the British Parliament, making her
only the fifth foreign dignitary since World War II to be accorded the
rare honor. http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/02/opinion/healey-adler-myanmar/index.html
Just a day in the life of Aung San Suu Kyi: Britain rolls out the red carpet for the extraordinary woman who returned democracy to Burma
Making history: Ms Suu Kyi became only the second woman to address both Houses of Parliament inside Westminster Hall
Historic moment: Aung San Suu Kyi addresses both
houses of Parliament, following in the footsteps of the Queen and
Nelson Mandela
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2162688/Aung-San-Suu-Kyi-makes-history-Westminster-Hall-appeals-UKs-help-Burmas-democracy-fight.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2162688/Aung-San-Suu-Kyi-makes-history-Westminster-Hall-appeals-UKs-help-Burmas-democracy-fight.html
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