YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi said Thursday that if her opposition party wins historic polls this weekend she will take a post “above the president” to circumvent a constitutional ban that blocks her from the presidency.
In a wide-ranging news conference, the Nobel laureate said repeatedly that she has a plan which she declined to reveal that would allow her to lead the country from behind the scenes. Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from the presidency because her late husband was British and her two sons hold foreign passports.
The 70-year-old opposition leader looked relaxed as she fielded dozens of questions from reporters at her lakeside villa and expressed confidence that if her party wins the polls, as it is expected to, she will lead the next government.
“I will be above the president. It’s a very simple message,” Suu Kyi said without elaborating. Asked if her plan would violate the constitution she replied, “The constitution says nothing about being ‘above the president.'”
Sunday’s election has been touted as the freest and fairest poll in over two decades in Myanmar, which was ruled by a military junta for half a century until 2011.