- Title: Profile of Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi
- Date: 28th March 2017
- Summary: NAYPYITAW, MYANMAR (FILE - JANUARY 28, 2016) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** SUU KYI LEAVING FROM HER PARLIAMENT OFFICE Suu Kyi leaves for Pyithu Hluttaw (House of Representatives) for the last session of the Union Parliament under the current government. NAYPYITAW, MYANMAR (FILE - JANUARY 29, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HOUSE SPEAKER SHWE MANN AND SUU KYI, SITTING AT LUNCH TABLE SUU KYI MAKING SPEECH DURING DINNER One of the most public faces of the transition, parliament speaker Shwe Mann urged the military and the NLD to work together. The former third most senior member of the junta who became a Suu Kyi ally, said he expected the Nobel Peace Prize laureate to "use me well" in the new administration. NAYPYITAW, MYANMAR (FILE - MARCH 30, 2016) (REUTERS) MYANMAR'S PRESIDENT-ELECT HTIN KYAW AND SUU KYI WALKING TO SEATS AND SITTING DOWN SUU KYI AND HTIN KYAW SITTING HTIN KYAW WALKING TO STAGE HTIN KYAW AND TWO VICE PRESIDENT ELECTS, HENRY VAN THIO (RIGHT) AND MYINT SWE (LEFT) STANDING ON STAGE AS LAWMAKERS STAND UP HTIN KYAW, HENRY VAN THIO AND MYINT SWE TAKING OATH Myanmar's parliament swore in Htin Kyaw, the first president with no military ties in more than half a century, on March 30. This was the final step in installing the first democractically-elected government. Htin Kyaw, a close friend and confidant of Suu Kyi, was hand-picked by her to run Myanmar's government because a constitution drafted by the former junta bars the democracy champion from the top office.
- Embargoed: 11th April 2017 04:09
- Keywords: Aung San Suu Kyi profile file Myanmar military democracy National League for Democracy NLD government one year
- Location: YANGON, MANDALAY, NAYPYITAW, TOUNGUP TOWNSHIP, RAKHINE, MYANMAR / BANGKOK, MAE LA, THAILAND / OSLO, NORWAY / BEIJING, CHINA / WASHINGTON, D.C., NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: YANGON, MANDALAY, NAYPYITAW, TOUNGUP TOWNSHIP, RAKHINE, MYANMAR / BANGKOK, MAE LA, THAILAND / OSLO, NORWAY / BEIJING, CHINA / WASHINGTON, D.C., NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: Burma (Myanmar)
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00C69VI6H1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
It is almost one year since Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party came to power after decades of military rule.
The Nobel laureate was hailed as an icon of resistance to oppression, who gave up her home and family life in England to become one of the world's most famous political prisoners.
"The Lady", as Suu Kyi was affectionately known by millions of her compatriots, showed steely determination in standing up to the generals who ruled the former Burma with an iron fist following a 1962 coup.
Her continued struggle to lead her country down a democratic path at great personal cost drew comparisons to South Africa's Nelson Mandela and India's Mahatma Gandhi.
But one year after her party was sworn into office, initial enthusiasm after a landslide election win for her NLD and a smooth transfer of power would appear to have squandered.
Suu Kyi now faces a raft of problems, the most prominent of which centres around United Nations allegations that Myanmar soldiers, under the watch of Suu Kyi, have committed crimes against humanity.
Around 75,000 members of the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority have fled to Bangladesh to escape what the UN experts described as an indiscriminate campaign of violence by Myanmar troops and police.
Suu Kyi's support for the operation and her rejection of most allegations have strained Myanmar's relations with the West.
Mired in complex peace talks, Suu Kyi has taken her eye off the economy, investors say, meaning a sluggish pace of reforms, slower growth and a sharp drop in foreign direct investment.
Several fresh conflicts have also erupted since Suu Kyi took power, displacing about 160,000 more people, according to UN data.
Suu Kyi was born in Yangon, then called Rangoon, on June 19, 1945. Her father, national hero General Aung San, who led Myanmar to the brink of independence from British rule, was assassinated by rivals when she was just two-years-old.
She lived much of her life abroad before returning to the family home on Yangon's Inya Lake in April 1988 to care for her ailing mother. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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