Newsademic British English edition 260

party called the Union Solidarity 
and Development Party (USDP). As 
leader o f the USDP, Thein Sein be­
came M yanm ar’s president. He is a 
former army general. A new capital 
city called Naypyidaw was built in 
the centre o f the country. It included 
a large parliament building. An elec­
tion was held in 2010. The NLD and 
its many supporters refused to take 
part. One quarter o f the seats in the 
parliament were reserved for mili­
tary leaders. The USDP won most 
o f the others.
Ms Suu Kyi was released from 
house arrest six days after the 2010 
election. She had spent 15 o f the 
previous 21 years either in prison 
or under house arrest. Elections in 
M yanmar are now held every five 
years. The last one took place three 
months ago. Thein Sein declared 
that, this time, the military would 
not ignore the result. The NLD won 
more than 80% o f the available 
seats. The newly elected parliament 
began on 1st February. Twenty-five 
percent o f the seats are still reserved 
for the military.
Thein Sein will step down at the 
beginning o f March. As the party 
with the most seats, the NLD has 
to appoint a new president. A long 
time ago the generals made a new 
law. It says that people with family 
members who are not citizens of 
M yanmar cannot be president. Ms 
Suu K yi’s two sons are British na­
tionals. She may arrange for a senior 
member o f her party to be president.

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4th February 2016 
Newsademic.com
™
 - British English edition 
page 
18
However, many people want her to 
change the old law. If this were done 
quickly, Ms Suu Kyi could be M y­
anm ar’s new president. □
D