News Obiaks News

Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi has rejected suggestions that she may have gone soft with the military in the face of her first address to the nation since the recent violence against Rohingya Muslims in the country's Rakhine State began in August.

A UN Human Rights agency and even the Secretary-General has condemned these attacks and labelled them a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.

As a result, it was generally expected  that Aung San Suu Kyi's first address to the nation would at least acknowledge these concerns steming from all over the world.

The State Counselor in her speech attempted to be very generalistic in her approach and failed to condemn the high handedness of the military so far in the Buddhist-majority nation leading.

For a leader who is widely known and praised for her efforts in bringing democracy to the country, which led to her receiving the Nobel Peace Prize from the United Nations, it was only logical for the world to conclude that she has gone soft with the military.

"We've never changed our stand," Suu Kyi said in an interview with Radio Free Asia, when asked if she had softened her stance on the military, which she challenged for years in her campaign for democracy.

"Our goal has been national reconciliation from the very beginning. We have never criticized the military itself, but only their actions. We may disagree on these types of actions."

She cited her unsuccessful bid in parliament to change a military-drafted constitution, which bars her from the presidency and gives the military responsibility over security and a veto over charter reform.

"We'll continue to bring changes within the parliament. I've stood firm with the military before, and still do now."