Singapore - Southeast Asian countries told Myanmar barring pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from elections because she once was married to a foreigner would be odd and not in keeping with the times.
However, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the region`s main political and economic bloc, which includes Myanmar, is powerless to do anything, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said late Tuesday.
ASEAN ministers met, as a government panel in military-ruled Myanmar on Tuesday completed writing the draft of a new constitution.
Guidelines used to draft the new charter bar Nobel laureate Suu Kyi from national office because she was married to a foreigner -- her late British husband, Michael Aris -- and enjoyed the privileges of a foreign national.
Government critics have called the constitutional process undemocratic because it has been closely directed by the military with no input from independent parties.
Authorities have said the new charter would lead to a general election in 2010 and replace one scrapped when the current junta took power in 1988.
Source: edition.cnn.com (20 Februari 2008)
