Mianmar begins new era with Suu Kyi in Parliament

Aung San Suu Kyi completed its historic transition to parliamentary political prisoner when he assumed public office on Wednesday for the first time. But working together with the new reformist government Mianmar (Burma) after 24-year struggle against the military regime is a risky strategy. Wednesday's session reinforces the truce between the party of Suu Kyi and the government of President Thein Sein, who took office last year after the military junta left power. Some analysts see it as a move that eventually could end up legitimizing opposition to a regime that needs to Suu Kyi to end years of isolation from the West and that the lifting of sanctions. The champion of democracy 66 years will have virtually no power in the assembly, although it will still have an official voice in the legislative branch and the opportunity to challenge public policies within the scope of power for the first time. The parliamentary debut Suu Kyi comes after his party, the National League for Democracy, lost his first major political battle since the election of April 1, an attempt to change the oath of legislators. The party had refused last week to take their seats in the assembly because he objected to an oath that requires lawmakers to "protect" the Constitution. The party, which wants to modify the document on the ground that supports the military, sought to change the term "respect". But their failure to implement even this small change underscores the enormous challenges in a nation still dominated by the military. On Wednesday, Suu Kyi and dozens of fellow gave for now, together reciting the oath in the capital, Naypyitaw, in the sight of the ruling party and the army. Hounded by reporters after the ceremony, Suu Kyi said she did not abandon the struggle being waged since 1988. "We must work now both inside parliament and outside parliament as we have been doing," he said. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, issued a statement of congratulations and called the development "important moment" for the future of Mianmar.