In a surprise revelation on Friday, Myanmar President Thein Sein said he will not be contesting the 2015 presidential-election and added that he had no objections to the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's participation in the presidential elections.
"As of now, I have not prepared myself to run in the upcoming 2015 presidential elections," said Thein Sein, speaking to France 24. The president, however, said that it was up to the parliament to decide whether to allow Suu Kyi to fight for the presidential seat.
The country's 2008 constitution bans anyone whose spouse or children have foreign citizenship from contesting in the presidential elections.
The clause is clearly aimed at barring the Nobel peace prize laureate, Suu Kyi, from contesting in the presidential elections as her two sons with her late British husband hold U.K. citizenships.
Aung Suu Kyi in recent months had expressed her willingness to fight the 2015 presidential elections.
"I want to be president and I'm quite frank about it," said Suu Kyi at the World Economic Forum in the capital Naypyitaw last month.
The country's former military commander Tin Oo had also called upon the military to support the opposition leader's bid for the presidential elections.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is witnessing reforms in recent years especially since Thein Sein took over as president in March 2011.
In the past, Thein Sein had said he would prefer not to contest for the presidential-seat, adding it "depends on the needs of country and the wishes of the people."
Last Friday, the president made it clear that he has no plan to run for the presidential-election, saying his only wish is to see peace and economic development in the country.
"I'd like to bring peace to my country, bring social and economic development which the people have been longing for, and ... build a better future for the young people of Myanmar; that's all I have in mind," he told the French television at the end of his four-day European diplomatic tour where he is believed to have made a series of reformation promises including freeing all the political prisoners in his country by the end of the year.
