Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at Oxford University's Encaenia ceremony to receive her Honorary Doctorate in Civil Law

DASSK: Rule of law important in Myanmar democracy transition

Photo of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at Oxford University's Encaenia ceremony to receive her Honorary Doctorate in Civil Law In her speech at London School of Economics and Political Science, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi thanked the British people for their support and spoke about the importance of the rule of law in Myanmar which is most essential at the time of democratic transition in the country on 19 June 2012. NLD Chairperson told the audience that time will not heal and there has to be acknowledgment of the wrongs of the past. She said that “the progress that we hope to make with regard to democratization and reform depends so much on an understanding of the importance of the rule of law.'' She continued, “Unless we can amend the constitution to harmonize with the aspirations of all the people in our country, we will never be able to bring about the kind of unity and peace that we all desire". Moreover, she expressed her belief that the State Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar could be amended by working hand in hand with the armed forces. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who is on her second overseas trip since 1988, received a standing ovation as she took the stage during the panel discussion. Most in the crowd had come to hear her speak. But she listened intently to the academics and lawyers who appeared alongside her. Speaking to Britain’s BBC television a day earlier, she was asked on the prospect of the upcoming 2015 general election and her readiness to lead the Myanmar people. She replied her resolve to lead her people one day when it is time to lead from the correct path. On Thursday, she is due back in London to address both houses of Britain’s parliament, a rare honor, as part of a wider tour of European countries. During a 17-leg European tour, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been feted by politicians and pop stars and cheered by crowds in Ireland, Switzerland and Norway, where she finally received the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded in 1991. Hardened by decades of political struggle, Myanmar’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi confronted emotional scars of a different kind on Wednesday when she received an Honorary Doctor of Civil Law on 20 June 2012 from Britain’s Oxford University where she once studied.