Ruling party rejects Suu Kyi demand to change oath

NAYPYITAW (Reuters) - Myanmar's ruling, army-backed party on Monday rejected demands of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to change parliament's oath of office, the first clear sign of friction since the democracy leader's party swept historic by-elections.

The dispute marred Monday's opening of parliament, as Suu Kyi and other members of her party refused to take their seats, denting an image of transformation on the day the European Union agreed to suspend most sanctions against Myanmar for a year, EU diplomats said.

The expected EU decision on sanctions is a boon for Myanmar's long-stagnant economy and could prompt the United States and Canada to follow suit and pave the way for development loans and a flood of foreign investment in a trove of natural resources such as oil, gas, timber and gemstones.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy's (NLD) wants to replace the words "safeguard the constitution" with "respect the constitution" in the oath sworn by new members of parliament.

Suu Kyi promised supporters that, if elected, she would seek to revise the 2008 army-drafted constitution that gives the military wide powers, including the ability to appoint key cabinet members, take control of the country in a state of emergency and occupy a quarter of seats in parliament.

But the secretary general of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), Htay Oo, said his party would not introduce any proposal to change the oath.

"The wording would have no impact on the development of the country," he told Reuters.

President Thein Sein, a reformist former general, told reporters in Japan that he also had no plans to change the wording of the oath, Kyodo news agency reported.

The NLD wants to reduce the military's enshrined political role after five decades of often brutal army rule in the former British colony also known as Burma, but its standoff over the oath risks alienating supporters.

"The timing is all wrong," said Aung Zaw, a Myanmar expert and editor of the Thailand-based Irrawaddy magazine. "It's quite a divisive issue and a lot of people are very disappointed because there are so many pressing issues that the NLD needs to be handling right now, in parliament."

The parliament office said there was no deadline for the NLD members to take their seats, so the dispute could drag on. If a change in the oath requires a change in the constitution, that would need the approval of more than 75 percent of members of the bicameral parliament.