Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has met with leaders of her NLD party, after authorities temporarily lifted her house arrest.

Listen to a Newsline interview here:

Ms Suu Kyi spoke to party elders for a few hours near her home on Wednesday to discuss changes in the party leadership.

In November, the opposition leader, who has been under house arrest for fourteen of the past twenty years, had asked the Myanmar military government to be allowed to see her fellow party leaders. She also requested a meeting with junta leader Than Shwe, but this has not yet been approved.
 

Release
In recent months, various world leaders – including US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon – have repeatedly asked for the unconditional release of Ms Suu Kyi, but to no avail.

Aye Chan Naing of the European opposition movement Democratic Voice of Burma, which is based in Norway, says he isn’t convinced that the latest decision may signal the beginning of a less strict regime for Ms Suu Kyi. “We haven’t seen any tangible changes, despite today’s meeting and despite recent talks with foreign diplomats. There’s been no real change on the ground”.
 

Careful
“I’d like to be optimistic, but I’m also careful in hoping for any improvements”, Mr Naing says. “We’ve been there before, when we thought things were really changing, and we all know what happened next”, referring to the 2003 re-arrest of Ms Suu Kyi.

The talks between Ms Suu Kyi and her party elders were held in the run-up to next year’s elections, although it’s still not clear whether Ms Suu Kyi’s NLD party will actually be allowed to take part. Still, it’s very important that these talks are held now, says Mr Naing:

“She’s a key in her party. Everybody looks at her as the sole decision maker. So the fact that she’s joined talks on the future of the party is very significant. What the party actually can achieve is a different question, as it depends on the limitations imposed by the government”.

The party leaders Ms Suu Kyi spoke to are literally party elders – men in their 80s and 90s. Mr Naing thinks Ms Suu Kyi also uses these talks to open up the higher ranks of the party to a younger generation. 
 

Heated debate
“There’s been a heated debate in the NLD about getting younger people in key positions”, he says. “But that would mean removing the old men and it remains to be seen whether they’re willing to give up their positions. It will be up to Ms Suu Kyi to prove that she still has enough power in the party to implement these changes”.