Aung San Suu Kyi attends Armed Forces Day parade

Posted on March 27, 2013 by sagarmedia

March 27, 2013

Speaking in Naypyitaw on the anniversary of the country’s Armed Forces Day, Min Aung Hlaing is reported saying that the military must strengthen its capabilities and regional alliances to build a “well-disciplined democratic nation.” “While the country is moving toward modern democracy, our military plays a leading role in national politics,” he said. “We will keep on marching to strengthen the democratic administrative path wished by the entire people.”
Myanmar’s Armed Forces Day commemorates the date of a national uprising against Japanese occupation forces in 1945. But even as communal violence spreads close to the capital, this year’s event was “a show of vast and precise power”, said AP, noting that: “Helicopters buzzed over the hills. Fighter planes let off flares. Dozens of mud-green tanks, armored personnel carriers and small artillery guns rolled by.”
Seated in the front row, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was in attendance at the event for the first time.
Myanmar’s opposition iconic leader Aung San Suu Kyi has attended today the country’s Armed Forces Day ceremony and parade for the first time her presence at Wednesday’s celebration in Naypyitaw is seen as a sign of her shift to reconciliation and pragmatism.

Aung San Suu Kyi recently made remarks in favor of cooperation with the army and ruling party with an eye to revising the country’s constitution, which stipulates the military’s predominance.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing stressed that the military fully backs democratization and economic reform programs championed by President Thein Sein.He pledged the army’s efforts toward national peace and development under the current government. Military  parade featured missiles and armored vehicles for the first time, an attempt by Myanmar to clear such equipment of rumored links to China and North Korea