Politics is an issue of give and take," she told reporters in the main city, Rangoon, on Monday. "We are not giving up. We are just yielding to the aspirations of the people."Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party object to phrasing that obliges them to "safeguard the constitution" – a document they have vowed to amend because it was drafted under military rule and gives the army inordinate power.
The party wants "safeguard" replaced with "respect", a change made in other Burmese laws, including electoral legislation that enabled the NLD to officially enter politics for the first time in decades.
But the party's failure to take up its seats had irked some of Aung San Suu Kyi's backers, who were eager to see the person who had stood up to Burma's military for 23 years finally take her place in the legislature.
The 1 April vote was the first ballot in which the NLD had participated since 1990 – when it won a landslide victory that was promptly annulled by the army.
"We are fulfilling the wishes of the people, because the people want the NLD to enter parliament," Aung San Suu Kyi said.
The news came as the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, addressed the legislature on the second day of a visit to see how the world body can help promote the country's tentative steps toward democratic reform.
Ban met the Burmese president, Thein Sein, earlier on Monday in the capital, Naypyitaw. He is also due to travel to a UN drug control project in eastern Shan state, and will pay his respects at the tomb of U Thant, a Burmese diplomat who was UN secretary general from 1961 to 71.
Ban's visit is the latest by foreign dignitaries since Thein Sein's reforms gathered steam in recent months. Thein Sein came to power a year ago after a general election that left the military in firm control but signalled a desire for political reconciliation.
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