Suu Kyi, who is ineligible to become president after planned
parliamentary elections next year because of a technicality in the
constitution, criticized the West for being too optimistic about
change but said it could help by pushing for talks.
"That's a problem with the international community. They have not
lost interest in Burma, they still want Burma to have a happy
ending," she told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, using the country's
old name.
"But they think that they'll get a happy ending simply by insisting
that it is a happy ending and that's not how things happen."
Myanmar began its emergence from international pariah status in 2011
when military leaders launched reforms after nearly half a century
in power and installed a quasi-civilian government, but the military
still holds substantial sway.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2014/Dec/26/images/ads/current/best%20friends%20animal%20hospital%20bc062711.png) U.S. President Barack Obama visited last month, saying the law that
barred Suu Kyi from becoming president "doesn't make much sense".
Suu Kyi, who wants the constitution amended so she can run for
president, said reforms were not going "too well" and that the
government wasn't keen on genuine change with many people in the
military continuing to believe they were the only ones who could
hold the country together.
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But she strongly rejected the idea of reintroducing European Union
sanctions which were lifted in 2013 to reward Myanmar for progress
in moving towards democracy.
"I don't like going backwards," she said. "I like going forwards so
I think rather than reintroducing old methods I think what would
help greatly is if everybody seriously put their minds to doing
whatever they can to encourage negotiations. That is the doorway to
the future."
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Dominic Evans)
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