Suu Kyi takes parliamentary oath

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi took an historic oath today to join Burma’s parliament, ushering in a dramatic new political era.

The parliamentary session was to have ended on Monday but was extended in part to allow Suu Kyi and fellow members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) to take their seats.

The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner's debut in a parliament stacked with uniformed officers could accelerate reforms that have already included the most sweeping changes in the former British colony since a 1962 military coup, including the release of political prisoners and a loosening of strict media controls.

Suu Kyi said she was hoping to bring democratic values to the assembly: “We would like our parliament to be in line with genuine democratic values. It’s not because we want to remove anybody as such. We just want to make the kind of improvements that would make our national assembly a truly democratic one.”

It was unclear, however, how rapidly she can deliver on her ambitious campaign promises, including the overhaul of Myanmar's army-drafted constitution, in a legislature dominated by former members of the military junta who ruled for nearly half a century before cedin to a quasi-civilian government last year.

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