A Myanmar lawmaker received a free lesson on the US Constitution à la the country’s embassy yesterday after incorrectly claiming in parliament that non-Christians were barred from holding office in the White House.
Military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) lawmaker Nan Ni Ni Aye was defending a controversial clause of Myanmar’s military-drafted 2008 Constitution that effectively bars Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president when she looked to another nation’s modus operandi for justification.
Using a slide show, she argued: “The American president must be Christian. Any other delegate who is not Christian is deemed unfit for duty."
The US embassy posted on Facebook shortly after: “Did you know that to become President in the United States of America, there is no religious requirement?”
Current US presidential candidates identify as Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, and Jewish, explained the post. The latter is Bernie Sanders, the frontrunner for the Democratic Party presidential nomination to face Donald Trump, who some people insist is a Christian believer.
The only explicit reference to religion in the US Constitution states “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office” meaning a Christian or Muslim has as much right to hold office as an atheist or Jew.
However, almost all presidents have been Christian, with three others declaring no formal affiliation to a religion.
In a video from news outlet Myanmar Now, Nan Ni Ni Aye was asked how she came to the conclusion non-Christians were barred from becoming president.
"I find it on my own, from archives and books, then I discuss with the points I get from my research,” she said.
The majority National League for Democracy party wants to remove article 59(f) from the Constitution, which—believed to have been written with Aung San Suu Kyi in mind—says that anyone married to a foreign citizen or whose children are foreigners cannot become president or vice president.
The State Counsellor was married to the British historian Michael Aris, who died in 1999. Her two sons are British citizens.
Meanwhile, the USDP wants 59(f) to cover minister positions as well, as it battles to maintain a military presence in parliament.
