Aung San Suu Kyi completed her historic journey from political prisoner to parliamentarian Wednesday, assuming public office for the first time in a risky new strategy to work alongside Myanmar's new reform-minded government after her 24-year struggle against military rule. The session Wednesday cements a detente between Suu Kyi's party and the administration of President Thein Sein, which came to power last year after the nation's long-ruling army junta stepped down. Some analysts see it as a gamble in which the opposition could end up bestowing legitimacy upon a regime that needs Suu Kyi to end years of isolation from the West and get lingering sanctions lifted. The 66-year-old democracy leader will have almost no power in the assembly, but she'll nevertheless have an official voice in the legislative branch and the chance to challenge public policy from inside the halls of power for the first time. Suu Kyi's parliamentary debut comes after her National League for Democracy party lost its first major political battle since this Southeast Asian nation's April 1 by-election — a bid to change the lawmakers' oath. The NLD had refused to take its seats in the assembly last week because they opposed wording in the oath that obliges legislators to “safeguard” the constitution.
