Aung San Suu Kyi meets Shwe Mann ahead of parliamentary showdown

18 August 2015
Aung San Suu Kyi meets Shwe Mann ahead of parliamentary showdown
Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (R) talks with Thura Shwe Mann (L), speaker of the Pyithu Hluttaw (lower house parliament) during the break of parliament meeting in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, 09 July 2012. Photo: Nyein Chan Naing/EPA

Myanmar's ousted ruling party chief Shwe Mann met Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday ahead of a showdown in parliament days after he was sacked by President Thein Sein according to Reuters on 17 August.
Suu Kyi, who leads the National League for Democracy (NLD) met Shwe Mann for an hour, a ruling party parliamentarian said on condition of anonymity. He said he did not know what they discussed.
Shwe Mann's relationship with Suu Kyi was regarded with suspicion among some members of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), made up mostly of former military officers, and was one of the motives for his sacking.
He antagonized the military by backing her campaign to change the constitution, which grants Myanmar's generals sweeping political power.
Shwe Mann's political future hangs in the balance after his rivalry with President Thein Sein came to a head on Wednesday, when trucks with security personnel sealed off the headquarters of the party.
He remains a USDP party member and still holds the powerful position of speaker of parliament, but is under pressure to table a vote on a bill that could see him impeached.
If approved, lawmakers would lose their seats if one percent of constituents sign a petition to recall them and the election commission finds the complaint is justified.