Myanmar's National League for Democracy chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi won't be able to run for president in the upcoming election as the country's parliament on Thursday failed to remove the army's veto over constitutional change, media reported.
Myanmar's parliament voted on six amendment bills on Thursday, five of which were turned down as the number of voters stood less than 75 percent, the percentage required to pass a bill, Xinhua reported.
One of the proposed changes was for the bar for parliamentary approval for constitutional change to be lowered to 70 percent, according to BBC.
The only bill which got through deals with the qualification of a presidential candidate. It proposes that the candidate should be well acquainted with the affairs of defence instead of military.
Suu Kyi is barred from running for president because her two sons hold British not Burmese passports, BBC reported.
As the amendment bill for the Section 59(f), which deals with the eligibility to become president, did not get the required number of votes, Suu Kyi will not be able to run for the post in the election expected to be held later this year.
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Earlier this week, Suu Kyi said that "genuine change" in Myanmar was dependent on constitutional change.
The voting was done by 583 MPs out of 633 through a secret ballot system after three days of debate.
The constitution was promulgated in May 2008 to serve as a base for November 2010 general election.
The present term of the government which started from March 2011 is to expire in March 2016.