Rohingya crisis: How much power does Aung San Suu Kyi really have?

The huge exodus of Rohingya from Myanmar's Rakhine State, and the brutal tactics of the security forces, have stirred up strong condemnations of the Nobel Laureate and de-facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has defended her government's actions as a legitimate response to terrorism. As it emerges Ms Suu Kyi will miss next week's UN General Assembly debate, how much power does she really have inside her country?

Aung San Suu Kyi's formal title is "state counsellor". It is a position she created to get around a clause in the constitution - aimed specifically at her - that bars anyone with a foreign spouse or foreign children from the presidency.
Ms Suu Kyi is by far the most popular political figure in Myanmar and she led her National League for Democracy (NLD) to a landslide victory in the 2015 election. She makes most of the important decisions in her party and cabinet. She also holds the position of foreign minister.
In practice, the actual president, Htin Kyaw, answers to her.
The constitution was drafted by the previous military government, which had been in power in one form or another since 1962. It was approved in a questionable referendum in 2008. At the time, it was not recognised by the NLD or Ms Suu Kyi.
It was the key to the military's declared plan to ensure it still had a guiding role in what it called a "discipline-flourishing democracy". Under it, the armed forces are guaranteed one quarter of the seats in parliament.

The military retains control of three vital ministries - home affairs, defence and border affairs. That means it also controls the police.
Six out of 11 seats on the powerful National Defence and Security Council, which has the power to suspend democratic government, are military appointees.
Former military personnel occupy many top civil positions. The military also still has significant business interests. Defence spending is still 14% of the budget, more than health and education combined.
For more than 20 years the military and Aung San Suu Kyi were bitterly opposed. She spent 15 of those years under house arrest.

After the election, they had to find ways to work together. She had the mandate. The generals had the real power.
They still disagreed on important issues, like amending the constitution, which she wants, and the pace of peace talks with the various ethnic armies that have been fighting the government from Myanmar's borders for the past 70 years.
But they agreed on the need to reform and improve the economy and the need for stability - "rule of law" is Ms Suu Kyi's favourite mantra - at a time when rapid change has been stirring up social tension.

Increasing hostility

But on the issue of the Rohingya, Ms Suu Kyi must tread carefully. There is little public sympathy for the Rohingya.
Much of the Burmese population agrees with the official view that they are not citizens of Myanmar, but illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, even though many Rohingya families have been in the country for generations.