Myanmar polls
January 18, 2012
Just over a year after being released from the better part of two decades of house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi has launched her bid for a seat in Myanmar's parliament.
The 66-year-old was the first member of her National League Democracy (NLD) to submit her registration on Tuesday. She will stand in a rural constituency in Kawhmu, near the former capital Yangon - an area that was devastated by Cyclone Nargis in 2008.
Some 100 supporters from her party greeted her enthusiastically at the District Election Commission office in Yangon's Thanlyan township. "I get energy when I meet her," one 86-year-old supporter said.
There are 48 seats up for grabs in the by-election scheduled for April 1 and although this is not considered enough to threaten the overwhelming majority held by the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), Suu Kyi's participation could give credibility to the legislature, as well as to the military-backed government.
The pro-democracy icon hinted at the weekend that she might even be willing to take a position in government, but said that would "depend on the circumstances."
Since coming to power last March, the government has made a series of moves towards reform, including releasing hundreds of political prisoners and allowing the NLD to re-register as a party, in an effort to reach out to political opponents and the West and bring an end to international sanctions.
The NLD, which won the 1990 elections by a landslide, had been stripped of its status as a legal political party in 2010 after deciding to boycott the November polls, arguing voting rules were unfair.
The military's allies claimed a resounding victory amid criticism from the international community that there had not been enough transparency.
A quarter of parliament's seats were taken up by unelected military officials, with the others held mainly by the USDP, which has many former military men as members.
Lower house speaker Shwe Mann has insisted that the upcoming elections "will be free and fair."
The official election campaign is expected to begin February 10.
Author: Anne Thomas (dpa, AFP)
Editor: Darren Mara