Suu Kyi’s NLD Applies for Registration as Legal Party

BANGKOK – Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition group moved a step closer to official recognition in Burma after its senior members applied for registration as a political party, sources said. The officials of the National League for Democracy filed registration papers at the country’s election commission in Burma’s capital, Naypyidaw, on Friday, the sources said. If approved, the NLD will be allowed to engage in activities as a legal political party for the first time since it was forced to disband in May last year. Completion of the process is expected to take about a week to 10 days. The NLD plans to field candidates, including Suu Kyi, in all of about 50 constituencies in parliamentary by-elections expected during the first half of 2012, according to the sources. President Thein Sein expressed a positive stance toward Suu Kyi’s expected bid during an interview with The Asahi Shimbun and other media outlets on Nov 19. If the NLD captures certain seats in Parliament, it will be able to secure some influence in national politics. The US and European countries have put pressure on Burma, which had been long controlled by a military regime, to allow pro-democracy forces or ethnic minorities to participate in politics as part of conditions to lift economic sanctions on the country.