Myanmar’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is likely to contest a by-election in the coming months, a spokesman for her party said on Saturday, following a change to party registration laws.
The National League for Democracy, delisted last year for boycotting the poll, will consider on Friday whether to re-register as a political party, paving the way for Suu Kyi to return to the political arena.
“The NLD is likely to register and also Daw Suu is likely to participate at the coming by-election,” Nyan Win, a party spokesperson told AFP.
It is not yet clear when a by-election will be held, but there are more than 40 seats available in parliament’s two chambers.
The NLD won a 1990 election but was never allowed to take office, and it shunned last year’s vote largely because of rules that would have forced it to expel imprisoned members. Suu Kyi was under house arrest at the time. Suu Kyi was under house arrest at the time.
She was released a few days after last November’s poll, which was widely condemned as a farce by the West and marred by claims of cheating, but the new army-backed government has surprised critics with a series of reformist moves.
{{/usCountry}}She was released a few days after last November’s poll, which was widely condemned as a farce by the West and marred by claims of cheating, but the new army-backed government has surprised critics with a series of reformist moves.
{{/usCountry}}