Myanmar: Suu Kyi’s Party Gets Approval To Contest Myanmar By-election | rttnews.com

Myanmar’s election commission has given the green signal to the country’s main Opposition party to contest upcoming by-elections. A month after National League for Democracy (NLD) decided to rejoin national politics, its leader Aung San Suu Kyi and 20 other members applied for the party’s registration to the Union Election Commission on December 23.

NLD spokesman Nyan Win told media on Thursday that it got the approval of the Election Commission, and registered to participate in the April by-elections. Suu Kyi, who earlier said the party would contest all the 48 seats to which by-elections are held, in which she also would be a candidate, has not yet officially announced her decision. In an interview to BBC on Thursday, the Nobel laureate said she was optimistic Burma would hold “full democratic elections” in her lifetime.

Myanmar: Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi Registers Party, Visits Parliament | VoA News

Burma’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi formally registered her National League for Democracy as a political party Friday, clearing the way for her to run for a seat in parliament. Party officials say they will contest a series of coming by-elections once the registration is formally approved, expected within a week. Aung San Suu Kyi has not yet announced the constituency in which she expects to run.

The Nobel peace laureate also visited the parliament for the first time since her release from house arrest late last year. She met with Shwe Mann, a senior figure in the military-backed government and the long-ruling junta that preceded it.

Myanmar: Myanmar opposition leader Suu Kyi’s party registers to re-enter mainstream politics | The Washington Post

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi formally registered her party Friday for any upcoming elections, returning the Nobel laureate to the political arena and winning plaudits from her political rivals in Myanmar’s military-dominated parliament.

Suu Kyi decided last month to formally rejoin politics after recent reforms by the nominally civilian administration that took power this year. Suu Kyi, National League for Democracy leader Tin Oo and other party members registered the party at the Union Election Commission in the capital, Naypyitaw.

The party boycotted last year’s general elections because of restrictive rules that among other things prevented Suu Kyi from being a candidate. The government has since lifted many of those restrictions. The government had taken the NLD off the list of legally recognized political parties because of the boycott.

Myanmar: Election Chief Vows By-Election Will Be Free and Fair | Irrawaddy.org

The chief of Burma’s Election Commission (EC) said in a press conference on Friday that upcoming parliamentary by-election will be free and fair and the country’s existing political parties can now start their election campaigns. During the by-election, expected to be held in March, the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development party (USDP), opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) and Burma’s other political parties will compete for 48 vacant parliamentary seats.

Ex-army general Tin Aye, the EC chairman, vowed during the press conference in Naypyidaw on Friday that the by-election will be held in a free and fair manner and that the EC will be independent and not submit to any outside influence. If his prediction comes to fruition, it would stand in contrast to the 2010 parliamentary elections, Burma’s first in 20 years, which the NLD boycotted and observers condemned as widely fraudulent.

Myanmar: The race is on: Burmese Election Commission | mizzima.com

Candidates can start campaigning freely now for the by-election, Union Election Commission (UEC) chairman Tin Aye said on Friday. The date of the election has not been set, but it is expected to be about 90 days after the start of campaigning.

A total of 48 seats at the union or regional level are open. Political parties are free to campaign without informing the EC of their plans, according to sources. There are some constituencies in which there may be no election due to fighting in ethnic areas.

EC chairman Tin Aye said this election would be free and fair. The commission will spend 700 million kyat (US$ 897,436) in comparison to nearly 1,100 million kyat (US$ 1.41 million) for the 2010 election, according to the EU announcement. UEC member Myint Oo said an education campaign would begin on the procedure for absentee ballots and the regular voting process.

Myanmar: Election Commission Allows NLD Registration | The Irrawaddy

Burma’s Union Election Commission (EC) has allowed an application to register as a political party filed by the National League for Democracy (NLD), landslide winners of the 1990 general election and led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The New Light of Myanmar, a state-run Burmese, reported on Tuesday that the EC had permitted the NLD’s application for registration as a political party in accordance with the commission’s rules and regulations.

Nyan Win, a spokesperson for the NLD, said that the party had submitted its application on Nov. 25. He said that there are two steps to register as a political party, and that the NLD has passed the initial step. The second step, he said, was the registration process itself.

Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi to Run for Burma Parliament | voanews.com

A spokesman for Burma democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi says she will run for a seat in parliament in the country’s next by-election, expected by the end of the year. Nyan Win, a member of the National League for Democracy’s executive committee, told reporters Monday the Nobel Peace laureate will run for one of the 48 seats available in Burma’s new Senate, but has not yet decided which district she will represent.

The democracy activist hinted that she would run for office at a meeting of party delegates Friday, when they decided to re-register as a political party and take part in elections.

Myanmar: Rakhine National Democratic Party objects to Election Commission verdict | mizzima.com

The Burmese Election Commission disqualified three elected MPs and a legislator from the Rakhine National Democratic Party (RNDP) on Thursday for their alleged election malpractices in favour of plaintiff legislators from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

RNDP General-Secretary Oo Hla Saw objected to the verdict, calling it unjust.

“It is really upsetting to see our three elected legislators disqualified. Our party is just a local ethnic party, and we are not challenging them politically. The verdict shows their ill-will to us. It’s suspicious too,” Oo Hla Saw told Mizzima.