Burma Election Commission Allows NLD Registration

Burma Election Commission Allows NLD Registration
SAI ZOM HSENG,THE IRRAWADDY,Tuesday, December 13, 2011

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.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, Nyan Win said, “According to the law, the EC inspects the backgrounds and profiles of the 21 members who are listed on a party’s application form. They also investigate whether there is any connection between the party and an illegal organization based in a foreign country.”

He said that a selected number of party members will be sent to Naypyidaw next week to oversee the second step of the party's application process.

The NLD was dissolved by the EC on Sept. 14, 2010, by the EC for refusing to register for the 2010 general election. The EC also announced that day that the NLD would no longer be permitted take part in any form of political activity.

Assuming the registration process is completed successfully, the NLD says it will participate in the upcoming by-elections, no date for which has yet been announced. It said it will compete in all 48 available constituencies.

Despite the fact that the NLD won the country's 1990 election by a landslide, the party was never allowed to take power by the military junta.

On Sunday, NLD leader Suu Kyi met for an hour with Khin Aung Myint, the head of the Upper House of Parliament. Nyan Win said that Khin Aung Myint previously remarked in October that he recognizes the 1990 election result.

The NLD spokesman said that Sunday's meeting between Suu Kyi and Khin Aung Myint was an informal affair, more akin to a “chat among friends.”

The NLD also announced on Monday that it was changing its logo to that of a fighting peacock. Its previous emblem was a bamboo hat, which it successfully employed as a politicking tool when campaigning for the 1990 election.

The fighting peacock symbol is perhaps better known as the logo of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front and the All Burma Federation of Student Unions.

Burma Election Commission Allows NLD Registration