Myanmar's Suu Kyi seeks to revive political party

[November 15, 2010]  YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi began the nuts and bolts work of reviving her political movement Monday, consulting lawyers about having her now-disbanded party declared legal again, her spokesman said.

Suu Kyi was released at the weekend from 7 1/2 years in detention. On Sunday, she told thousands of wildly cheering supporters at the headquarters of her National League for Democracy that she would continue to fight for human rights and the rule of law in the military-controlled nation.

The 65-year-old Nobel Peace laureate must balance the expectations of the country's pro-democracy movement with the realities of freedom that could be withdrawn any time by the regime. Although her party is officially dissolved, it has continued operating with the same structure. But without official recognition, it is in legal limbo, leaving it -- and her -- vulnerable to government crackdowns.

Suu Kyi, who has been detained for 15 of the past 21 years, has indicated she would continue with her political activity but not whether she would challenge the military with mass rallies and other activities.

"I believe in human rights and I believe in the rule of law. I will always fight for these things," Suu Kyi told Sunday's crowd. "I want to work with all democratic forces and I need the support of the people."

Nyan Win, who is her lawyer as well as a party spokesman, said Suu Kyi met with her lawyers Monday morning and also party officials from areas outside Yangon who have been keeping her political network alive during years of repression.

He said Myanmar's High Court this Thursday will hold a hearing to decide whether to accept a case from Suu Kyi arguing that her party's dissolution "is not in accordance with the law." The party was disbanded earlier this year under a new law because it failed to reregister for Nov. 7 elections, complaining conditions set by the junta were unfair and undemocratic.

Suu Kyi's side says the new Election Commission has no right to deregister parties that were registered under a different Election Commission in 1990. The party also contends that the court is legally bound to hear their case.

Full results from the Nov. 7 elections -- the first in 20 years -- have yet to be released, but figures so far give a military-backed party a solid majority in both houses of parliament.

Many observers have questioned whether her release on Saturday was timed by the junta to distract the world's attention from the polls, decried by Western nations as a sham designed to perpetuate control by the military which has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962.

The NLD won 1990 elections by a large margin but the regime barred it from taking power.

Nyan Win said Suu Kyi's lawyers are also pursuing a separate legal case against the junta, involving an appeal to the Human Rights Council, a U.N. body, over her latest 18-month sentence of house arrest which has just ended.

Suu Kyi was convicted of violating conditions of a previous term of house arrest by briefly sheltering an uninvited American who swam to her home. Her legal team argues that the ruling -- also applied to two women companions living with Suu Kyi -- was illegal and unlawful as it was based on the 1974 Constitution, which was abrogated in 1988.

Since Myanmar's Special Appellate Bench on Nov. 11 turned down an appeal to overturn lower court decisions in that case, Suu Kyi's lawyers are taking her case to the U.N. council.

Although the junta often seems to defy critical international opinion, it has shown sensitivity to pressure from U.N. organizations. Past condemnation by the U.N.'s International Labor Organization over the junta's use of forced labor led to the opening of a special U.N. office in Yangon to hear workers' complaints.

[Associated Press]

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