Myanmar’s president has signed a revised law on political parties in an apparent attempt to encourage Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy to accept the political system and re-register as a party.
Burmese President Thein Sein signed the amendments to the Political Party Registration Law on Friday as senior US diplomats were ending a visit to encourage his government to push forward with democratic reforms. A UN envoy has also been visiting.
If the National League for Democracy re-registers as a legal party, it could join upcoming, but still unscheduled, by-elections that would be the first electoral test of its popularity in more than two decades.
Bringing Aung San Suu Kyi’s party back into the fold would also give the government greater legitimacy at home and abroad.
The group was delisted as a political party after it refused to register for November last year’s elections, saying they were being held under undemocratic conditions.
The amendments of the party law signed by Thein Sein alter three areas of the law to accommodate Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy.
The law, originally enacted in March last year by the previous military junta, prohibited anyone who has been convicted of a crime from being a member of a political party. Aung San Suu Kyi had been convicted on a trumped-up charge and would have had to leave the party she helped found. The clause has now been dropped, clearing the way for former political prisoners to engage in politics.
Another article was amended to say that registered parties shall “respect and abide” by the constitution rather than “safeguard” it. The change was evidently made to accommodate criticisms of the charter by Aung San Suu Kyi’s group without making them illegal.
The third amendment says that any party that registers after the general election must run candidates in at least three constituencies in by-elections to remain legally registered. The original law said a party had to stand at least three candidates in the general election, which would have been an impediment to Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, since it boycotted last year’s polls.
“Now that the law has been passed, we will hold a meeting to decide whether or not we will register,” the spokesman of Aung San Suu Kyi’s group, Nyan Win, told The Associated Press, adding that the amendments were in line with the group’s wishes.
US special envoy to Myanmar Derek Mitchell said in Yangon on Friday that Thein Sein’s government has taken positive steps and that Washington views the release of political prisoners and bringing the National League for Democracy into the political system as necessary reforms.
Vijay Nambiar, a special adviser to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, also concluded a visit on Friday and added his voice to those encouraging further reforms.
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