Suu Kyi Barred From Election

State Department slams junta's latest move
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 11, 2010 2:07 AM CST
Suu Kyi Barred From Election
Nyan Win, spokesman of the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party, talks to journalists at the party's headquarters today.   (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)

Myanmar's military junta has announced a law that effectively bans Aung San Suu Kyi from taking part in this year's election. The law prevents any member of a political party who has been convicted in court from taking part in the electoral process. Suu Kyi was found guilty of breaching the terms of her house arrest last year. The party she leads may now have to eject her or risk being declared illegal.

As of now, the party does not plan to comply with the law, said a spokesman for the National League for Democracy. A US State Department spokesman sharply criticized the law, saying it makes a mockery of the electoral process, reports CNN. The Obama administration is deeply disappointed, he said, but it doesn't plan to abandon its policy of trying to engage with Myanmar's rulers.
(More Myanmar stories.)

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