Election ban for Aung San Suu Kyi
A new election law bars pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from Burma elections (AP)
Wednesday March 10 2010
A new election law issued by Burma's ruling military bars pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from joining a political party, and thus from running in upcoming elections.
State-run newspapers on Wednesday published the Political Parties Registration Law, which excludes anyone convicted by a court from participating in the elections.
Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate, has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention.
She was convicted last August of violating the terms of her house arrest by briefly sheltering an American who swam to her lakeside residence.
The law says that political parties have 60 days from Monday, when the law was promulgated, to register with an Election Committee whose members are to be appointed by the junta.
The date of the election has yet to be announced.
The law also bars members of religious orders and civil servants from joining political parties.
