Suu Kyi says NLD will continue as political party

Junichi Fukasawa / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
BANGKOK--Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi wants her political organization to expand its democratic reform efforts to all parts of society, including ethnic minorities, she said in a telephone interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun.
The 65-year-old Suu Kyi, released from 7-1/2 years of house arrest on Nov. 13, said, "We keep the door open for [any political group or individual] to contact us."
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) was officially disbanded in May for boycotting the Nov. 7 elections conducted by the military government. On Monday, Myanmar's Supreme Court refused to hear Suu Kyi's suit demanding nullification of the party's dissolution.
She said the group will formally protest the ruling. "We're going to appeal that decision because we did nothing that isn't right under the law," she said.
She also said the NLD would continue to function as a political party, suggesting the party will play a pivotal role in Myanmar's road to democracy.
Although Suu Kyi offered to meet with the military government in a speech after she was freed, she said she had not made a formal request to meet with junta leaders.
When asked what Japan and the West should do to help Myanmar achieve democracy, she said, "I think they should be more aware of the problems within this country, and I think for the help, [what we need] most of all is their coordinated effort."
Suu Kyi also said Myanmar's ethnic groups had drawn up a proposal for the second Panglong Conference. The first Panglong Conference was a deal reached in February 1947 between the central government under Suu Kyi's father, Aung San, and the Shan, Kachin and Chin peoples.
Showing an intention to promote cooperation with ethnic minorities, Suu Kyi said, "I'll contact them. They were the ones who drew up the proposal."
When asked about former NLD members who left the party to form the National Democratic Force so they could participate in the election, she said, "That's their decision. We certainly think that it's their right to decide what they want to do, and it's not our decision."
(Nov. 26, 2010)

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/world/T101125005342.htm