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Main Myanmar opposition party to contest general election

Main Myanmar opposition party to contest general election

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi gives a speech on Human Rights Day at Inya Lake hotel in Yangon December 10, 2012. Photo: Reuters

NAYPYITAW: The Myanmar opposition party led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi says it will contest general elections on Nov. 8 and is expected to mount a strong challenge to military-backed rulers. Suu Kyi told reporters Saturday in the capital, Naypyitaw that her party intends to complete Myanmar's transition to democracy. She didn't say if her party will contest all seats because it was not certain if elections can be held in all constituencies. The party, the National League for Democracy, boycotted the 2010 polls because it considered election rules to be unfair. It took part in subsequent by-elections after changes were made, winning almost all seats it contested. Myanmar was under military rule from 1962 until 2011, when the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party took power.