(29 Mar 2010)
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1. Flag of National League for Democracy (NLD) and signboard at party headquarters where delegates are meeting to decide whether to contest the general election due this year
2. Members of party at entrance
3. Youth members of NLD sitting and chatting near entrance
4. Close of two youth members
5. More members standing in front of party headquarters
6. Central Committee members from townships queueing up for registration
7. Close of delegate''s badge showing that he is from Kachin state, Eugenia leaves in pocket to symbolise success
8. Delegates registering at party entrance
9. Party members checking lists of delegates at entrance
10. Close of paper lists
11. Delegates queueing
12. Members supporting the ''no'' vote (saying no to contesting the election) sitting in group near party office
13. People wearing ''No'' badges
14. ''No'' voters group
15. Women members with ''no'' badges
16. Close of woman member wearing T-shirt with picture of party leader Aung San Suu Kyi
17. Wide of woman member wearing T-shirt with Suu Kyi picture
18. Wide of deputy leader of party, Tin Oo, arriving at HQ
STORYLINE:
The party of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi decided on Monday not to contest the first election in military-ruled Myanmar in two decades, after the Nobel laureate blasted new electoral rules as unfair.
The move by the National League for Democracy, the country''s key opposition party, would seriously undermine the credibility of any polling in
the eyes of foreign governments, which have urged the junta to ensure all groups take part in the elections.
New election laws required political parties to register before the first week in May.
Parties that do not register will not be able to participate in this year''s election and will cease to exist, under rules enacted this month by the military government which also bar Suu Kyi from participating in the polls.
Even before the official decision, party spokesman Nyan Win indicated the party would decide not to register.
Security was heightened, with plainclothes police and pro-government security guards stationed around the party''s compound as the delegates met
in Yangon.
Last week, Suu Kyi was quoted by her lawyer as saying she opposed registering her party because the ruling junta''s restrictions on the vote were "unjust."
But she stressed she would let the party decide for itself.
The party won the last election held in Myanmar in 1990 by a landslide, but was barred by the military from taking power.
Suu Kyi is under house arrest and the new election laws effectively bar her from running and voting.
One law also instructs political parties to expel members convicted of crimes or face de-registration.
Although the Nobel Peace laureate has been under detention for 14 of the last 20 years, she is still general-secretary of the party and its most
dominant figure.
The election is part of the junta''s long-announced "roadmap to democracy," which critics deride as a sham designed to cement the power of
the military, which has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962.
No date has been set for the polls.
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