Khin Mau Swe, a leading member of the NLD said that the new party would try and complete the NLD's unfinished duty by keeping its faith with the NLD and Suu Kyi. According to Khin, the party would be registered this month, but there has been no decision on whether the party will contest the general elections scheduled to take place later this year. He said the new party is going to be called the National Democratic Force. The NLD leaders made their decision after their party was declared illegal on thursday night according to the election law.

Nyan Win, spokesperson for the NLD has meanwhile urged the founders of the new party to desist from participating in the elections. He also said that the former members of the NLD will continue to operate from party headquarters. Some members are focusing on social and developmental work.

A divided opposition?

The creation of a new political party has now raised doubts about unity in Myanmar's biggest opposition movement. Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese Academic based in Thailand says that the hardliners and the moderates in the NLD may undermine each other. According to Trevor Willis, former Australian Ambassador to Myanmar (also known as Burma), people put their hopes on the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi when the party was active. Now with the party disbanded, people have no one to look up to.

The NLD decided to boycott the elections earlier this year when the new election law was announced. The last date for re-registration in the elections was the May 6. The NLD's decision not to register is seen by the regime as a boycott of the elections. A government official has said that the NLD is not a legally registered party any more under the present law.

Expelling Suu Kyi: not an option

For the NLD, the election law presented a dilemma. The law prevents anyone convicted by a court of law from participating in the elections,which means that the party would have had to expel Suu Kyi in order to participate in the electoral process. Suu Kyi was convicted in August 2009 for violating her house arrest.

The National League for Democracy was formed in 1988 after a popular uprising against military rule. The NLD won the last elections in 1990, which were nullified by the ruling junta. Critics see the forthcoming elections as a sham designed to entrench military rule in the country.

mg /Reuters/AFP/AP
Editor: Grahame Lucas