Court rejects Suu Kyi appeal on party break-up

(AFP)

Burma's highest court has rejected an appeal by the democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to overturn a ruling dissolving her political party, which was ordered to disband during her long spell under house arrest.

Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party refused to participate in general elections held in November in the military-run country, saying the process was unfair from the start. Ms Suu Kyi, who won elections in 1990 but was never allowed to govern, was still confined to her lakeside home when the polls took place.

The NLD's stance against the elections meant it lost its legal status. It was partly because the generals felt they had quashed all opposition that they had the confidence to release Ms Suu Kyi a week after they declared victory for their proxy party.

Her spokesman Nyan Win said the appeal was the last avenue for having the party legally reinstated. However, the 65-year-old Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has described the NLD as a movement borne out of the Burmese people's desire for democracy, which would continue to exist regardless of its legal status.

Since her release on 13 November, Ms Suu Kyi has kept up a punishing schedule of meetings and consultations and at the weekend fell ill with flu and fatigue. She is unlikely to return to work until next week, her assistant said.