Junta warns against complaints after Suu Kyi's vow to investigate elections

Burma's military government warned against filing complaints over the 7 November election yesterday. This could spell trouble for the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has vowed to investigate alleged voting irregularities.

The 65-year-old Nobel peace laureate must balance the expectations of the country's pro-democracy movement with the reality that her freedom could be withdrawn any time by the hardline regime.

Ms Suu Kyi, meanwhile, went on a legal offensive yesterday, filing an affidavit with the High Court to have her political party reinstated. The junta disbanded it earlier this year for failing to re-register after choosing not to take part in the election, complaining conditions set by the junta were unfair and undemocratic.

In a reminder of how delicately she has to tread, yesterday the official Union Election Commission warned that political parties making fraudulent complaints about the polls can face harsh legal punishment.

Full results from this month's elections have yet to be released, but figures so far give the military-backed party a solid majority. Critics complain the vote was rigged to cement the power of the ruling junta.

On Sunday, Ms Suu Kyi told thousands of supporters at her party headquarters she was "ready to fight" for human rights.