Burma's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will refuse to vote in the first general election in 20 years.

缅甸被扣留前民主领导昂山素季在20年之内将拒绝参加首次普选。

Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party was forced to disband under new election laws

Her lawyer, Nyan Win, said that although her name was on a voters' list, she would not take part in a poll organised by the military.

Ms Suu Kyi's election victory in 1990 was annulled¹（取消，废除） by Burma's military junta².

She is under house arrest and was at first excluded from（排斥在外） the electoral roll; about 2,000 other activists³ are also still detained（被扣留） .

Her National League for Democracy had already decided⁴ to disband to avoid having to expel Ms Suu Kyi and other detainees under strict electoral laws.

Our South East Asia correspondent Rachel Harvey says her decision not to vote may further encourage other NLD supporters to follow her lead, come election day.

That in turn will infuriate（激怒） the current military leadership.

Legal moves

"The NLD will not compete so she (Suu Kyi) said she has no party to vote for even if she is allowed to vote. As the NLD is not participating in the election, she will not vote," said Nyan Win.

He said Ms Suu Kyi had also pointed⁵ out that any grant to her of the right to vote would contravene⁶（抵触，违反） the junta's own laws which prohibit detainees from taking part in the polls.

"It is not in accordance with（依照） the law," he quoted her as saying.

Her advice to followers⁷ also not to vote has been criticised by the state-controlled press.

Suu Kyi herself expects to be released on 13 November "according to the law," Nyan Win said.

"If she is not released it is like a violation⁸ of the law," he said, adding that her appeal against her detention⁹ is scheduled to be heard in the Supreme¹⁰ Court on 18 October.

Many Western nations and the UN are critical of Burma's poor human rights record and refusal to hand over power to Ms Suu Kyi's party in 1990.

The government has founded its own political party - the Union Solidarity¹¹ and Development Party - headed by the incumbent¹²（现任的） prime minister.

Some 25% of seats are guaranteed under the new constitution for the military, which means unelected military officers will sit in parliament.