Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi registers to run as a candidate in upcoming by-elections at the Thanlyin township election commission office on the outskirts of Yangon yesterday.Photo: AFP

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi launched her historic bid for a seat in parliament yesterday in the latest sign of change in the country after the end of decades of outright military rule.
Meanwhile, European Union is mulling whether to begin lifting sanctions against Myanmar as soon as February to encourage reforms, EU diplomats said yesterday.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner is standing in April 1 by-elections seen as a major test of the regime's reform credentials following a surprising series of conciliatory gestures by the new nominally civilian government.
The pro-democracy icon submitted her registration to stand in a rural constituency in Kawhmu near Yangon, an area devastated by Cyclone Nargis in 2008, to the delight of crowds of supporters waiting outside.
"Aung San Suu Kyi was the first member of the NLD to register. She's going to run for the lower house," a senior party official, Win Htein, told AFP.
The NLD was stripped of its status as a legal political party in 2010 because it boycotted a controversial national election, saying the rules were unfair.
Suu Kyi hinted at the weekend that she could take a position in the government but said it "depends on the circumstances".
The April polls are to fill places vacated by those elected in the 2010 polls who have since become ministers and deputy ministers in the government.
Meanwhile, Aid for the southeast Asian nation is also under consideration, as well as a visit soon by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, her spokesman Michael Mann told AFP.
"In the light of developments in the country, we have launched a general review of our policies," he added. The decision is to be decided at talks between EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.