Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi says the government has approved her National League for Democracy (NLD) to run in upcoming byelections.
Ms Suu Kyi said the party had been accepted earlier today. NLD spokesman Nyan Win also said the party will start accepting new members from Monday. In an interview at her home, the Nobel peace laureate declined to say if she herself will stand in the election.
The NLD boycotted general elections in 2010 because of restrictions that among other things would have prevented Ms Suu Kyi from running.
"I don't think the pace of change is as fast as a lot of us would like it to be but, on the other hand, I don't think it's too slow. It's slow but it's not too slow," she told BBC television today. "I trust the president, but I can't say I trust the government for the simple reason that I don't know everybody in government," she added.
Ms Suu Kyi today met British foreign secretary William Hague, who welcomed a pledge by Burma today to continue reforms and release more political prisoners, saying such progress, if sustained, would lead to deeper economic and political ties with the West.
The two-day visit by Mr Hague is the first by a foreign minister from the former colonial power since 1955, before the military takeover in what was known as Burma in 1962.
It has been made possible by the handover of power last year to a civilian government - albeit one stuffed with former military men and backed by the army - and a series of political and economic reforms since then.
"I hope we've reinforced at the highest levels of government the willingness of the international community, of the UK, of the European Union, to really strongly engage with this country," Mr Hague said after meeting President Thein Sein, adding that depended on the momentum for change being maintained.
"Of course, we hope to be able to do much more in future in the field of economic and diplomatic co-operation, human development, but that relies on necessary political progress, on reform continuing to be delivered," Mr Hague said.
Sustained political reform in Burma could pave the way for stiff economic sanctions to end and lead to Western investment in oil, gas and other sectors. Burma's neighbours in Asia, especially India, Thailand and China, are already rushing in.
Reuters