Suu Kyi re-elected as opposition NLD leader

Aung San Suu Kyi has been unanimously re-elected as leader at a landmark congress of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) in Yangon. Hundreds of opposition members gathered on Sunday for the party’s first national conference in a meeting that stopped short of making sweeping changes in its ageing top ranks ahead of key elections in 2015. The gathering was a display of political strength that would have been unthinkable under the military government that ruled the country for decades. The meeting highlighted the myriad challenges facing the opposition, including its lack of experience as well as internal divisions which saw four members banned from attending, accused of trying to influence the voting. The NLD had faced calls to inject new blood into its top ranks, dominated by senior members including some in their 80s and 90s, as it eyes key elections due to be held in two years. But the party held back from a substantial revamp of its leadership, instead selecting older veteran party members to a core executive of 15 and unanimously reappointing Suu Kyi as chairwoman.