Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi to contest the April 2012 polls. Reuters

Aung San Suu Kyi has formally registered as a candidate to run for a parliamentary seat in an upcoming by-election in Burma.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner submitted her registration to stand in a rural constituency in Kawhmu near Rangoon, an area devastated by Cyclone Nargis in 2008. She and her National League for Democracy party will contest the 48 parliamentary seats that are open in the April 1 vote.

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 was released from years of house arrest shortly after the vote, which was marred by complaints of cheating and easily won by the military's allies.

Since coming to power in March, the new military-backed government dominated by former generals has made a series of reformist moves. These included releasing hundreds of political prisoners, and pursuing peace deals with armed ethnic minority rebels.

The NLD had won an election in 1990 by a landslide, while Suu Kyi remained under house arrest, but the ruling generals never allowed the party to take power.