Suu Kyi rules out party overhaul

Myanmar's pro-democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday ruled out a reorganisation of her party to replace elderly leaders with younger members.

"We are not going to ask our older leaders to leave because they want to serve as long as they have strength to serve the party and I think that is a good thing to be encouraged," Suu Kyi told AFP in an interview at the headquarters of her party, which has been officially disbanded by the junta.

Many senior members of the Nobel Peace Prize winner's National League for Democracy (NLD) are in their 80s and 90s and there had been speculation that she might overhaul its Central Executive Committee (CEC) to bring in new blood.

But Suu Kyi, who was released from seven straight years of detention last month shortly after rare elections, said she was not planning such a move.

"We are not going to reorganise the CEC or anything like that," she said.