More Oppn members quit: Myanmar junta

The latest resignations, which came from members in Shan state and Ayewaddy division, or province, bring the number of resignations so far to nearly 700.Suu Kyi, who spent six years under house arrest for her campaign to restore democracy to Myanmar, has said the party leadership does not recognise the resignations as valid because they were obtained through threats.

She insisted in a December statement that her party remained 8220;fightingfit.8221;

Independent verification of the military8217;s claims that NLD resignations have been voluntary is difficult. The government lets few journalists visit the country, and when it does it is usually on the condition that they do not contact Suu Kyi or other opposition members.

But the military has offered no explanation for the sudden resignation in recent weeks of hundreds of opposition party members, all of whom belonged to the NLD for the past eight years.

A dwindling membership could give the government a legal pretext for deregistering the NLD, a move which would effectively ban the party.While shunned by most western governments, Myanmar8217;s military government was admitted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN in 1997 because member nations said including the regime would help moderate it.Since that time, the regime has staged several mass arrests of political opponents.