Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been elected head of the new executive board of the National League for Democracy at a landmark maiden party congress.
Hundreds of delegates from around Burma unanimously selected the former political prisoner Sunday as chairwoman of the 120-member central committee of her party. The three-day party congress in Yangon was the first in the NLD's 25-year history.
On Saturday, the Nobel Peace laureate urged delegates to elect new leaders who are in tune with this era.
Analysts say the NLD has been fractured by a group of elderly veterans in their 80s and 90s and in poor health, who do not want to make way for a younger generation of leaders. Four of those members were barred from attending the congress, accused of trying to influence the vote.
The NLD is restructuring itself in preparation for elections scheduled to be held in 2015.
Analysts question whether the party is ready to run an impoverished nation, where the economic, education and health systems were left in ruins by the corrupt former military dictatorship.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.