The pro-democracy winners of Burma's 1990 parliamentary elections have asked the United Nations to recognize their representatives at the General Assembly in place of the representatives of the current military regime.

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (file photo)

In a letter Tuesday, the winning candidates challenged the legitimacy of the military government, which never recognized election results that saw a landslide victory for the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

The pro-democracy leaders called on all U.N. member states to support their cause.

The military has ruled Burma since 1962 and has been widely criticized for suppressing basic freedoms.

Pro-democracy leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was detained in July 1989 and has spent 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.