Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi makes first appearance in parliament
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi attends the lower house parliament session in Naypyidaw on July 9 2012, marking a new phase in her near quarter century struggle to bring democracy to her homeland.
Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, 67, has made her historic debut in parliament.
AFP reports that Suu Kyi "appeared calm" as she arrived in the capital Naypyidaw to take her seat as an elected politician for the first time.
"I will try my best for the country," she is quoted as telling the news agency.
More from GlobalPost: Myanmar to Aung San Suu Kyi: Stop calling us Burma
The fourth session of Myanmar's House of Representatives actually began last Wednesday, and is the second since the April 1 by-elections that saw Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy take 43 out of 45 open parliamentary seats, Xinhua says. However, the NLD boycotted the first session, and Suu Kyi postponed her debut to recover from her recent European tour and to visit her constituency.
SBS explains that Suu Kyi's "unswerving campaigning" saw her placed under house arrest for years but also earned her a Nobel Peace Prize. ABC Radio Australia says her appearance in parliament marks "the final step in her party's transformation from dissident outsiders to mainstream politicians."
More from GlobalPost: Reporting in Myanmar, a test of new limits