Video: Cheering crowds greet Aung San Suu Kyi on campaign trail Riding in a convoy of three dozen cars and flanked by hundreds of motorcycles, the leader of sixty-six-year-old Myanmar's long struggle against military dictatorship waved and smiled as crowds chanted "long live mother Suu" en-route to the constituency where she will contest April by-elections. "There are so many struggles ahead, I recognise this not because I'm disappointed but just to say we need strength and reinforcement to overcome them," Suu Kyi said to the crowd, much of which held aloft her pictures alongside that of her late father and independence hero, Aung San. The decision to contest the by-election represents a giant leap of faith for Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party after two decades being harassed and sidelined by the former military junta, which made way to a nominally civilian government 11 months ago. The NLD boycotted the widely flawed 2010 election but last year accepted an olive branch from the government after President Thein Sein, the former junta's fourth-in-command, reached out to Suu Kyi, who regards the reform-minded ex-general as sincere and trustworthy. Her bid for a parliamentary seat is largely symbolic, with only 48 seats up for grabs in the by-elections, meaning the NLD can only secure a tiny stake in the national legislature. The last time the NLD contested an election was in 1990, when its landslide win was ignored by the junta. Suu Kyi did not run in the poll because she was held under house arrest.