After months of internal debate, members of the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, the long-detained pro-democracy leader, defied Myanmar's junta by announcing Monday that they would boycott the country's first elections in two decades. The move raises questions about both the future of the opposition and the credibility of the vote. Under election laws the junta issued this month, the decision means the party, the National League for Democracy, will be automatically dissolved. Western governments have said the participation of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party is a prerequisite for legitimate elections. On Monday, U Win Tin, a founding member of the party, said that more than 100 delegates were unanimous in their decision. 'We will ask the people around us not to vote in the election,' he said in a telephone interview. He said also the party would try to continue political activities after it is disbanded. 'We will work for the people,' he said. Diplomats and exile groups view the vote as window-dressing for the junta's continued hold on power. But some in Myanmar believe the election would be at least a modest positive step. Last week, Aung San Suu Kyi said through a spokesman that she viewed the election process as 'unjust' and felt the party should not take part. 'They made a decision to maintain their dignity,' said Win Min, a lecturer in contemporary Burmese politics at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He said the National League for Democracy would probably be disbanded by May 6, a deadline set in the election laws, and the party's assets, including offices, might be seized. 'Some members may be planning to set up a new party,' he said. The National League for Democracy won a landslide election victory in 1990, a result that was ignored by the ruling generals. Win Tin, the party official, said taking part in a new election would have been a signal to people in Myanmar that the party had agreed to forgo its 1990 victory. 'We would have to give up all of our political convictions,' he said. The party also wanted to send a signal to armed ethnic groups in northern Myanmar that the election would be illegitimate. The junta is demanding that the ethnic groups disarm. 'A sort of civil war will flare up very soon,' Win Tin predicted. 