**Burma’s military government has passed long-awaited election laws which pave the way for polls expected this year.**Details of the laws have not yet been revealed but they are likely to include issues such as campaigning and the number of candidates per constituency.
No date has been given for the polls, although the junta has previously said the elections will be held this year.
Detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi cannot stand and her party has not confirmed it will take part.
The five new elections laws will be published in detail on Tuesday, Burma’s state media said.
The laws are expected to lay out rules on how long candidates can campaign for and how many candidates can run in each constituency.
Correspondents say they could also include a date for the elections, the first in 20 years.
Burma’s last general election, in 1990, was overwhelmingly won by Ms Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), but the military government annulled the result.
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The authorities have already made it clear that Ms Suu Kyi will not be allowed to take part in the polls.
She has been under house arrest for much for the past two decades and in August last year her latest period of detention was extended until November 2010.
The extension was seen by some analysts as a further guarantee for the military that she will not be able to campaign for others in the elections either.
The NLD has not yet said whether it will take part in the elections, as it considers the constitution under which they will be held unfair and aimed at perpetuating military rule.
General Than Shwe has said his government’s seven-stage roadmap is the only way for the country to achieve democracy.
In January, he urged Burmese people to make “correct choices” in the elections.
Correspondents said many people in Burma would interpret the remarks as an implicit warning to back the military.