Suu Kyi rebukes MPs over poll expenses

Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi has rebuked some politicians from her victorious National League for Democracy (NLD) for exceeding an internal election spending limit amid worries the beaten ruling party may seek to challenge poll results, an NLD source said.

In private meetings with her advisers and lawmakers, the pro-democracy champion also warned party auditors to carefully scrutinise its campaign reports before they were submitted to the election commission.

The tension in the winning camp followed local media reports saying the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which was crushed at the polls, may apply for dozens of NLD candidates to be disqualified for spending too much on their campaigns.

Though it appears that Suu Kyi's candidates at worst transgressed an internal party limit set at $3,885 - half of the official ceiling - the issue could enable the USDP to pick off some of her talent before the official results are declared.

Suu Kyi's sensitivity over the issue highlights a deep-seated lack of trust between her people and the establishment. The former democratic activists and political prisoners in her party are still traumatised by the memories of the 1990 election, when several NLD candidates were disqualified for overspending. The NLD won that election by a landslide, but the junta ignored the results and kept Suu Kyi confined under house arrest.