Today Aung San Suu Kyi filed papers to run for a seat in Myanmar’s Parliament. Agence France-Presse reported that a jubilant crowd was at hand as the Nobel peace laureate formally registered as a candidate in a by-election for an impoverished rural constituency in Kawhmu near Yangon, an area devastated by Cyclone Nargis in 2008.

The by-election is one of dozens to be held on April 1 in what many see will be “a major test” of the reform credentials of the country’s new nominally civilian government. Suu Kyi's candidacy is the latest in a series of developments that have fed hopes for lasting democratic reform. Hundreds of political prisoners have been released, the opposition National League for Democracy is back in the political process, and the Myanmar government and the Karen National Union have a signed a cease-fire agreement, which could lay which could lay the groundwork for ending what essentially has been a 50-year civil war. Meanwhile, the United States has restored full diplomatic relations with Myanmar and is preparing to send an ambassador to Yangon for the first time since the military refused to accept a 1990 election victory by Suu Kyi's party.