Detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said she is surprised but undaunted at the military government's new election laws that will bar her from running for office or even voting in polls to be held this year.

The Nobel peace laureate described the laws as "repressive" and "unjust" and called for a strong response from supporters of her democracy movement, but has not yet specified what they should do, her party spokesman Nyan Win said Thursday.

The country's ruling junta enacted five election-related laws Monday to govern polling to be held some time this year, and has been gradually unveiling details. Several provisions announced so far severely curtail Suu Kyi's involvement in the polls, even if she were to be freed from house arrest before her term ends in November.

"Aung San Suu Kyi said she never expected such repressive laws would come out but said she's not disappointed," Nyan Win told reporters after meeting the 64-year-old Nobel laureate at her home Thursday.

"She said such challenges call for resolute responses and calls on the people and democratic forces to take unanimous action against such unfair laws."

Nyan Win said he was not yet in a position to say what the responses might be. Her party has yet to decide whether it will participate in the election. Political parties have 60 days from Monday to register.

It will be the first poll since 1990, when Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory. The junta ignored results of that vote and has kept Suu Kyi jailed or under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

This year's elections are part of the junta's long-announced "road map to democracy," which critics deride as a sham designed to cement the military's power. A military-backed constitution was approved by a national referendum in May this year, but the opposition charges that the vote was unfair.

An election law announced Wednesday prohibits anyone convicted of a crime from being a member of a political party, making Suu Kyi ineligible to become a candidate in the elections — or even a member of the party she co-founded and heads.

In August, Suu Kyi was convicted of violating the terms of her house arrest by briefly sheltering an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside residence, and was sentenced to 18 more months of detention.

Election laws announced Thursday take away her right to vote, saying those convicted of crimes are barred from the polls. Thursday's two laws also formally invalidated the 1990 elections results, saying the 1989 election law under which those polls were held was repealed by the new legislation.

Asked for comment, Nyan Win said, "We won the race but the referee took away the prize."

"They have been slowly trying to decimate the party and now they are doing it with utmost force. But the NLD will never collapse," said the party's deputy chairman, Tin Oo.

However, authorities moved Wednesday to reopen several NLD offices in Yangon by removing red wax that had been sealed over their locks since 2003 to restrict party activities, Nyan Win said earlier.

Nyan Win said he expected to find Suu Kyi angry or upset with the new laws but instead "we found her even more energetic and lively," though she said it would be "very shameful and undignified" if provisions of the law were directed at her personally.

"She said it is not unusual for politicians to face challenges," he explained.

The United States and human rights groups have warned that the junta is running out of chances to make the elections appear credible. Clauses in the constitution already ensure that the military will retain a controlling say in government and bar Suu Kyi from holding office.

"This is a step in the wrong direction," U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in Washington. "The political party registration law makes a mockery of the democratic process and ensures that the upcoming elections will be devoid of credibility."

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