Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said that by-elections to be held this weekend would not be completely democratic because of irregularities during preparations.

"I don't think we can consider it a genuine free and fair election if we consider what has been happening here over the last few months," the Nobel laureate told a news conference on Friday, ahead of Sunday's vote.

The irregularities are "really beyond what's acceptable in a democratic election," she added. "Still we are determined to go forward because this is what our people want."

The National League for Democracy (NLD) leader said the polls were raising political awareness in the country formerly known as Burma.

"We don't at all regret having taking part," she added.

Suu Kyi, who spent most of the past 22 years locked up by the generals who ran the country for decades, is widely expected to win a seat in a parliament dominated by the military and its political allies.

A 2010 election that swept the army's political allies to power was marred by complaints of cheating and intimidation, as well as the exclusion of Suu Kyi, who was released from years of house arrest just days later.

The NLD has complained about what it described as "unfair treatment" by the authorities ahead of Sunday's vote.

The party said that people in one village were forced by the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) to attend one of its meetings.

It also said that in the constituency of Kawhmu near Yangon, where Suu Kyi is standing, the names of hundreds of dead people were found on the electoral roll, while more than 1,300 valid voters were left off.

President Thein Sein acknowledged in a recent speech that there had been "unnecessary errors" in ballot lists, but said that the authorities were trying to ensure the by-elections will be free and fair.

Unlike in 2010, the government has invited foreign observers and journalists to witness a vote seen as a major test of its reform credentials. AGENCIES