Myanmar's pro-democracy advocate and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi gave a cautious welcome to the government's political reforms.

But it is still too early to say if the country which had been under military dictatorship until early this year is firmly on the road to democracy.

Suu Kyi, who won a national election in 1990 but was never allowed to take power, also said it was too early for Western governments, including the United States and the European Union member states, to lift economic sanctions.

"There has been some progress within the past year, but not enough yet," she said. "A crucial issue is the rule of law, without which we cannot make progress in the issues of human rights, the release of political prisoners, domestic peace efforts or social and economic development in our country."

Suu Kyi was speaking to reporters at the headquarters of her party, the National League for Democracy, on the anniversary of her release from house arrest.

She also held out an olive branch to the army whose senior junta leaders retired in order to set up a civilian political party and which won a national election last year.

"All the army members are also the country's citizens. So are all of us. If all of us are the same public, then I wish to ask why we can't work together. We must be able to do," she said.

Her comments reflect those she made in a rare face-to-face interview with a foreign news service last month. In an interview with the BBC she said Myanmar may be inching toward democracy but Western countries should remain vigilant that nascent reforms are genuine.

"There are signs that President Thein Sein, a former senior military ruler, wants reform but it's early days, she said.

"I think I'd like to see a few more turns before I decide whether or not the wheels are moving along. We are beginning to see the beginning of change. I believe that the president wants to institute reforms but how far these reforms will go and how effective these will be, that still needs to be seen."

After a national election in November 2010, the new government took office in January, although many Western countries called the process and result fraudulent.

A major issue for Western countries was the exclusion of Suu Kyi from running in the election.

She was released from house arrest Nov. 13 after seven years but, because of her criminal record, according to laws enacted by the junta, she was ineligible to run for Parliament. In protest, her party, the National League for Democracy, didn't register for the election although around 40 small parties entered the race.

This week the NLD said its senior members will meet this week to decide the party's future. Because it failed to register for the election, the party has no legal status.

The decision to boycott the November election had deeply divided the NLD, the Myanmar Times newspaper reported.

But members of the NLD central executive committee appear to support registration now to make it a legal organization.

A member of the party's youth section said she would accept any decision of Suu Kyi and other senior members but believed registration is the right option even if the NLD doesn't want to participate in any by-election (special election), the report said. She said registration would allow the NLD to "become legal and … conduct our activities legally."

One of the country's most sensitive issues has been the continuing imprisonment of what the United Nations has called "prisoners of conscience," meaning political dissidents thrown in jail by the junta.

Around 200 were released under a general amnesty affecting more than 6,000 prisoners, signed by President Thein Sein, a former Junta leader, in October. But more remain in jail, according to the United Nations, as well as the country's fledgling, and untested, Human Rights Commission.

Last week the commission -- set up by the government earlier this year -- urged Sein to grant amnesty to more "prisoners of conscience." The commission made the request in an "open letter" to Sein published in the government-owned and controlled New Light of Myanmar newspaper.