Thakhin Soe Myint, a veteran Burmese politician and central executive committee member of Burma's now defunct National League for Democracy (NLD) died on Thursday, at the age of 87.

An active fighter in Burma's independence struggle against British colonial rule, Soe Myint served as a regimental commander in the Burmese Army headed by national hero Gen Aung San. He remained involved in politics after Burma gained its independence from Britain in 1948.

“I first met him when we attended the first meeting of Burma's Socialist Party before independence in Rangoon,” said Thakhin Chan Tun, a colleague of Soe Myint.

“He came there as a township representative in the Irrawaddy Delta. He continued to get involved in the Socialist Party after independence and later sided with the communist-leaning group when the party split in the 1950s.”

In 1988, Soe Myint took a leading role in Burma's politics again when he joined the NLD led by Burma's pro-democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi. He was elected as a member of parliament when the NLD won a landslide victory in the 1990 election, the result of which was never recognized by the regime.

Under the leadership of Suu Kyi in Burma's as-yet unsuccessful struggle for democracy, he was one of the NLD leaders who recently decided against  the party's participation in the general election planned for this year.

The proposed election, Burma's first in 20 years, is viewed by critics as the military's attempt to further entrench its rule and gain international legitimacy.

Born on August 16, 1923, Soe Myint died of heart disease in Rangoon and is survived by his wife, five children and eleven grandchildren. He will be cremated in Rangoon's Yayway cemetery on Saturday.