The junta has released her twice before, in 1995 and 2002, calculating that her extended absence from public view had weakened her appeal. They were proved wrong. Huge, enthusiastic crowds greeted her wherever she went, particularly in 2002.

In both cases, she was returned to house arrest.

This time, said Josef Silverstein, a Myanmar specialist and professor emeritus at Rutgers University, “I think they feel pretty confident that they so controlled the election, that there was not much violence, a quietude, that they can take a chance on her freedom.”

But he added, “This woman didn’t go through hell to remain silent at this particular point.”

The parliamentary elections on Sunday were the first in 20 years. In the last, the National League for Democracy won in a landslide.

The generals annulled that result and clung to power. This month’s election was seen as their attempt to gain legitimacy. Though it will be dominated by the military, the new Parliament will be the first civilian government in the country since 1962.

The National League for Democracy refused to take part in the election, saying it was unfair and undemocratic. As a result it was forced to disband as a political party, and Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi now has no official standing as a political leader.

But not everybody accepts this.

“We at the N.L.D. still consider ourselves to be in existence,” said Mr. Tin Oo, the party deputy leader. “We still honor the result of 1990 and we will respect this. Nobody can hold an election until the problem of the 1990 election is resolved. This was the mandate of the people.”