National League for Democracy (NLD) Chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi (right) talks to Union Election Commission (UEC) Chairperson Tin Aye as they arrive for a meeting in Nay Pyi Taw on Wednesday. Myanmar's president hosted rare talks with influential allies and rivals as Suu Kyi intensifies efforts to lift rules against her running for the presidency. Photo: AFP

Myanmar's President Thein Sein held rare talks Wednesday with allies and rivals including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as she intensifies efforts to lift a constitutional ban on her presidential bid.

The long-awaited talks in the capital Nay Pyi Taw, which follow a similar meeting of key political figures in October, come as the country braces for elections seen as a key test of reforms in the former junta-run nation.

The president, Suu Kyi and the powerful parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann were among those in attendance, according to an AFP photographer. The talks are being held behind closed doors.

But before the meeting, president's office director Zaw Htay said topics would likely include maintaining order around the elections slated for November, as well as details of a landmark draft cease-fire agreement with multiple ethnic armed groups last week.

"There could be disagreement, it's impossible to be of one mind. But the more meetings there are, the more the talks can find common ground to benefit the people," he told AFP, adding that army chief Min Aung Hlaing was expected to attend the meeting.

Suu Kyi declined to comment on the talks when approached by AFP before the meeting.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) is expected to hoover up votes in November's election, the first countrywide poll that the party will have contested in 25 years.

Despite her star power, Suu Kyi is banned from the top job under a provision in the junta-era constitution barring those with a foreign spouse or children from the presidency. The 69-year-old's two sons are British, as was her late husband.

Observers say she has accepted that it is unlikely she will be able to become president at this time.

Last year the NLD gained 5 million signatures - around 10 percent of the population - in support of its bid to change another constitutional provision.