Suu Kyi’s party secures landslide win
YANGON: Aung San Suu Kyi’s party secured a landslide election victory in Myanmar yesterday, propelling the pro-democracy movement to power after a 25-year struggle against authoritarian rule.
It promises a new dawn for a country asphyxiated by half a century of army rule that battered the economy and repressed its people.
In a reflection of rapid changes that have swept the country, confirmation of the win came five years to the day since Suu Kyi was released from house arrest by the military.
She has now led her National League for Democracy party to a massive popular mandate with more than 80 per cent of seats going to the movement.
The NLD yesterday sailed through the twothirds majority it needs to rule, claiming 364 parliamentary seats with a number of results yet to be declared.
The election has won praise from observers for its smooth, peaceful passing, in a country where violence and repression has normally met democratic milestones.
“We have been ready to form a new government for many years,” party spokesman Nyan Win told AFP, greeting the result.
Suu Kyi, 70, has not spoken to the party faithful since Monday.
In Yangon there were no immediate signs of celebration after the party figurehead urged restraint from supporters, aware of the threat of a backlash in a country where the army’s writ remains large.
Under Myanmar’s complex political system, the NLD will also have to wait until March next year for the transfer of power.
That gap has left some party loyalists nervous at the potential for political chicanery by an army establishment that
We have been ready to form a new government for many years.
Nyan Win, NLD spokesman
wields substantial power, despite its chastening at the polls.
But the comfortable majority gives Suu Kyi’s party control of the lower and upper houses, allowing it to elect the president and form the government.
Suu Kyi, 70, is barred from the presidency by a junta-scripted constitution, which also guarantees the army a 25-percent bloc of seats.
She has already vowed to govern from “above the president” saying she will circumnavigate the charter ban by backing a proxy to run for the top office.
The win represents a huge stride in Suu Kyi’s decades-long journey from political prisoner, held under house arrest for 15 years by the former junta, to the heart of power.
Many NLD supporters have waited 25 years for their vote to count.
“I’m so happy ... Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will do more for us than the current government,” said 66-year-old street vendor Moe Thu.
Buoyed by her party’s sweep of the polls, Suu Kyi has called for “national reconciliation talks” with President Thein Sein and army chief Min Aung Hlaing.
Both men have congratulated the NLD on its election performance and have vowed to abide by the result as well as help a peaceful transition of power.