Opposition party fears ‘ trick’ in Myanmar vote
YANGON, Myanmar — The party of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi accused the government election panel today of intentionally delaying results that appear to show it winning a massive majority, saying it wants to “maybe play a trick.”
The surprising accusation by the National League for Democracy adds an uncertain twist to what had so far been an amicable election, where the ruling party appeared to be taking its expected loss gracefully.
“The Union Election Commission has been delaying intentionally because maybe they want to play a trick or something,” NLD spokesman Win Htien told reporters at Suu Kyi’s house after a party meeting. “It doesn’t make sense that they are releasing the result little piece by piece. It shouldn’t be like that,” he said.
By this morning, the election commission had released results for only about 50 seats in the 664-member Parliament, whereas the NLD has claimed victory in 154 of the 164 seats in four states. There are 14 states in Myanmar. In addition, the commission announced that the NLD had won 11 of 15 seats in four other regional parliaments.
The accusation raises concern about the intentions of the ruling party, which is beholden to the military that had ruled the country with an irongrip for about a half century until 2011. Since then, the country has been governed by the Union Solidarity Development Party.
Even without official results, it was clear that the Union Solidarity Development Party was facing a rout.
The party is made up of former junta members who ruled the Southeast Asian country for a halfcentury and as a quasi-civilian government since 2011. Many of its leaders conceded personal defeats in their races.
Although the government’s Union Election Commission did not announce the outcome of the Yangon races, the NLD has stationed representatives at counting centres and kept its own tallies.
The United States congratulated Myanmar on the election but noted that more work remains ahead on the country’s road to democracy.
Aung Kyaw Kyaw, a 29-year-old pharmacist, said he didn’t vote for the ruling party because “they were only former military people. If I voted for them, that means I am asking my own enemy to come back into my life.”
Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and pro-democracy icon, urged supporters not to provoke losing rivals who mostly represent the former junta in the country also known as Burma.
NDL spokesman Win Htein said the party had secured about 70 per cent of the vote counted by midday Monday. Another spokesman, Nyan Win, put the number at 90 per cent.
If those figures are confirmed by official results, it would mean that Suu Kyi’s party would not only dominate Parliament, but could also secure the presidency despite handicaps built into the constitution.
The NLD has been widely expected to finish with the most seats in Parliament. A two-thirds majority would give it control over the executive posts under Myanmar’s complicated parliamentary-presidency system, which reserves a quarter of the 664 seats for the military.
The military and the largest parties in the upper house and the lower house will each nominate a candidate for president. After Jan. 31, all 664 legislators will cast ballots and the top votegetter will become president.