I can barely believe this is true!! I had hardly dared hope this would really happen, but Aung San Suu Kyi has won a huge majority in Burma’s elections held last Sunday.
Election commission says National League for Democracy has won staggering majority in parliament, ending decades of military dominance
Announcements of the results have been eeked out over the past five days, slowly allowing a positive picture to emerge but preventing outright celebration of the NLD win. Despite speculation that the slow release of results might foreshadow some kind of trick played by the ruling party, the final result is undeniable. The NLD successfully won more than 329 seats of the 491 contested seats (67%), thereby holding a majority (the Burmese military or Tatmadaw automatically hold 25% in accordance with a constitutional amendment). Unless these numbers are wrong, that means only 8% of the vote went to the USDP and minority parties combined.
Although Aung San Suu Kyi is banned from the presidency under an army-drafted constitution, her party will now be able to push through legislation, form a government and handpick a president.
The ruling party have given every indication that they accept these results and will facilitate the hand-over to NLD gracefully. The President’s spokesperson announced on Wednesday that the USDP intend to “obey the results”, and Min Aung Hlaing, Burma’s commander-in-chief, sent congratulations.
US President Barack Obama called Aung San Suu Kyi to congratulate her earlier today.
This is really happening!
Read on
Open Mouths: Free Speech in Burma
Other sources:
The Guardian: Aung San Suu Kyi wins Myanmar’s landmark election
The Guardian: Aung San Suu Kyi plans to lead Burma (Myanmar) if her party wins election
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