The democratic opposition marked a certain victory in yesterday’s local and legislative elections in Burma. The National League of Democracy (NLD) said that partial counts showed it had won more than 80 per cent of votes cast in the densely populated central regions, while around 65 per cent in rural and ethnic states, such as Mon and Kayin.
No confirmation has arrived so far from the Electoral Commission, though first results are expected to be released today.
The NLD of the Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, icon of the fight for democracy and against the military regime, also reportedly obtained a majority in the nation’s main city Yangon and key cities such as Mandalay and Bago, strongholds of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), heir of the military regime that ruled from 1962 to 2010.
An indirect confirmation arrived from the parliament speaker and former mediator between the military and Suu Kyi during the military rule, Shwe Man. An admission of defeat that paves the way for his bi-partisan candidature for the presidency, a vote to be held after the convocation of the new parliament in February 2016.
Suu Kyi this morning however urged her supporters to limit celebrations and attend final results. The Nobel laureate also called on all parties running to accept the results “losing with courage and winning with humility”. She and other NDL members called for calm on the streets also to avoid the risk of a reaction of the forces linked to the former regime – the last election participated by the opposition in 1990 was annulled and opposers were jailed in mass – also aware that the post-election period will be one of delicate negotiations to convince the military to renounce to political privileges and vast financial interests guaranteed by the current Constitution and allow a true democratic process to take off.
Aung San Suu Kyi, The Lady, as she is known in the country and abroad, announced her candidature as Prime Minister of the next government, knowing she would not be allowed to run for president until Constitutional amendments are put in place.
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