Suu Kyi predicts she will win 75pc of seats in election

Leader of Myanmar’s democracy movement, Aung San Suu Kyi, sent a message to the armed forces chief Min Aung Hlaing calling for a meet with him after the decisive win for the opposition party in the recent parliamentary elections.

Suu Kyi has written to the leadership requesting talks on national reconciliation.

It also sets the stage for cooperation between democratic activists and the army, which had fought them during half a century of iron-fisted rule before a handover to a semi-civilian government in 2011.

Already, the military-aligned ruling party has admitted it has lost more seats than it has won.

Elections were not held in seven constituencies, meaning a simple majority could be reached at 329 seats.

Results so far gave Suu Kyi’s party 196 of 243 seats declared out of the 330 seats not allocated to the military in the lower house.

Western capitals are banking that the policy of engagement by the United States and Europe with U Thein Sein’s government over the past four years, accompanied by the lifting of most sanctions, will pay off in terms of a peaceful transition to a new NLD-led government which will share power with the military.

Most sanctions were rolled back in lock-step with the greater freedoms.

The NLD said in a press release on Wednesday that Myanmar President U Thein Sein had offered congratulations on the party’s success in polls.

The American leader has urged the country to tackle religious intolerance and promote full democracy.

However, hundreds of thousands of people – including the Muslim Rohingya minority, who are not recognised as citizens – were denied voting rights. The results are not yet official but we accept any outcome.

While Myanmar’s people voted overwhelmingly Sunday to remove the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party from power, it’s clear that the army’s involvement in politics won’t end, and the NLD will need to convince it to co-operate.

It installed retired senior officers in the ruling party to fill Cabinet posts and gave itself key powers in the constitution, including control of several powerful ministries and a quarter of the seats in both houses of Parliament.

Her path to power is blocked by an army-scripted 2008 constitution that bars anyone with foreign children – or husband – from the presidency.

Myanmar’s military chief has pledged to work with the country’s new government, following landmark elections on Sunday.

A massive majority would strengthen her hand in selecting a favourable president, and she vowed before the election to be “above the president” in the event of an NLD win.

Now her party is poised for power it is likely she will put forward a proxy for the role, an appointment aided by a large majority.

Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann, a former general once tipped as a possible compromise candidate for the presidency, also accepted the invitation to talks.

President Barack Obama congratulated Suu Kyi for her party’s success in the elections.