Myanmar general election results tally

Of the 88 seats so far declared by the election commission, the NLD has won 78.

The NLD won all 32 out of the first 32 seats announced for Myanmar’s lower house, plus three out of four seats for the regional assemblies, prompting celebratory scenes among supporters outside party headquarters in Yangon. Still, before the celebrations begin, it’s important to remember that the Parliament of Myanmar reserves as much as 25 per cent of its seats for unelected lawmakers who are appointed by the military.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the party’s own estimates of its performance.

The USDP, appearing increasingly beleaguered, has taken just two lower house seats so far.

While many results have yet to trickle in-particularly from the country’s remote border regions-USDP party chair Htay Oo acknowledged defeat Monday.

Ms Suu Kyi said that her party was on course to win 75 per cent of the contested seats after an election in which the ruling military-backed party suffered a rout.

Suu Kyi has long represented a symbol of hope for the country, commanding by force of will an extraordinary amount of power as leader of the opposition.

Suu Kyi has said, however, that she will act as the country’s leader if the NLD wins the presidency, saying she will be “above the president”.

The party would have to get 67 percent of the total seats for an absolute majority and the chance to select the next president without having to form an alliance with any of the 90-plus smaller parties.

The general elections are seen as the first real chance for democracy to take root in Myanmar.

As the daughter of Burma’s independence hero General Aung San, Ms Suu Kyi was destined to be a political leader.

Suu Kyi is barred by the constitution from taking the presidency herself, though has said she will be the real power behind the new president, regardless of a charter she has derided as “very silly”.

The party of Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday accused the government’s election commission of intentionally delaying the results of what appeared to be its landslide victory in national elections. The party is made up former junta members who ruled the Southeast Asian country for a half-century and as a quasi-civilian government since 2011.

It is also disconcerting because in 1990 elections, which the NLD won overwhelmingly, the junta that refused to recognize the results.

The U.S. State Department also commended Myanmar on its polls, which Secretary of State John Kerry called “peaceful and historic”, and “one step closer to [building] a democracy that respects the rights of all” in a statement released Sunday. Suu Kyi’s late husband was British, as are her two sons.

“I think everyone already knows or has guessed what the election result is”, she said.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the election was encouraging but cautioned there were still flaws in Myanmar’s political system, adding it was too soon to discuss any US policy changes. It controls large parts of the national economy.