Suu Kyi allies to form Myanmar ruling party after decades of struggle

NLD members from state and divisional offices will accept offerings from individuals but have also been asked to request donations from stationery shops and stores selling school uniforms, in order to meet a given township’s need.

“There are a lot of envious attitudes and some people are trying to create political issues at this time by linking me to that trade”, said Mr Khun Myat, an ethnic Kachin who headed a pro-military militia in a region where opium trafficking is widespread.

Mrs Suu Kyi has said she will be “above the president” and in complete control of the government, but the NLD has not explained how she will do this.

For all the democratic change coming to Myanmar, there is much that will remain the same, which may give investors pause.

Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from taking the presidency because her late husband and sons are British, and has vowed to rule from behind the scenes through a proxy.

USDP lawmaker Than Soe said on Monday that “there are no hard feelings”.

After decades under the military yoke, Myanmar’s people queued in their thousands to cast ballots for Suu Kyi and her party in November, throwing their support behind her simple campaign message of “change”.

Gint Kam Lian, a Christian and upper house MP from Zomi Congress for Democracy, said that he would collaborate with NLD lawmakers but that it still would not be easy because of the military’s presence in parliament.

Despite its landslide victory, the NLD in practice will have to share power with the military, for which the constitution reserves 25 percent of the seats in parliament.

She is poised to lead the country’s first democratically elected government since the military junta took over in 1962, although it remains unclear how.

For it to be Ms Suu Kyi there would have to be an incredible last minute deal and constitutional change. “Even the public didn’t think we could have an NLD government”.

“The majority of the cabinet will be NLD”.

King Ngaih Mang, 42, a new lawmaker from the Zomi Congress for Democracy Party, an ethnic party from Myanmar’s impoverished Chin State, offered an insight into the scale of the task. “The rank-and-file, the party grassroots don’t like them”.

NLD leaders have reassured the army, stressing their focus is on the future and the will to put the past behind them.

In an interview with Asiaweek magazine, he replied, ‘I can only say there are so many problems which we must address.’ Then, coyly, he added: ‘In actual fact, how many Germans stood trial at Nuremberg?’

No one from the military or USDP was available for comment. Possible candidates include Dr. Tin Myo Win, 64, Suu Kyi’s personal physician and a former political prisoner.

The former jade and gems trader clutched a black suitcase given to parliamentarians last week containing a starter kit for first-time MPs, including a copy of Myanmar’s military-drafted constitution from 2008 and a basic guide to lawmaking.

“We will agree to anything that would make them feel comfortable to make the transition stable”, said the88-year-old, who served as army chief in 1970s. Although she has said she will be “above” the president, her actions since the election – speaking little to the media and micromanaging party affairs such as making her subordinates pick up litter – suggest a worrisome authoritarian streak.