Suu Kyi’s party wins historic majority

The NLD has so far won 110 seats in the 228-seat upper house, according to Myanmar Times, where only 168 seats were up for election.

Ms Suu Kyi’s party had been widely expected to win, but few anticipated a landslide of such dramatic proportions.

The ruling Communist Party invited her for a China visit in June, where she met President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People, the traditional greeting place for foreign leaders. “Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition has won an absolute majority to govern after weekend polls that herald a historic shift in power in Myanmar”. “He will act in accordance with the decisions of the party”, said Suu Kyi in an interview with Channel News Asia, adding that the president would be “told exactly what he can do”.

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

Under the constitution the military, which has run the country for the last half a century, automatically receives 25 per cent of the seats in each house.

Officials of Ms Suu Kyi’s party say obtaining the release of 112 political prisoners and another 479 alleged dissidents who are on trial or facing potential prison sentences will be a priority of the incoming administration. He was not immediately available for comment.

Discussions of policy played little part in the election – it was all about Suu Kyi, and like Poland’s Lech Walesa and South Africa’s Nelson Mandela before her, the public face of the rebellion will now be tested as leader of the nation.

Shwe Mann, who has been saying he would work with Suu Kyi, said he already accepted the invitation to talk, the Journal reported.

President Obama congratulated Suu Kyi on the results during a phone call Thursday, praising her quest for fair and representative government.

At a news briefing later, White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes noted broad participation by Burma’s people and a commitment by its rulers to abide by the results.

In Yangon there were no immediate signs of celebration after the party figurehead urged restraint from supporters, aware of the threat of a backlash in a country where the army’s writ remains large. The military gave way to Thein Sein’s civilian government in 2011.

In a state of emergency, a special military-led body can even assume state powers.

However, the 70-year-old politician can not be president of her country due to a clause in the military-drafted constitution that bars anyone with foreign spouses or offspring from assuming the post.

Gint Kam Lian, a Christian politician from the Zomi Congress for Democracy party in Chin state, said that the National League for Democracy’s overwhelming victory nationwide was welcome.

Under the indirect electoral system, the upper house, lower house, and military bloc in parliament each put forward a presidential candidate.