Winning Aung San Suu Kyi Asks for Dialogue with Key Ruling Figures

(AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe). European Union and other election observers praised the quality of the poll, and there were no significant episodes of violence.

Thein Sein, the outgoing president, Shwe Mann, the parliamentary speaker, and most significantly, Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief, have agreed to meet Ms Suu Kyi to discuss the transition of power when the official results process is completed. In the upper house, the NLD won 77 out of 83 announced races. He was not immediately available for comment.

Ye Htut said the government will pursue a peaceful transfer of power “in accordance with the legislated timeline”.

Ms Suu Kyi, who spent a total of 15 years under house arrest in Yangon under military rule, entered parliament through a 2012 by-election in Kawhmu, a rural hamlet near Yangon, two years after her release. As of this morning it had 196 out of 243 confirmed seats in the lower house, the Union Election Commission said. Myanmar, previously known as Burma, has not rid itself of the army’s heavy-handed influence.

About 30 million people were eligible to vote in Sunday’s election in Myanmar.

In response to Suu Kyi’s call, U Shwe Mann offered cooperation in building a politically stable, peaceful, prosperous and developed country.

But in a statement to reporters, Earnest noted “structural and systemic flaws” in Myanmar’s system, pointing to laws that appear to be directly aimed at barring Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president.

Information Minister Ye Htut earlier also congratulated the NLD on its gains and vowed to “respect” the election outcome and “work peacefully in the transfer” of responsibilities to the winning party. “It was an election for a spot in a shared government with the army”.

Last time Suu Kyi’s party participated in an election was in 1990.

Although Suu Kyi reached out to the military establishment for reconciliation talks, she has become increasingly defiant on the presidential clause as the scale of her victory has become apparent.

It needs to win two-thirds of the contested seats to get a majority because the military holds an automatic 25 percent share and would not support her National League for Democracy.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party is expected to score an overwhelming victory in the elections to choose a new Parliament. Officials say Suu Kyi has won her seat as well.

“The president will be told exactly what he can do”, she told a television interviewer Tuesday. “That’s why I am helping and working for her”.

“The Government and people of India welcome this significant step towards democracy in a close neighbour with whom we have long historic links”, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Attention was riveted on what has been called the “magic number” for Suu Kyi’s party.

U Thein Sein is the chair of the USDP, but was constitutionally barred from taking part in its election campaign.