Suu Kyi’s opposition on course for landslide victory in Myanmar poll
Print Edition
OPPOSITION leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party said yesterday it has won 56 of the 57 parliamentary seats in Myanmar’s main city of Yangon, a result that portends a massive sweep in historic elections that could eventually give it the presidency next year.
The National League for Democracy said that it won 44 of the 45 lower house seats and all 12 of the upper house seats in Yangon, a party stronghold.
As the results were announced, huge cheers broke out among the crowd of red-shirted supporters outside the party headquarters.
The Yangon result was not announced by the government’s Union Election Commission, but the NLD has stationed representatives at counting centers and was keeping reliable tallies that were being relayed to the headquarters. The election commission has been slow in releasing the numbers.
Earlier, Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, urged supporters not to provoke losing rivals who mostly represent the former junta that ruled this Southeast Asian nation for a half-century.
Hours before the Yangon announcement, party spokesman Win Htein said the NLD had won about 70 percent of the votes counted by midday. Another spokesman, Nyan Win, put the number at 90 percent.
“We will win a landslide,” Nyan Win said.
The comments, if confirmed by official results from Sunday’s general election, indicate that Suu Kyi’s party would not only dominate Parliament, but could also secure the presidency despite handicaps built into the constitution.
“I want Mother Suu to win in this election,” said Ma Khine, a street vendor, referring to the 70-year-old Suu Kyi with an affectionate term many use.
“She has the skill to lead the country. I love her.”
The country has already changed immensely in a blooming of openness in recent years spurred by reforms from a quasi-civilian government that replaced outright military rule.
The effects can be read on Yangon’s skyline and increasingly traffic-clogged streets, where smartphones and billboards — once rare — are now commonplace. But many yearn for deeper improvements in basic services, left neglected during years under the military.
“Our education system is poor, we can’t compete with other countries,” said 18-year-old student Kaung Htet Thaw, shouting above the NLD party songs blaring from huge speakers.
“If the NLD win, they will help us rise up.”
The promise of change, pegged to the towering presence of Myanmar’s political titan Suu Kyi, drew some in the crowd from overseas.
Computer programmer Phyo Sin Hyaw said she had returned from Singapore to vote.
The 33-year-old, an NLD bandana wrapped tight around her forehead, said the expectation of victory was tempered by fears of dirty tricks by the old guard. “The crowd is young ... They need change, they want development and jobs. This is their moment,” she said.
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