Suu Kyi party chalks up wins in first Myanmar poll results

YANGON, Myanmar (2nd UPDATE) – Supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party on Monday, November 9, cheered in growing excitement as early results from Myanmar’s historic election boosted hopes of sweeping gains to carry it to power after decades of military dominance.

Election authorities have so far announced only a small fraction of the results, but the National League for Democracy has scooped the lion’s share of those, boosting enthusiasm in the crowds in front of Suu Kyi’s party headquarters in Yangon Monday evening.

“We’ll win tonight, we’ll stay until we win anyway,” said 24-year-old Wanna Htay, sporting a scarlet bandana with the party’s iconic fighting peacock motif as the crowd sung and cheered around him.

Sunday’s elections saw millions line up to cast their ballots in what many hope will mark a dramatic leap towards democracy in the Southeast Asian nation, which withered for decades under the iron grip of junta rule.

It could take days for the full results to be officially announced, but the NLD has already given a bullish prediction for its first election in 25 years.

Party spokesman Win Htein told AFP earlier that unofficial tallies showed the opposition was “on track to win more than 70% of seats around the country”.

He did not specify if the percentage would translate into power under Myanmar’s complex political system.

The NLD, which currently accounts for a tiny proportion of parliament’s MPs following landmark 2012 by-elections, is shooting for 67% of elected seats in the national legislature to be able to select a president and form a government.

That would be enough to overwhelm the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party and their military allies — who are gifted 25% of seats by a constitution scripted to ensure they still have a major stake in the future.

The USDP has already said it was ready for a wipeout in the commercial capital Yangon, while several of its heavyweights — including its chairman — lost their seats.

Suu Kyi, who is barred from the presidency under the army-drafted constitution, on Monday gave a cautious hint at victory in her first comments since the polls.

“It is not the time to congratulate our candidates who we think have won the election,” she told supporters and journalists from the balcony of her party’s Yangon headquarters.

But “people have an idea of the result even if I don’t say it,” she added.

Election authorities have said that preliminary figures would be released within 48 hours of Sunday’s vote, and a full nationwide count could take 10 days or more.

Change afoot?

The NLD has so far won 25 lower house seats — 18 in Yangon and five in the country’s second city Mandalay, both areas where the party is expected to sweep the vote.

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

Another lower house seat in eastern Shan state has gone to the ethnic Wa Democratic Party, according to the officially released tally so far.

Early NLD victories also included a win for Naing Ngan Linn, contesting for the Yangon regional parliament, who was injured in a dramatic sword attack while out canvassing on October 29 in Tharketa township on the city’s fringes.

Even the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar declared the “dawn of a new era”, while USDP heavyweight Shwe Mann conceded on his Facebook page that he had lost his seat to his NLD challenger.

The junta nominally gave up power in 2011, and the country has since spun through rapid change, with the quasi-civilian USDP government launching reforms that brought the end of most international sanctions.

But the USDP was braced for major losses and some local media called on President Thein Sein to concede without delay.

Party chairman Htay Oo told local media that he had lost his seat in Hinthada, a few hours from Yangon.

Sunday’s vote saw enthusiasm for democracy soaring among the 30 million registered voters, many of whom began queuing before dawn to cast their ballot.

Among them were many first-time voters, while others had last voted a quarter of a century ago only to see their hopes crushed by the military when it ignored the results, an outcome they fervently hope will not be repeated this time around.

Election officials estimated an 80 percent turnout, a figure observers say will aid the NLD’s quest for a majority.

President Thein Sein and the still-powerful army chief have both vowed to respect the outcome of the election — even if the USDP loses its choke-hold on power. – Hla Hla Htay, AFP / Rappler.com