Myanmar's ruling party conceded defeat in the country's general
election on Monday as the opposition led by democracy figurehead Aung
San Suu Kyi appeared on course for a landslide victory.
"We lost," Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) acting
chairman Htay Oo told Reuters in an interview a day after the Southeast
Asian country's first free nationwide election in quarter of a century.
The election commission has not yet announced any results from
Sunday's poll, but Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy (NLD) said
that partial counts showed it had won more than 80 percent of votes cast
in the densely populated central regions.
NLD spokesman Win Htein said that outside the central area, the Nobel
peace laureate's party had so far won more than 65 percent of votes
cast in the states of Mon and Kayin. Results from the five other states
were not yet known, he added.
It was not yet clear whether the NLD would win the two-thirds of
seats in parliament it needs to form the first democratically elected
Myanmar government since the early 1960s. But, with a
first-past-the-post system for winning constituencies, a commanding lead
in the popular vote makes it likely.
The election was a landmark in the country's unsteady journey to
democracy from the military dictatorship that made it a pariah state for
so long. It is also a moment that Suu Kyi will relish after spending
years under house arrest.
Period of uncertainty
Whatever the result, Myanmar is heading into a period of uncertainty
over how Suu Kyi and other ascendant parties negotiate sharing power
with the still-dominant military.
Suu Kyi started the contest with a sizeable handicap. The
military-drafted constitution guarantees one-quarter of parliament's
seats to unelected members of the armed forces.
Even if she gets the majority she needs, Suu Kyi is barred from
taking the presidency herself under the constitution written by the
junta to preserve its power. Suu Kyi has said she would be the power
behind the new president regardless of a constitution she has derided as
"very silly".
The military will, however, retain significant power.
It is guaranteed key ministerial positions, the constitution gives it
the right to take over the government under certain circumstances, and
it also has a grip on the economy through holding companies.
Incomplete vote counts showed some of the most powerful politicians
of the USDP trailing in their bids for parliamentary seats, indicating a
heavy loss for the party created by the former junta and led by retired
military officers.
Among the losers was USDP chief Htay Oo, who told Reuters from the
rural delta heartlands that are a bastion of support for his party he
was "surprised" by his own defeat.
