Suu Kyi's NLD may have secured 70-80 per cent of seats

The Nobel laureate told her supporters at the NLD headquarters that it was still too early to call the result and congratulate her party’s candidates, though she admitted that they already had an idea of what to expect. 

Preliminary results also indicated that Suu Kyi had herself won a seat in the upper house for the Kawhmu constituency outside Yangon. 

Kyi Toe, the NLD press officer, said the party has swept all 44 seats in Yangon Region and lost the race only in the Coco Islands, where a military base is located. An NLD candidate earlier reported difficulties in campaigning in the islands.

Earlier yesterday, NLD spokesman Win Htein told Agence France-Presse that his party had captured more than 70 per cent of the seats. Preliminary results of the election may be revealed to the public this week, but the official result will not be released until the third week of this month, an election commissioner said.

The NLD needs at least 66.5 per cent of seats in both houses to secure enough support to set up a single-party government. 

The constitution prohibits Suu Kyi from being president because she was married to a foreigner, but she has said she will run the country from “above the president” if her party takes power. 

Meanwhile, the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) conceded that it had lost in many constituencies, notably Yangon and the Ayeyawady Delta, where support for the party has weakened. 

“We lost in almost all constituencies in Hinthada township, and though we have won in some places, the percentage of failures is higher,” USDP leader Htay Oo said.

Parliament Speaker and former USDP leader Shwe Mann was the first senior member of the USDP to concede and congratulate his competitor from the NLD. 

Millions of voters came out to cast their ballot on Sunday with the hope that this election will bring an end to military control and give Suu Kyi and her NLD the chance to usher in a brighter future. The election commission believes that as many as 80 per cent of the more than 30 million eligible voters turned out to cast their ballots. This is the first time in 25 years that the two key rivals – military-backed USDP and popular NLD – have contested in the same race.