Suu Kyi hails 'new era' amid scenes of joy in Myanmar

Supporters of the Nobel laureate and her National League for Democracy (NLD) gathered at the party headquarters on Sunday evening to celebrate the victory after the polling closed.

A concert-like celebration caused traffic congestion in front of the office as a crowd of people turned the former capital Yangon into a city of joy. Motorists honked their horns while people on board waved to NLD members.

Speaking to supporters at the NLD office yesterday, Suu Kyi said: “We hope that this is the beginning of a new era, with an emphasis on the rule of the people in everyday politics of our country.

“It’s not so much our triumph, it's the triumph of the people who have decided they must be involved in the political process.” 

Formal results of the by-elections have not been announced yet but the NLD claims to have won 43 of the 45 seats in which voting was held on Sunday.

Rival candidates in the field interviewed by The Nation congratulated Suu Kyi and the NLD for their victory.

“The result is good for our country as the people voted for the NLD, so we accept their decision,” said U Thu Wai, chairman of the Democracy Party (Myanmar), who ran in Mingalar Taung Nyunt township.

As a candidate who had seen the election process, U Thu Wai said he regarded the poll as a free and fair election and that people voted with a free will.

Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin briefed his colleagues from Asean in a meeting in Phnom Penh yesterday that the by-election to fill 45 vacant seats in the Parliament went smoothly.

Asean ministers congratulated him for the successful outcome and expressed hope that Western countries would lift sanctions imposed on Myanmar – to reward the government for moves it has made to reform the country.

The by-elections on Sunday were watched by international observers and journalists. While the balloting appeared to go smoothly, political analysts said Myanmar’s Election Commission would need to explain some suspicious irregularities they found during polling activities.

Flaws and irregularities in the by-election mostly stemmed from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, not the election authority, they said. The result reflected that at least the government did not interfere in the election process, an activist said.

The apparent landslide victory by Suu Kyi and the NLD boosted expectations among local people that they could push for ongoing political reform.

Chiang Mai-based analyst Aung Naing Oo said Suu Kyi and the NLD would now have to reach out and engage many stakeholders in Myanmar’s political landscape.

“Aung San Suu Kyi gained overwhelming popular support from the people in the election but she still needs to reach out to many others in politics such as the ruling USDP, the military and MPs of other parties,” Aung Naing Oo said in a phone interview.

Despite the popularity of Suu Kyi and the NLD, even if they are confirmed as winning most seats on Sunday, they would only have 43 out of 664 positions in the Parliament. The USDP has most seats, plus there is a 25-per-cent quota for the military.

If Suu Kyi wanted to amend the 2008 Constitution, she would need support from many MPs in the chamber, Aung Naing Oo said.

The Democratic Party’s U Thu Wai, who is a member of a 10-party alliance in Parliament, said his party was willing to cooperate with the NLD in the legislative chamber. The alliance included ethnic parties with 138 seats but didn’t have enough support to achieve any big moves in the Parliament, he said.

“Even with 43 seats from the NLD, we are still far from two thirds of all seats needed to amend the constitution,” U Thu Wai said, noting also that the alliance of small parties had yet to discuss how it might work with the NLD. “Indeed, we don’t know what the NLD has agreed with the president and if they want to work with us in the Parliament.”