Massachusetts Thida, a writer and ex-aide to Ms Suu Kyi, was among hundreds of former political prisoners who cast their votes on Sunday.
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Senior officials in Myanmar’s opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) were confident Monday of victory in the country’s historic general election, with unofficial results suggesting huge gains for the party. Our country now is standing at a fork in the road, and it’s really not clear which direction we’ll be able to take.
The National League for Democracy announced that it had won 44 of the 45 lower house seats and all 12 of the upper house seats from Yangon, a party stronghold.
Election authorities are expected to hold a press conference at 4:00 pm (0930 GMT) that could see a few partial results announced. The NLD believes a fair vote will power it into government after a decades-long struggle against army dictatorship.
That’s a tall task, reports the BBC, because “a quarter of the parliamentary seats are reserved for the army”, and that means the NLD will have to win about two-thirds of the contested seats.
Chairman of the ethnic Arakan National Party (ANP) Dr. Aye Maung also admitted personally in an interview with Xinhua that he lost in the election competed in Rakhine’s Manaung constituency for an ethnic representative to the Rakhine State Parliament but saying that his party’s status is still good.
NLD supporters rallied at its headquarters in Yangon gathered to cheer on the victory of their party, which has won 16 of the 17 parliamentary seats announced so far.
In the lower house, 325 of the 440 seats are up for grabs.
But seats are also up for grabs in regional legislatures. Parliament will only elect a new president in February.
The victor becomes president and forms a government, the losers become vice presidents with largely ceremonial responsibilities. The president will assume power by the end of March. Many voters doubted the military would accept the outcome of the vote if the NLD wins.
The military is also guaranteed key ministerial posts – defense, interior and border security.
Shwe Mann, the speaker of the current parliament who was once tipped as a possible presidential candidate, is the first high-profile casualty of the NLD surge. Although not standing for election himself, Thein Sein could be re-elected if put forward as a candidate.
People line up outside a Buddhist prayer hall to vote during the general election in Mandalay, Myanmar, November 8, 2015.
One woman, 49-year-old Aye Mhu, was among the crowd in front of the NLD’s office.
“I urge you to wait for the result from your own homes”, he said, adding: “When the result comes out, I want you to accept it calmly”. It boycotted the 2010 vote. Suu Kyi’s late husband was British, as are her two sons.
Suu Kyi has pledged to amend the junta-drafted constitution, accelerate reforms and forge sustainable peace with ethnic minority rebels.
Whether the NLD will have enough seats to elect its candidate president is unclear.
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Even if she gets the majority she needs, Ms Suu Kyi is barred from taking the presidency herself under the constitution written by the junta to preserve its power.
