Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) has so far scooped 80 percent of elected seats in polls that promise to dramatically redraw the political landscape in a nation stifled for decades under the grip of army rule.
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How is Aung San Suu Kyi regarded in Burma? “We dreamed together for almost 30 years”.
But as party leader, she wields influence in determining who will lead the country.
Suu Kyi, 70, has said her party supports a federal future and has made ethnic affairs and peace a central pillar of her party manifesto for Myanmar, where ethnic minority groups have fought decades-long wars for greater autonomy.
Thein Sein served in the military regime and became president after the USDP won a 2010 election that was boycotted by the NLD, which considered it unfair.
Suu Kyi has been noticeably silent on the Rohingya’s plight-inexcusable for a Nobel Peace Prize victor, but all too understandable, if lamentable, for a politician vying for votes in a mostly Buddhist country where the Rohingya are reviled.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s party secured a landslide election victory in Myanmar on Friday, propelling the pro-democracy movement to power after a 25-year struggle against authoritarian rule.
People queue to cast their vote at a polling station in Yangon.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and US President Barack Obama had already congratulated her on the victory.
In a call with Suu Kyi, Obama “commended her for her tireless efforts and sacrifice over so many years to promote a more inclusive, peaceful and democratic Burma”, the White House said. The contrasts between those neighbors-a vibrant but messy democracy, a democracy-turned-military dictatorship, and a monolithic one-party authoritarian state, respectively-shows the vast range of outcomes that Myanmar will have to navigate in the years to come.
Such unambiguous endorsements of Suu Kyi’s victory could smooth the lengthy post-election transition ahead of the last session of the old parliament, which reconvenes on Monday.
Myanmar is still divided by religious and ethnic tensions. The Rohingya, subject to widespread mob violence, have been herded into camps, where many have attempted to flee to neighboring countries-triggering a refugee crisis throughout Southeast Asia that mirrors the plight of Syrians trying to reach Europe.
Suu Kyi has been criticised for not speaking out against abuses faced by the Muslim minority.
Closer to the Burmese heartland, the new government must deal with discontent in rural areas, where farmers have seen their land confiscated and given to crony businessmen close to the military.
With Suu Kyi’s victory confirmed, the focus is shifting to the NLD’s presidential candidate and its plans for government.
Myanmar’s president runs the executive, with the exception of the powerful ministries of interior, defence and border security, which are controlled by the military.
Under the Myanmar constitution, elected representatives take up 75 percent of the seats at each level of parliament.
A total of 970 results had so far been declared at the three levels of parliament in Sunday’s election and the election commission was expected to complete the vote-count in a couple of days.
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The victor becomes president and forms a government, while the losers become vice presidents with largely ceremonial responsibilities.
