It was the first time even for Suu Kyi, the epitome of the democracy movement who had defied the junta for decades. Suu Kyi’s late husband was British, and her two sons have British passports. But she had still not made up her mind about her vote.
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Election monitors called it “a remarkable day” full of excitement and energy.
The election commission later began announcing constituency-by-constituency results from Sunday’s poll.
Earlier a smiling Suu Kyi appeared on the balcony of the NLD’s headquarters in Yangon and in a brief address urged supporters to be patient and wait for the official results. “It will take a while for the results to be announced”.
Many people still remember the last national election her party contested, in 1990, which it was widely considered to have won. “I’ll run the government and we’ll have a president who will work in accordance with the policies of the NLD”, she had said, according to NPR.
These complex issues, along with the continuing armed conflict with minorities, the on-going persecution of the Rohingya people in Rakine State, and the rise of an occasionally violent Buddhist nationalism, will all contribute to a post-election Myanmar where a victorious NLD may find the fruits of victory are somewhat bittersweet. Since opening up in 2012, Myanmar has experienced a slow and bumpy path towards true democracy, with many of its most powerful people, including current leaders, still well connected to the former military junta.
Myanmar voters cast their ballots yesterday in a historic election that could thrust Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party into power and finally pull the country away from the grip of the military. Ms Suu Kyi has said she would be ‘above the president’. All of the first 12 announced were won by Suu Kyi’s National League of Democracy (NLD).
Ms. Suu Kyi started the contest with a sizeable handicap: even if the vote is deemed free and fair, one-quarter of Parliament’s seats will still be held by unelected military officers.
Even the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar declared the “dawn of a new era”, while USDP heavyweight Shwe Mann conceded on his Facebook page that he had lost his seat to his NLD challenger.
“We have to find out the reason why we lost”, Mr Htay Oo, a close ally of President Thein Sein, said.
“Just as the victor accepts the result, so should the loser”, Min Aung Hlaing told reporters. “Whoever leads the country, the most important thing is to have stability and development in the country”.
Suu Kyi had said earlier in the week that if her party wins the majority of seats in parliament, she will govern the country despite the constitutional barrier.
The NLD would need an overwhelming win to take the presidency because of the seats reserved for the military, all of which now go to the USDP. To counter that scenario, the NLD would require a huge win.
Sein Kya Thee, 45, who makes about $15 a day as a fisherman, said he voted for Suu Kyi’s party because he hoped it would bring prosperity to Myanmar and because he reveres her.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have been excluded from voting, and the poll will not be held in several border areas where fighting between the army and ethnic rebels simmers.
On Saturday, Chinese President Xi Jinping shook hands with Taiwanese President Massachusetts Ying-jeou at a hotel in Singapore in the first meeting between leaders of the two former Cold War enemies since 1949. The military is not under the government’s control and could continue attacks against ethnic groups.
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Myanmar has since morphed from a hermit state into a booming economy open for business since the military ceded power to a quasi-civilian reformist government in 2011.
