The full results – almost 20 percent of seats have yet to be announced – are expected in the coming days and the NLD’s majority is likely to rise yet further.
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Reports emerged Thursday that the NLD received an overwhelming electoral majority, taking 90 percent of parliamentary seats with 47 percent declared.
Sein congratulated Suu Kyi’s party on the victory, as did army chief Min Aung Hlaing, who said the military would “do what is best in cooperation with the new government during the post-election period”.
Suu Kyi’s father, Gen. Aung San, is viewed as founding father of Myanmar.
In comparison, the ruling pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party has won 40 seats, according to the latest results Friday afternoon.
The two reiterated their commitment to respect the result and agreed to Ms Suu Kyi’s request to hold reconciliation talks soon, although the parties are still to agree on the details. Gandhi remembered her “long struggle and steadfast commitment” to the cause of democracy and underlined the deep relationship shared between the Congress party and Suu Kyi.
Those who voted Sunday said they felt a thrill knowing that their country might be guided by the will of the people after so many years of military domination.
Mahn Johnny, a Catholic member of the National League for Democracy, said his party’s landslide victory, including in many ethnic areas, showed that the country demanded change after more than five decades of rule by a harsh military regime. Suu Kyi was arrested and forced her to stay in her house and not have any visitors. The constitution reserves a quarter of parliamentary seats for the armed forces; they are filled by appointment, not election.
The President of the United States, Barack Obama, phoned President Thein Sein to commend him for the successful conduct for Myanmar’s historic election.
25% of seats are reserved for unelected military representatives who hold veto power over constitutional amendments and have no interest in allowing Suu Kyi to become president.
The results continued a sweeping success for the party in the elections of Sunday, the freest in the Southeast Asian country, once known as Burma, since the army took power in 1962.
The big majority affords Suu Kyi, 70, leverage in the political wrangling ahead with a military establishment that has been chastened at the polls but retains sweeping powers.
The USDP effectively conceded defeat Wednesday, with President Thein Sein sending Ms. Suu Kyi’s party a letter of congratulations.
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Obama has spent great efforts on helping Myanmar’s transition from authoritarian rule to an emergent democracy, visiting the country twice in the last four years. The issue has ramifications for Myanmar’s global relations as well, as the current government has been accused of inaction and even complicity in what a few call genocide of the Rohingya.
