Myanmar election sees Suu Kyi retain parliament seat

Yangon, Nov 10 (efe-epa).- The Nobel Peace Prize and leader of Myanmar’s government Aung San Suu Kyi, has retained her seat in Parliament during the general elections held Sunday, the Burmese Electoral Committee said Tuesday.

While the slow vote count – which could last several days – continues, the Committee announced the victory of the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in the district of Kawmhu, a municipality 50 kilometers south of Yangon, where it also won in the 2015 elections.

The leader, whose international image has plummeted for her defense of the military against the accusation of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya, won 83.83 percent of the votes cast in her constituency.

Although official results are trickling in, Suu Kyi’s party announced Monday would win a resounding victory in this second election following the democratic transition that began 10 years ago.

Hundreds of NLD supporters took to the streets Monday night in Yangon, the country’s former capital and most important city, to celebrate the expected victory wearing t-shirts, flags and masks in support of Suu Kyi’s party.

Myo Nyunt, spokesperson for the National League for Democracy, told EFE on Monday that the NLD had achieved a greater victory than in 2015, when they swept the polls by obtaining almost 80 percent of the seats in the running.

To form a government, the NLD needs more than two-thirds of the 476 seats in dispute (at least 322) in the bicameral Legislative, where the military reserves 25 percent of the seats according to the Constitution they drafted and that allows them to retain political influence.

On Tuesday morning, the Election Committee had formally announced the results of only about 30 seats.

Due to armed conflicts in various regions of the country, elections were canceled in 51 constituencies, the vast majority inhabited by ethnic minorities, leaving 22 legislative seats vacant. EFE-EPA

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