Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi's party, National League for Democracy (NLD), announced today (April 1st, 2012) that it had won almost every seat in this week by-elections closely watched by supporters and the human right organizations around the world. It is such a startling result that showed strong support for the opposition even among government employees and soldiers.
According to Aung San Suu Kyi's aides, the National League for Democracy won 43 of the 44 constituencies it contested and appears set to win the remaining one too.
The United States and European Union will now be watching closely to see how the president and his military backers react to the NLD victory.
The victory is now expected to accelerate moves to lift sanctions against Burma – the European Union will decide later this month – but concerns are growing that it may also leave President Thein Sein's reform vulnerable to challenge from hardliners within the country's military establishment.
In her speech to supporters, Aung San Suu Kyi said she hoped it would usher in a "genuine democratic atmosphere" and speed the process of national of "national reconciliation." "It is not so much our triumph as a triumph for the people who have decided they must be involved in the political process of this country. It's not so important how many seats [we won], though we are gratified that we've won so many, but the fact that the people are so enthusiastic about participating in the democratic process," she said.
NLD's apparent landslide adds to the enormous symbolism of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s own election to Parliament after two decades of house arrest and the violent suppression of her supporters. She was ebullient on Monday, speaking of the “beginning of a new era” in a brief address to a tightly packed crowd outside her party’s headquarters.
