Aung San Suu Kyis party predicts landslide

win in Burma elections

Object 1

By Annie Gowen-November 9 at 11:08 AM

RANGOON, Burma Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy predicted
a landslide victory on Monday as tallying continued in Burmas historic elections, with
some in the military-backed ruling party beginning to speak of defeat.
For the second night in a row, supporters of Suu Kyis pro-democracy party gathered
in front of its headquarters in Rangoon, clapping, singing, chanting and waving red
balloons to celebrate vote totals coming in from across the country that showed the
NLD winning seats by healthy margins.
The election commission announced that the NLD had won 23 of the 24 seats in the
Rangoon provincial parliament. Results from remote provinces were still being
counted.
Inside NLD headquarters, Nyan Win, a senior law adviser to the party, said that its
candidates had won at least 60 percent of seats in the national parliament but that the
party was still waiting for the final results.
A victory in Burmas elections would be a triumph for Suu Kyi, who has been revered
at home and worldwide since she emerged as a pro-democracy leader in 1988 and
suffered years of house arrest. But analysts say weeks of uncertainty could follow as
she tries to form a government and find a way around a constitutional provision that
bars her from becoming president.
Meanwhile, more than a dozen prominent leaders of the ruling Union Solidarity and

Development Party (USDP) were defeated at the polls, and Htay Oo, its acting
chairman, told Reuters simply, We lost. T-shirts quickly appeared in front of NLD
headquarters that said, We won.
Some USDP members said they had not done enough to ensure victory.
We are not doing very well. The NLD is in a superior position, said Soe Min, a USDP
member who ran against Suu Kyi in 2012 parliamentary by-elections and lost. But the
votes are still counting.
[Burmas election the first real test of shift toward democracy]
The celebration of NLD supporters came a day after millions in Burma voted
peacefully in the countrys first democratic elections in 25 years. The nation of
51 million, also known as Myanmar, was long isolated from the world under a
repressive military dictatorship. Its generals started the process of democratic reform
five years ago.
Suu Kyi, 70, appeared at the NLD headquarters on Monday morning before cheering
supporters, saying it was too early to congratulate winners. But, she said, I think you
all have an idea of the results.
Victory or failure, that is not important, she said. What is important is how we win or
lose. Those who lose should bravely concede, while those who win should humbly
celebrate the victory. That is a true democracy.

Five years after the country began democratic reforms, daily life in modern Burma is in
the middle of rapid-fire transformation.
Millions of the countrys 30 million eligible voters had braved a hot sun and long lines
to cast their ballots on Sunday, and more than 10,000 election observers were on
hand to ensure that the process went smoothly. Concerns rose Monday over claims
that a number of military ballots flowed in late Sunday that tipped the balance to the
USDP in races in far-flung states, raising concerns about fraud.
People stood hours in line in the sun and celebrated yesterday, and today there is a
huge disappointment because their vote didnt count, said Meenakshi Ganguly of
Human Rights Watch, who was observing voting in Kachin state.
If the NLDs predictions of a landslide victory are correct, its path to governance may
be easier than predicted.
The party would have had to get 67 percent of the total seats to govern unilaterally,
without having to form an alliance with one of the nations 90-plus smaller parties.
Burmas constitution, drawn up by its military rulers in 2008, still reserves 25 percent of
seats in the upper and lower houses of parliament for the military.
Suu Kyis fate is still unclear, but she said at a news conference last week that she
would govern the country despite the constitutional barrier.
Im going to be above the president, she said. When asked how, she responded,
Oh, I have already made plans.
Her bold remark concerned some analysts and activists, who point out that such a
position unheard of until now would violate the constitution.
She went so far as to say shell be above the president, said Khin Zaw Win, an
activist and former political prisoner. That is not a responsible thing to say. It will worry
the other side and reeks of Oriental despotism the power behind the throne.
A victory for the pro-democracy party would be a tremendous boost to theObama
administrations hopes that Burma will one day become a functioning democracy.
When the military junta began reforms in 2010, Suu Kyi was released from house
arrest, other political prisoners also were freed, and censorship and Internet access
relaxed. The United States responded enthusiastically byeasing stiff sanctions and
providing nearly $500 million in aid. Hillary Rodham Clinton visited once while
secretary of state, and President Obamahas come twice.
But over time, the government of President Thein Sein has again begun to imprison
journalists and critics. Key economic reforms have stalled. The government in
concert with a group of hard-line Buddhist monks passed laws restricting religious
freedom that some say target Muslims. More than 100,000 Rohingya Muslims reside
in displacement camps since sectarian clashes with their Buddhist neighbors in 2012,
with scant access to food, health care and education.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry said in a statement Sunday that although the

elections were an important step forward, they were far from perfect. He cited the
exclusion of the Rohingyas and the reservation of a quarter of parliamentary seats for
the military as important structural and systematic impediments to the realization of
full democratic and civilian government.
On Monday night, as the music blared and pro-democracy forces danced and cheered
in Rangoons streets, one NLD volunteer was a bit more circumspect.
Yin Myint May, 60, a doctor, said she was elated but still feared the military. She
remembers when military officers showed up at her familys door and tried to arrest her
sister, who had given speeches criticizing the government. She fears that the generals
will not honor the election results, as in 1990, when they ignored the NLDs first big win
at the polls.
We have to be cautious about it. Its almost hard to believe, she said. So many
times they do what they say, and then one or two days later they change their minds.

Read more:
Burma, once a pariah state, gets its first real taste of KFC
Burmas half-hearted commitment to democracy
Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Annie Gowen is The Posts India bureau chief and has reported for the Post
throughout South Asia and the Middle East.
Posted by Thavam