Suu Kyi party says set to win 70% of seats
AFP
November 9, 2015, 8:30 pm
Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party says it is on track to win over 70 per cent of seats in historic Myanmar elections, a tally that could sweep it to power and end decades of military dominance.
The National League for Democracy's hopes of a decisive victory surged after early counting indicated a huge haul in the first polls the party has contested in 25 years.
The ruling army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) said it was braced for a wipeout in the commercial capital Yangon, while several heavyweights - including its chairman - lost their seats.
The NLD shied away from an outright declaration of victory, with election officials due to release formal results later on Monday.
But party spokesman Win Htein told AFP that unofficial results showed the opposition was "on track to win more than 70 per cent of seats around the country."
He did not specify how the calculation was made and if he thought the percentage would translate into power under Myanmar's complex political system.
The NLD needs 67 per cent of available parliamentary seats to enjoy a majority.
That would be enough to overwhelm the USDP and their military allies - who are gifted 25 per cent of seats by a constitution scripted to ensure they still have a major stake in the future.
Suu Kyi herself was more circumspect, but hinted at victory.
"It is not the time to congratulate our candidates who we think have won the election," she told supporters and journalists from the balcony of her party's Yangon headquarters.
But "people have an idea of the result even if I don't say it," she added.
On the streets of Yangon, NLD supporters were unequivocal about their party's prospects.
"I have no doubt about the results. I think everything is going to change," said Yee Yee, 30, a spice seller at a market in central Yangon, who voted for the NLD.
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.
