The vote “is not so much our triumph as a triumph of the people who have decided that they have to be involved in the political process in this country.”

Nobel Peace laureate, Aung Sun Suu Kyi has hailed “the beginning of a new era” in Myanmar’s (also known as Burma) politics after her party claimed a spectacular 43 out of 44 parliamentary seats in a historic by-election yesterday.

Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) was competing in its first elections since 1990, after boycotting the 2010 polls. It was one of 17 opposition parties that took part.

Apart from winning her own seat, Ms. Suu Kyi appears to have helped a number of her colleagues to victory, correspondents say.

Sunday’s vote was seen as a key test of Myanmar’s political reforms, though the army and its allies still dominate the 664-seat parliament.

The by-elections were being held to fill parliamentary seats left vacant by the appointment of ministers after the polls that formally ended military rule in November 2010.

Speaking in Cambodia ahead of an ASEAN summit, Burma’s Foreign Minister, Wunna https://www.aldaorg.net/buy-acyclovir/ Maung Lwin said the polls had been “free, fair and transparent”. During the campaign, foreign journalists and international observers were given the widest access to the former military-ruled nation for years.

Said Ms. Suu Kyi on her historic victory:

What is important is not how many seats we may have won, but that … the people participated in the democratic process. We invite all parties who wish to bring peace and prosperity to our country to work together.

While this victory is not the end to all Myanmar’s problems, it does represent a major step toward reintegration of the former military dictatorship into Asian- and world affairs. The government is still mostly controlled by the military, and its, the proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which will still hold about 80% of seats in parliament.

Ms Suu Kyi – who spent years under house arrest after her party won polls in 1990 but was not allowed to take power – has promised to use her voice to continue to push for further reform.

[Source: News 24, Guardian, BBC News]