The National League for Democracy won 43 of the 44 seats it competed for and leads in the vote count for the remaining district, spokesman Nyan Win said, giving it representation in the 664-member Parliament that will still be dominated by President Thein Sein’s party. The party didn’t field a candidate for one of the 45 legislative seats up for grabs.
“What is important is not how many seats we have won, although of course we are extremely gratified that we have won so many, but the fact that the people are so enthusiastic about participating in the democratic process,” Suu Kyi told several hundred people at her party’s headquarters on Monday in Yangon. “We hope that this will be the beginning of a new era.”
The vote may open the door for the end of sanctions that prevent companies from General Electric Co. to Standard Chartered Plc. from investing in the country of 64 million people bordering China and India. Thein Sein has moved to modernize Myanmar’s political and economic system since taking power a year ago, including a managed float of its currency set to take effect on Sunday.
“It’s the beginning of a long process for Myanmar to join the Asian century,” said Douglas Clayton, founder and chief executive officer of Cambodia-based Leopard Capital, who plans to raise $100 million for a fund to invest in Myanmar once sanctions are lifted. “There will be very little reason to maintain sanctions after this election is accepted.”
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who visited the country formerly known as Burma in December, congratulated those who took part in the byelections while cautioning that reforms could yet unravel.
American sanctions ban investment in Myanmar and imports from the country, restrict money transfers, freeze assets and target jewelry with gemstones originating in the nation.
The EU bans weapons sales and mineral imports.
“It’s too early to know what recent progress means and whether it will be sustained,” Clinton told reporters in Istanbul on Sunday. “There are no guarantees about what lies ahead for the people of Burma, but after a day responding to a brutal dictator in Syria who would rather destroy his own country than let it move toward freedom it is heartening to be reminded that even the most repressive regimes can reform and even the most closed societies can open.”
Hundreds of supporters danced, sang and cheered outside the National League for Democracy’s Yangon headquarters on Sunday night as party officials displayed results on an electronic billboard.
Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years under house arrest and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent struggle, boycotted a 2010 election that ended five decades of direct military rule.
“We hope that all other parties that took part in the elections will be in a position to cooperate with us to create a genuinely democratic atmosphere in our nation,” Suu Kyi said on Monday, adding that the party will meet with winning candidates and issue a comprehensive report on the elections later.
Official results have yet to be released. In 2010 they were announced several days after the election. Thein Sein’s ruling party and the military will still control more than 80 percent of parliamentary seats.
Myanmar invited a limited number of election monitors and journalists from the US, EU and neighboring countries. The byelections “are a key moment in national reconciliation and should allow a substantial review of EU policy vis-à-vis Myanmar,” Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said in a March 28 statement.
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