Myanmar President Thein Sein has congratulated opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy Party (NLD) for their apparent landslide victory in this week’s parliamentary elections over the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). An NLD spokesman says the message the party received Wednesday from Information Minister Ye Htut on behalf of Thein Sein included a promise that “the government will pursue a peaceful transfer” of power once the Union Election Commission has confirmed the NLD victory. The latest results from the country’s Union Election Commission show the NLD has claimed 273 seats in the lower house of parliament. The NLD is also far ahead in the upper chamber of parliament, winning 77 of the 83 seats announced so far.
Earlier Wednesday, Ye Htut posted on his official Facebook page that President Thein Sein had accepted an offer from Aung San Suu Kyi to hold talks, but only after the election commission had completed the vote counting process.
In addition to the president, the Nobel Peace laureate sent letters requesting talks to parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann and military chief Min Aung Hlaing in what she said was the spirit of “national reconciliation.”
Myanmar political experts say the NLD needs to capture two-thirds of the parliamentary seats to overcome the military’s veto in the bicameral legislature, known as the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, which selects the president.
Full Article: Myanmar President Congratulates Suu Kyi on Election Result.
