Myanmar’s ruling party claims victory in elections
Myanmar’s ruling party National League for Democracy (NLD) said on November 9 that it had won enough seats in parliament to form the next government. The claim comes after an unofficial count of votes from the country’s second general election since the end of strict military rule, Reuters reported.
According to party spokesman Myo Nyunt, the NLD, which is led by state counselor and former democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, had won the 322 seats in parliament needed, though no official results had been announced by the election commission yet.
The election, held on November 8, was seen as a referendum on the fledgling democratic government led by Suu Kyi and the NLD, which remains hugely popular at home but has seen its reputation collapse overseas amid allegations of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority.
Up for grabs in the election are 315 seats in the 425-member lower house and 161 seats in the 217-seat upper house of parliament.
Not everyone could cast their ballot
In contrast to the wave of optimism that greeted the NLD’s landslide win in 2015, Myanmar went into this election under a cloud of a surging Covid-19 outbreak, economic hardship and escalating ethnic conflicts.
However, although Myanmar is seeing an average of 1,100 new coronavirus cases a day, fears of the virus appeared not to dampen Sunday’s turnout among the 37 million registered voters.
But more than a million people across the country were unable to vote after polls were cancelled due to insurgencies mostly in the northeast. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, people confined to camps and villages in Myanmar’s Rakhine State and most without citizenship, were also unable to vote.
The election commission has said the polls in areas affected by conflict had to be cancelled for safety reasons and that only citizens were entitled to vote.
Picture: Myanmar Times Myanmar's ruling party National League for Democracy (NLD) said on November 9 that it had won enough seats in parliament to form the next government. The claim comes after an unofficial count of votes from the country’s second general election since the end of strict military rule, Reuters reported. According to party spokesman Myo Nyunt, the NLD, which is led by state counselor and former democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, had won the 322 seats in parliament needed, though no official results had been announced by the election commission yet. The election, held on November 8,...
Myanmar’s ruling party National League for Democracy (NLD) said on November 9 that it had won enough seats in parliament to form the next government. The claim comes after an unofficial count of votes from the country’s second general election since the end of strict military rule, Reuters reported.
According to party spokesman Myo Nyunt, the NLD, which is led by state counselor and former democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, had won the 322 seats in parliament needed, though no official results had been announced by the election commission yet.
The election, held on November 8, was seen as a referendum on the fledgling democratic government led by Suu Kyi and the NLD, which remains hugely popular at home but has seen its reputation collapse overseas amid allegations of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority.
Up for grabs in the election are 315 seats in the 425-member lower house and 161 seats in the 217-seat upper house of parliament.
Not everyone could cast their ballot
In contrast to the wave of optimism that greeted the NLD’s landslide win in 2015, Myanmar went into this election under a cloud of a surging Covid-19 outbreak, economic hardship and escalating ethnic conflicts.
However, although Myanmar is seeing an average of 1,100 new coronavirus cases a day, fears of the virus appeared not to dampen Sunday’s turnout among the 37 million registered voters.
But more than a million people across the country were unable to vote after polls were cancelled due to insurgencies mostly in the northeast. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, people confined to camps and villages in Myanmar’s Rakhine State and most without citizenship, were also unable to vote.
The election commission has said the polls in areas affected by conflict had to be cancelled for safety reasons and that only citizens were entitled to vote.
