Rangoon, Burma (BBN)– Burmese opposition party claimed a historic victory on Sunday for pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in her bid for a seat in parliament in landmark by-elections.
Aung San Suu Kyi issued a National League for Democracy (NLD) notification for all NLD candidates to be gracious in victory, and to be prepared to work with other opposition parties and the ruling government, Mizzima, a Burmese news agency, reported.
Late Sunday night, NLD officials were cautiously jubilant, saying they may have won 44 constituencies in the historic by-election that places Aung San Suu Kyi in the center of opposition politics in Burma. Their forecast was based on unofficial results.
The Union Election Commission said the official results would be certified in about one week.
Based on unofficial results, the NLD said the vote count at polling station number 3 in Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township constituency indicated Phyu Phyu Thin easily won and will go to Parliament. Phyu Phyu Thin heads the NLD’s volunteer HIV/AIDS relief center in Rangoon.
Hundreds of people clapped and cheered as a giant screen outside her NLD party headquarters in the country’s commercial capital Rangoon announced the Nobel Peace Prize winner had won a parliamentary seat for the first time.
BBN/SSR/AD-02April12-8:20 am (BST)
