Suu Kyi’s party leads as Myanmar counts votes

Bloomberg

Myanmar’s ruling party led by Aung San Suu Kyi said it had won enough parliamentary seats to retain power in the country’s second election since the end of military rule almost a decade ago.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) is on course to win about 390 seats to the national assembly, according to Myo Nyunt, a member of the party’s chief executive committee. While voting was held for the 476 civilian seats in the 664-member joint house, the Union Election Commission has so far announced results only for three parliamentary seats, all won by the ruling party.
The nation’s de facto leader retained her seat in the lower house from Yangon township by a landslide, according to local media. President Win Myint, Vice President Henry Van Htio and ruling party senior leader May Win Myint were also among early winners, according to election commission officials.
Another five-year term will allow Suu Kyi and her government to fulfill their pledges to revive the economy and ensure peace. The country’s first civilian-led government in more than five decades has delivered on some reforms, including liberalisation of the banking, insurance and education sectors and curbing inflation.
The challenges awaiting Suu Kyi include a coronavirus outbreak and the need to raise the living standards for about a third of the population who remain in poverty. Businesses remain mired in red tape, and accusations of genocide against the country’s Muslim Rohingya population are still a concern for foreign investors.
“Our first priority is to make our economy revive and then minimise the impact of Covid-19,” Myo Nyunt said by phone on Monday. “We will also prioritise on ethnic affairs and internal peace as well as the formation of a constitution that will lead to truly democratic federal union. We hope our economy will grow in the next five years.”