Parliamentary Elections Held in Myanmar

On Sunday, the people of Myanmar went to the polls to elect their representatives in the country's parliament. Voting in this election concluded on Sunday afternoon local time. This election is considered the first free election in this Southeast Asian country in the last 25 years. An official from the Myanmar Election Commission announced that the public participation in the elections was 80 percent. Nearly 30 million people were eligible to vote in the elections, but the Muslim minority in the country was not allowed to participate. It is estimated that about 1.1 million Muslims live in Myanmar. 91 parties competed for seats in Myanmar's 664-member parliament in the elections on Sunday. According to the law, 25 percent of the seats in Myanmar's parliament must be reserved for the military. The election on Sunday was a contest between the National League for Democracy party led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and the ruling Development and Solidarity party. According to Myanmar's constitution, individuals with foreign spouses cannot hold the presidency, and thus if Aung San Suu Kyi's party wins, she cannot assume the presidency due to her late British husband. Nevertheless, Ms. Suu Kyi has stated that if her party wins, she will oversee the country's administration from a position beyond the presidency. Her party needs to secure at least 67 percent of the votes. The President of Myanmar, Thein Sein, who took power from the military five years ago, has stated that he will respect the election results. Aung San Suu Kyi won the last free election held in Myanmar in 1990, but the military did not accept the results. Aung San Suu Kyi spent nearly 15 years under house arrest and was released in 2010.