Myanmar ruling party headed for rout at Suu Kyi’s hands

YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, which appears headed for a massive election victory, accused the government election panel Tuesday of intentionally delaying results, saying it wants to “maybe play a trick.”

The surprising accusation by the National League for Democracy adds a worrying twist to what has so far been an amicable election, where the ruling party appeared to be taking its expected loss gracefully.

“The Union Election Commission has been delaying intentionally because maybe they want to play a trick or something,” NLD spokesman Win Htien told reporters after a party meeting. “It doesn’t make sense that they are releasing the results piece by piece. It shouldn’t be like that,” he said.

The election commission, which has released results for only about 50 seats in the 664-member Parliament, did not immediately respond to the accusation. The NLD has claimed victory in 154 of the 164 seats in four of the country’s 14 states. In addition, the commission announced that the NLD had won 11 of 15 seats in four other regional parliaments.

The accusation raises concern about the intentions of the ruling party, which is beholden to the military that had ruled the country with an iron-grip from 1962 until 2011. Since then, the country has been governed by the Union Solidarity Development Party, made up former junta members led by President Thein Sein. A former general, Thein Sein has been praised for beginning political and economic reforms to end Myanmar’s isolation and jump-start its moribund economy.

It is also disconcerting because in 1990 elections, which the NLD won overwhelmingly, the junta refused to recognize the results.

Still, observers believe that the military has little to gain by interfering again because as part of a reforms program to allow democracy gradually, it has already secured its position with constitutionally guaranteed powers.

For example, no matter who forms the government, the military gets to keep control of the ministries of defense, interior and border security. It controls large parts of the national economy. Also, the military will be able to legally block constitutional amendments because 25 percent of the seats in Parliament are reserved for the military, and amendments will require more than a 75 percent vote.

The NLD is widely expected to finish with the most seats in Parliament. A two-thirds majority would give it control over the executive posts under Myanmar’s complicated parliamentary-presidency system.

The military and the largest parties in the upper house and the lower house will each nominate a candidate for president. After Jan. 31, all 664 legislators will cast ballots and the top vote-getter will become president, while the other two will be vice presidents. A massive majority in Parliament would allow the NLD to take the presidency and one of the vice president slots.

Capturing the presidency and Parliament would give the NLD power over legislation, economic policy and foreign relations. But a constitutional amendment bars anyone with a foreign spouse or child from being president or vice president, meaning Suu Kyi, 70, is not eligible for those posts. Her two sons are British, as was her late husband.