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3rd LD Writethru: Myanmar opposition wins right to independently form new gov't

Xinhua, November 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Myanmar's opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi has won the right to form a new government independently as it has secured enough seats in the two-house Union Parliament, the country's election commission said on Friday.

Winning 348 seats in the two houses, the National League for Democracy (NLD) also swept most of the seats in the Region or State Parliament, dominating not only major cities like Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon and Mandalay, but also areas inhabited by ethnic groups, according to incomplete election result issued by the commission.

It signifies that the NLD can lead not only in the Central Union Parliament and Central Union Government, but also in the Region or State Parliament and the Region or State Government.

According to the updated election result, the NLD has so far taken a total of 759 seats at the three levels of the parliament, winning 238 seats in the House of Representatives (Lower House) out of 298 elected, 110 in the House of Nationalities (Upper House) out of 133 elected, and 401 in the Region or State Parliament out of 522 elected.

Meanwhile, the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has booked 104 seats, including 28 in the House of Representatives, 12 in the House of Nationalities, and 62 in the Region or State Parliament.

The remaining parliamentary seats went to some ethnic parties and independents. The Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD) took the most at 40, followed by the Arakan National Party (ANP), Taaung National Party and Pa-O National Organization (PNO).

A total of 970 candidates have so far been announced as being elected to the three levels of parliament in the election.

The commission is expected to complete the announcement of election result in days.

Under the Myanmar constitution, elected representatives take up 75 percent of the seats at each level of the Myanmar parliament. The remaining 25 percent are reserved for representatives non-elected and directly-nominated by the military.

The constitution also prevents NLD Chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming the country's president due to her family status which involves foreign citizenship.

However, it does not have much strict restrictions over the qualification of the parliamentary speaker.

Despite possessing the rights to nominate a president of the next government, the NLD is yet to disclose the person selected for the presidency.

Meanwhile, leaders of the current government, military and the ruling party have all openly voiced acceptance of the decision of the voters, promising to transfer power within the set time frame and cooperate for a peaceful and stable transition.

Myanmar's historic general election was held peacefully and smoothly on Nov. 8, with 6,038 candidates competing more than 1,000 parliamentary seats.

The first session of the new parliament is expected to take place in January 2016, followed by the election of a new president in February and formation of a new government in March.

The present term of the government will expire at the end of March 2016. Endit