RANGOON — While official results are still being announced intermittently by the Union Election Commission (UEC), the National League for Democracy (NLD) has been keeping its own tally, with the party claiming to have secured a majority of Union Parliament seats.
According to the NLD’s election campaign team, the party has won at least 380 seats across both houses of Parliament, which would represent a majority of total Union Parliament seats—166 of which are reserved for the military.
As the election could not be held in seven townships, there are now only 433 seats in the Lower House which, when combined with 224 Upper House seats, totals 657 seats in the bicameral parliament. Therefore, to form government, the key number is 329 seats.
When the new Parliament convenes in 2016, two presidential candidates will be selected from each chamber of Parliament and one put forward by military appointees. The deciding vote then goes to the Union Parliament.
“Based on the results we have, we can elect two vice-presidents,” said Soe Win Oo, the deputy chairman of the NLD’s Rangoon election campaign team. “We will cooperate with the military and ethnic parties. If the NLD wins the presidential position, we can form a government.”
“It is not NLD’s victory alone. It is the people’s victory,” he added.
Official results declared so far also point to a resounding NLD victory. The party has won 78 of the 88 officially confirmed Lower House Union seats.
In state and divisional legislatures, the NLD has won 73 of 80 officially confirmed seats. The party’s campaign team has also forecast wins across multiple regional legislatures in ethnic areas, with the party reportedly ahead in counting in Karen, Kachin and Mon states.
