Nay Pyi Taw, Nov 20 (IANS) Myanmar's main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has secured more than three-fourths of parliamentary seats in the November 8 polls and the right to form a new government independently in the south Asian nation ruled by an isolationist military junta.
(151002) -- MYITGYINA, Oct. 2, 2015 (Xinhua) -- Chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD) Aung San Suu Kyi speaks during her election campaign in Myitgyina, Myanmar, Oct. 2, 2015. Myanmar opposition party NLD has urged its candidates and party members to campaign for the upcoming general election in accordance with the election law and the directives of the Union Election Commission to make the election a success. (Xinhua/U Aung)
Myanmar's Union Election Commission announced on Friday -- the twelfth day of counting of votes in the November 8 polls to the country's three-level parliament -- that NLD had won 255 of the 330 contested seats in the 440-member Lower House while 135 of its nominees had been declared elected on 168 contested seats in the 224-member Upper House of parliament, Xinhua news agency reported.
Myanmar's bicameral parliament has a 25 percent reserved quota for nominees of the military junta.
Winning a total of 380 seats so far in the country's bicameral parliament, the NLD also swept most of the seats in the Region or State Parliaments -- dominating not only major cities like Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon and Mandalay, but also areas inhabited by ethnic groups, the UEC said releasing the final results of the countrywide three-level parliamentary polls.
The parliamentary poll results signified that the NLD can lead not only in the central Union parliament and central Union government, but also in the Region or State parliaments and the Region or State governments.
Myanmar is divided into 21 administrative subdivisions, which include seven states, seven regions, six self-administered zones and one self-administered division.
Each State and Region has a State legislature or Regional legislature made up of elected civilian members and representatives of the Armed Forces. The two forms of legislatures combined have 882 seats.
As par final election results announced by UEC, the NLD secured a total of 886 seats at the three levels of the country's parliament -- winning 255 seats in the House of Representatives (Lower House) out of the 330 contested; 135 in the House of Nationalities (Upper House) out of 168 contested; and 496 in the various Region or State parliaments.
The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) could manage barfely 118 seats or 10 percent -- 30 in the Lower House, 12 in the Upper House, and 76 in the Region or State Parliaments.
The remaining parliamentary seats went mainly to ethnic parties and independent candidates.
The Arakan National Party (ANP) grabbed the third spot while the Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD) came in fourth.
Of the ethnic parties, the ANP took the lead with 45 seats and dominated the Rakhine state parliament.
The SNLD was in the second place with 40 seats in Shan state.
Of the total 1,150 representatives elected, 330 are to the House of Representatives (Lower House), 168 to the House of Nationalities (Upper House) and 659 to the Region or State Parliaments.
As the majority party, the NLD will hold the chairmanship of both the lower and upper houses and will be able to nominate two vice presidential candidates.
The elected parliament representatives represent 75 percent at each level of parliament with the remaining 25 percent seats reserved for non-elected and directly-nominated members by the military under the constitution.
The present term of the government will end at the end of March 2016 and the newly-elected parliament will choose the country's next president in February 2016.
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