Advocate for Democracy Triumphs in Myanmar Elections
April 2, 2012
Aung San Suu Kyi‘s National League for Democracy (NLD) took at least 40 of the 45 seats being contested in parliamentary elections in Myanmar (also known as Burma) on April 1. Apart from winning her own seat, Suu Kyi appears to have helped a number of her colleagues to victory. The democracy advocate has for two decades led the opposition to the military dictatorship that has controlled the country since 1962. The NLD, one of 17 opposition parties that took part, was competing in its first elections since 1990, after boycotting the 2010 polls, which it claimed were unfair. A transitional civilian government took power in Myanmar in 2011 after years of oppressive military rule.
Speaking outside NLD headquarters in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, Aung San Suu Kyi noted, “It is not so much our triumph as a triumph of the people who have decided that they have to be involved in the political process in this country. We hope this is the beginning of a new era.”
Aung San Suu Kyi won a seat in a new parliament in Myanmar, which suffered years of oppressive military rule. (© Candace Scharsu, Archive Photos)
The military junta in Myanmar kept Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for years after her party won polls in 1990 but was not allowed to take power. Suu Kyi was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent efforts to bring democracy to Myanmar.
Additional World Book articles:
- Myanmar 1990 (Back in Time article)
- Myanmar 1991 (Back in Time article)
- Myanmar 2010 (Back in Time article)
- Myanmar 2011 (Back in Time article)
