Aung San Suu Kyi set for landslide in Myanmar

The opposition party in Myanmar (Burma)said it has won 56 of the 57 parliamentary seats from the country’s biggest city, a result that points to a massive sweep in historic elections.

Supporters of Myanmar’s National League for Democracy party celebrate preliminary election results outside the NLD headquarters in Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, Nov. 9, 2015. Image by (AP Photo/Amanda Mustard)

The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, announced that it had won 44 of the 45 lower house seats and all 12 of the upper house seats from Yangon.

As the results were announced, huge cheers broke out among the crowd of red-shirted supporters outside the party headquarters.

Traffic attempts to make it’s way through supporters of Myanmar’s National League for Democracy party as they wait for election results to be posted outside the NLD headquarters in Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, Nov. 9, 2015. Image by (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

The Yangon result was not announced by the government’s Union Election Commission, but the NLD has stationed representatives at counting centres and is keeping reliable tallies that are being relayed to the headquarters.

The election commission has been slow in releasing the numbers.

Earlier, Ms Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and pro-democracy icon, urged supporters not to provoke losing rivals who mostly represent the former junta that ruled the south-east Asian nation for half a century.

Leader of Myanmar’s opposition National League for Democracy party, Aung San Suu Kyi, with ink still imprinted on the little finger of her left hand after voting Sunday, delivers a speech from a balcony of the NLD headquarters in Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, Nov. 9, 2015. Image by (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Hours before the Yangon announcement, party spokesman Win Htein said the NLD had won about 70% of the votes counted by midday.

Another spokesman, Nyan Win, put the number at 90%. He said: “We will win a landslide.”

The comments, if confirmed by official results from Sunday’s general election, indicate that Ms Suu Kyi’s party would not only dominate parliament, but could also secure the presidency despite handicaps built into the constitution.

A supporter of Myanmar’s National League for Democracy party braves rain outside the NLD headquarters in Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, Nov. 9, 2015. Image by (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

“I want Mother Suu to win in this election,” said Ma Khine, a street vendor, referring to the 70-year-old with an affectionate term many in the country use.

“She has the skill to lead the country. I respect her so much. I love her. She will change our country in a very good way.”

(Press Association)