After decades of fighting, it looks like Aung San Suu Kyi National League of Democracy party is going to take a landslide victory in the national election.
Myanmar (also known as Burma) has had a long and troubled history with the ruling military refusing to acknowledge election results from 1990 that gave another landslide victory to Aung San Suu Kyi’s party.
If the results of Sunday’s election are respected by the current government and the military, it will be the first time in more than five decades that voters in Myanmar have been able to choose their leaders freely.
The Constitution prohibits her from becoming president and retains crucial ministries for the military. Moreover, the military reserves the right to appoint a quarter of the seats in Parliament, meaning that for the opposition to control a simple majority it will have to win more than two-thirds of the open seats, a proposition few considered likely.
If her party’s claimed percentages hold up, she may have beaten the generals at their own game.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi was cautious in her comments to reporters on Monday, but she hinted at big gains, saying voters had “already understood” the result.
“The loser must face the loss bravely and calmly, and the winner must be humble and very magnanimous,” she said.
It is certainly not going to be a simple process to transfer power away from the military, but it does seem to be a promising start.
This, so soon after Nepal elected its first female leader, is another wonderful sign that women are finding their places in traditionally male spaces all over the world.