YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — The latest on landmark elections in Myanmar. (All times local.)
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9:30 a.m.
Many people in the streets of Yangon were sitting on sidewalks, in rickshaws or on front porches reading morning newspapers splashed with Aung San Suu Kyi’s picture, as the nation awaited final confirmation of her election victory.
The front pages were another reflection of the massive changes in this long-repressed country: During the junta’s rule, photos of Suu Kyi (pronounced “soo chee”) were banned from media.
Tuesday’s headline in the Daily Eleven Newspaper read: “NLD is winning as the people are willing to change this country,” a reference to the main opposition party led by Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy.
With official results slow in coming, the NLD said it had won 154 of the 164 seats in four states for which results were known. The trend was expected to continue in Myanmar’s remaining 10 states, indicating that the military-backed ruling Union Solidarity Development Party was facing a rout. Myanmar has been ruled by a quasi-civilian government since 2011.
Than Yin, a 74-year-old sitting on his porch in Yangon, said he was too frail to join the crowds waiting to see Suu Kyi in person, but reading the newspaper was exciting.
“I am old but I want change,” he said.
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7 a.m.
The White House is congratulating Myanmar on its historic election, but says “more work needs to be done” on its road to democracy.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest says the contest was a “meaningful, competitive election” and an “important step in Burma’s democratic reform process.”
He says the White House is encouraged by signs of broad participation among women, young people and ethnic minorities.
But in a statement to reporters, Earnest noted “structural and systemic flaws” in Myanmar’s system, pointing to laws that appear to be directly aimed at barring Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president.
Earnest says, “There are some imperfections — to put it mildly. There’s also no denying the rather dramatic change we’ve seen inside of Burma.”
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