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Christians to help choose Myanmar's new president

Suu Kyi's landslide victory sees Christians win seats, but questions remain over minority representation
Christians to help choose Myanmar's new president

T-shirts with the image of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi are displayed at a printing house in Yangon on Nov. 13. Suu Kyi's party has secured a parliamentary majority after nationwide elections. (Photo by Ye Aung Thu/AFP)

Published: November 13, 2015 10:22 AM GMT
Updated: November 12, 2015 11:57 PM GMT

Myanmar's new parliament will see at least 20 Christian lawmakers take their seats with the National League for Democracy, after election authorities officially declared that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party had won enough seats to choose the country's new leader.

The National League for Democracy has so far won 364 seats in Myanmar's parliament after the Nov. 8 election, according to the country's election commission. This means that the party has surpassed the 329-seat threshold needed to gain a 51 percent majority in parliament — ensuring the party will be unimpeded in choosing Myanmar's next president in a parliamentary committee vote scheduled for February 2016.

Most senior members of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party have conceded defeat. The military-backed party has taken only 40 seats in parliament, after controlling the government since a 2010 election — boycotted by Suu Kyi's party — brought the nominally civilian party to power.

Smaller ethnic parties, who had expected to play a role in choosing the new president, have collectively won only 45 seats, according to partial results announced Nov. 13.

Mahn Johnny, a Catholic member of the National League for Democracy, said his party's landslide victory, including in many ethnic areas, showed that the country demanded change after more than five decades of rule by a harsh military regime.

"The NLD-led government will surely carry out the federal system that the ethnic people have been longing for, so that ethnic people will have equal rights," said Mahn Johnny, who won a seat in regional parliament for the Irrawaddy delta jurisdiction.

Gint Kam Lian, a Christian politician from the Zomi Congress for Democracy party in Chin state, said that the National League for Democracy's overwhelming victory nationwide was welcome.

"We have high expectations that the NLD-led government will listen to ethnic voices," said Gint Kam Lian, who won an upper house seat — one of four national parliament and two state parliament seats the party claimed.

While he welcomed the election results, Gint Kam Lian said his party was undecided whether it would support the National League for Democracy's selected presidential candidate. He said his party would need to discuss the issue with the other ethnic parties that comprise the United Nationalities Alliance, a grouping of eight smaller ethnic parties.

"We also expect that the NLD will aim to get peace in the country, as fighting is still happening in ethnic areas," Gint Kam Lian said.

 

Caution

Almost 1,000 Christian candidates took part in the historic Nov. 8 election, which international observers praised as being credible. However many smaller parties from seven ethnicity-based states did not fare well.

Tu Ja, a Catholic politician and chairman of the Kachin State Democracy Party, said that all the people of Myanmar wanted change, leading to Suu Kyi's landslide victory.

"It is a big blow for ethnic parties as they lost the majority of seats in national parliament, so we are concerned that the new parliament may not reflect the voices of ethnic people," said Tu Ja, who lost his own state parliament seat in Myitkyina. His party won one seat in national parliament and three in state parliament.

Tu Ja said Suu Kyi should be careful to ensure the voices of ethnic minorities are heard in the new government — and not just the views of Myanmar's ethnic Bamar majority.

Asked by ucanews.com whether his party would vote for the NLD-selected presidential candidate, Tu Ja said it likely had "no other options."

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