Burma Feature: Aung San Suu Kyi & NLD Win --- Is This Beginning of "Democracy"? (Golluoglu)
Monday, April 2, 2012 at 8:06Celebrations at National League for Democracy headquarters in Rangoon
If Burma ever needed a moment to rejoice, this was it. In a nation ruled by an often brutal military junta for nearly half a century, Aung San Suu Kyi's apparent victory in Sunday's parliamentary by-election could not be exaggerated.
Swarms of chanting Burmese flocked to National League for Democracy's (NLD) Rangoon headquarters as the sun set over the crumbling city, calling for the fall of "a sham democracy" and the return of "our fair leader, our beloved leader, Mother Suu".
"We did it! We won!" shouted the thousands of supporters as they filled the streets clapping, dancing and waving red party flags.
While unofficial party results indicate that Suu Kyi may have won 65% of the vote in 82 of her constituencies' 129 polling stations, local observers said that the number may have been as high as 90%, with the NLD reported to have won a minimum of 40 of the 44 seats it contested in the 664 parliamentary seats up for grabs.