YANGON (MYANMAR) – Myanmar authorities are likely to release early election results on Monday despite fears of the coronavirus. The results are expected to give leader Aung San Suu Kyi a new term.
Sunday’s general election was seen as a referendum on the fledgling democratic government led by Suu Kyi’s ruling National League for Democracy (NLD).
It is awaited that the Election Commission will announce early official results later on Monday.
In a running tally on its official Facebook page, the NLD said it had swept 15 of the 315 seats, from the 425-member lower house.
NLD spokesman Myo Nyun told, “We believe that we will win, to the extent we can form a government.”
The election had been peaceful and smooth, he said.
Representatives are also being elected to the upper house with 161 seats up for grabs in the 217-seat chamber.
The NLD needs 322 seats in total to form a government and is expected to win again.
Myanmar went into this election, amid a surging COVID-19 outbreak, economic hardship and escalating ethnic conflicts.
The Election Commission is yet to release data on turnout but Yangon, considered the biggest city, saw long lines of voters wearing face masks.
The election commission has said the polls in conflict-stricken areas had to be cancelled citing safety reasons and that only citizens were entitled to vote.