One of the world’s most prominent political prisoners is celebrating a major victory today, after her opposition clinched a victory in the first democratic election in Myanmar (also known as Burma) in years.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won 15 more seats, far beyond the threshold of 329 seats necessary for a majority in the 664-member parliament.
The Nobel Prize winner endured years under house arrest in Burma (ordered by a military junta), trapped for almost 15 of the 21 years from July 20, 1989 until her most recent release on November 13, 2010 – despite being offered freedom if she left the country. The decision to stand by her people saw her sacrifice a life with her husband Dr Michael Aris, who she saw only five times in the ten years before his death from cancer in 1999, and her two young sons.
World leaders including President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron have made congratulatory calls, the US president taking the opportunity to commend Aung San Suu Kyi’s “for her tireless efforts and sacrifice over so many years to promote a more inclusive, peaceful, and democratic Burma.”
While the country’s current leaders have said they are prepared to accept a defeat, only time will tell. When Aung San Suu Kyi won the 1990 election (the first since 1960), the results were annulled by the military junta and her colleagues were arrested.
