Myanmar elections: PM Modi congratulates Aung San Suu Kyi; calls for strengthening ties

On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Aung San Suu Kyi for her party's win in Myanmar's general elections. Unofficial results on Tuesday showed that National League for Democracy (NLD) has won more than 322 seats.  Suu Kyi was projected to win even before the elections began, now poll agents of her party have asserted that she is set to make the next government in the country.

Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said that he looks forward to continuing to work with her to strengthen traditional ties of friendship between the two countries. He further stated the Myanmar polls to be another step in the ongoing democratic transition in Myanmar.

The election in 2020 was marred with controversy as critics and opponents alleged it to be rigged in favour of Suu Kyi. The Election Commission of the country was accused of cancelling votes in constituencies, where Suu Kyi's opponents were predicted to win.

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Myanmar's newly formed democracy

November 8 was the second openly contested vote in Myanmar after the 2015 elections, which saw Aung San Suu Kyi become the first democratically elected leader of the country after 50-years of junta rule. Despite winning the 2015 polls with a landslide victory, the Nobel laureate faced international scrutiny after she oversaw the genocide of lakhs of Rohingyas. Under Suu Kyi's rule, nearly 8,00,000 Rohingya Muslims had to flee Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh following state-sponsored persecution in the Buddhist-majority country. 

Myanmar's transition from junta rule received international recognition but many say that the people of the country are yet to see real democracy. When the military rule ended in 2015, the newly formed democracy was supported by a constitution, which again is a matter of discussion for many because the Army played a major role in the drafting of the charter and retained a wide range of powers.

READ: Military-backed party rejects Myanmar election as unfair

READ: Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD claims resounding victory in second democratic elections