Historic day in Myanmar as Aung San Suu Kyi takes power
- 8 years ago
Hundreds of lawmakers from Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy were sworn into Myanmar's parliament on Monday, with enough seats to choose the country's first democratically elected government since the military took power in 1962.
The NLD won some 80 percent of elected seats in November's historic vote, catapulting it to power as Myanmar's ruling party after decades of struggle that saw many of its members imprisoned.
But the junta-drafted constitution means the party will have to share power with the army that for years suppressed, often brutally, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and her allies.
The first sitting of the NLD-dominated parliament is another step in Myanmar's drawn-out transition, which started with the election and will go on until the NLD government officially begins its term in April after parliament has picked a president.
The NLD won some 80 percent of elected seats in November's historic vote, catapulting it to power as Myanmar's ruling party after decades of struggle that saw many of its members imprisoned.
But the junta-drafted constitution means the party will have to share power with the army that for years suppressed, often brutally, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and her allies.
The first sitting of the NLD-dominated parliament is another step in Myanmar's drawn-out transition, which started with the election and will go on until the NLD government officially begins its term in April after parliament has picked a president.