Myanmar President Congratulates Suu Kyi, Vows Stable Transition

Thein Sein reiterated  on Thursday that the government would accept the results of the election and agreed to Suu Kyi’s request to hold reconciliation talks soon, although the two are still to agree on the time and location of the negotiations.

Suu Kyi’s opposition National League for Democracy has won over 80 percent of the seats declared so far in the lower house and is well ahead in the upper house and regional assemblies.

If the final results confirm the trend, Suu Kyi’s triumph will sweep out an old guard of former generals that has run Myanmar since the junta handed over power to Thein Sein’s semicivilian government in 2011.

“Congratulations ... to the chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi and her party for gathering the support of the people,” read a statement posted on the Facebook page of the presidential spokesman, Reuters reported. 

“The government will respect and follow the people’s choice and decision, and work on transferring power peacefully according to the timetable,” said the statement, adding that the president would work with “all other people” to ensure stability in the postelection period.

Suu Kyi has also invited the powerful army chief to hold reconciliation talks, but he has yet to respond to the letter.

It is unclear how Suu Kyi and the generals will work together.

One of the biggest sources of tension between Suu Kyi and the military is a clause in the constitution barring her from the presidency because her children are foreign nationals.

Few doubt the military inserted the clause to rule her out.