Burma Edging Towards Democracy | Burmese Bi Elections 2012
On 1 April 2012 the "2012 Burmese bi-elections" to fill 45 vacant parliamentary seats were held in Burma.
The bi-election marks an historical turning point in modern Burmese history and possibly hails a new era for reinvigorating the repressed desire for democracy in the country.
Aung San Suu Kyi, having formerly been under house arrest in Burma for almost 15 of the 21 years from 20 July 1989 until her most recent release on 13 November 2010, led the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) to a decisive and overwhelming win in the vacant seats. The NLD having only been re-registered for the bi-elections on 13 December 2011 as part of the democratic reforms taking place in Burma. For the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi it was a decisive win on the drive towards a democratic Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi ran and won the seat of Kawhmu in a sweep of change seeing her party her party grab 40 of the 45 seats where bi-elections were held.
Although the NLD won a landslide victory in Sunday's polls, the result makes a small dent in the ruling military's dominance of parliament.
The army and its proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) still hold about 80% of seats in parliament.
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