Myanmar’s opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, said that it expects it has won about 70% of the seats in Myanmar’s historic election this past weekend. Over 90 parties contested for the 498 seats in Myanmar’s parliament. While official results have been slow in coming out, the BBC has reported that 48 of the 54 seats reported have been won by the NLD.

Turnout for the election was estimated at about 80% of the 30 million who were eligible to vote. The Rohingya Muslim community were not among those eligible.

While many are concerned about possible issues with transition, in an early and significant result, the speaker of the Lower House of Parliament conceded defeat in his constituency to the NLD candidate. Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticised for failing to speak on the Rohingya issue, but with U.S. backed economic sanctions on the country, it will be a critical issue for the new parliament to address.

When Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi contested in Myanmar’s last free election in 1990, she led her democratic party to win 80% of the seats, against military proxies. The military then arrested and detained her for a period of almost 15 years until she was finally released for the last time in November 2010.

Myanmar transitioned to a quasi-civilian government in 2011, led by the military-backed Union Solidarity Development Party.

The Rohinyga, who have long faced persecution at the hands of extremist groups from the majority Buddhist population, are denied citizenship and the right to vote. A recent report from the International State Crime Initiative at the Queen Mary University of London found that there was substantial evidence that the Rohinyga population are facing state-sponsored genocide.