Suu Kyi: Myanmar on cusp of new era

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday hailed a "new era" for Myanmar after winning her first-ever seat in parliament, and called for a show of political unity. The sweeping political changes were accompanied by the quasi-civilian government's most radical economic reform yet -- an overhaul of the country's complex currency regime to allow a managed flotation of the kyat.
Suu Kyi supporters celebrated into the night after her National League for Democracy (NLD) party declared that the Nobel laureate had secured a seat in parliament in Sunday's by-elections.
State media on Monday confirmed her victory and said her party had so far won 40 of the 44 seats it contested, according to partial official results announced on television.
The veteran activist's election to political office marks the latest dramatic change in the country formerly known as Burma after decades of outright military rule ended last year.
"This is not so much our triumph as a triumph for people who have decided that they must be involved in the political process in this country," Suu Kyi said in a victory speech at her party headquarters in Yangon.
"We hope this will be the beginning of a new era," said the activist, who was locked up by the former junta for most of the past 22 years.
Suu Kyi for her part struck a conciliatory tone towards the other political parties as she prepares to take her place in a parliament that will remain dominated by the military and its political allies.
"We hope that all parties that took part in the elections will be in a position to cooperate with us in order to create a genuinely democratic atmosphere in our nation," she said.
The NLD said that it had won almost all of the seats it contested, based on its own tally ahead of the official count.
"We won 43 seats out of 44. We are waiting for the results for the last one, in northern Shan state," said party spokesman Kyi Toe.
As a lawmaker and opposition leader in parliament, Suu Kyi will have an unprecedented voice in the legislative process, and her party is also already looking ahead to the next general election in 2015.
 "Obviously they want to win the next election comprehensively and be able to set up a government in their own right," said Trevor Wilson, a Myanmar expert at the Australian National University.
Observers say the quasi-civilian government that took power a year ago needs Suu Kyi to take a place in parliament to bolster the legitimacy of its political system and recent reforms, and spur an easing of Western sanctions.
As part of moves to modernise an economy left in disarray by decades of military rule and encourage more foreign investment, Myanmar on Monday moved to revamp its dysfunctional exchange rate system.
The central bank set a reference rate of 818 kyat to the dollar under its new managed floating exchange rate system, bringing the official rate roughly in line with its value on the black market where it is widely traded.
Previously the official government rate -- which was widely ignored -- was pegged at around just six kyat to the dollar.
The Myanmar government has surprised even its critics over the past year with a string of reforms such as releasing hundreds of political prisoners, but ethnic conflict and alleged rights abuses remain concerns for the West.
Unlike in 2010 general elections, the government allowed foreign observers and journalists to witness Sunday's polls, which were to replace MPs who gave up their seats to join the government.
In the run-up to the eagerly awaited vote, the NLD decried alleged intimidation of candidates and other irregularities, and the party also complained about some problems with ballot sheets on Sunday.
Regional bloc ASEAN praised the 'orderly' polls, but a group of Asian lawmakers warned against "euphoria" in the light of the country's human rights abuses.
The 2010 election, won by the military's political proxies, was plagued by complaints of cheating and the exclusion of Suu Kyi, who was released from seven straight years of house arrest shortly afterwards.
The NLD swept to a landslide election victory in 1990, when Suu Kyi was in detention, but the junta never recognised the result.