--- description: Burma democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD} party has won an outright majority in the country's parliament title: Suu Kyi's NLD Wins Outright Majority in Burma's Parliament image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8b41a07c5a03f7a/698870e0e20a87fdc0a8e2f5/rts60gv.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Burma](/tag/burma/) ## Burma Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD Party Wins an Outright Majority in Burma's New Parliament  by [Charlie Campbell](/author/charlie-campbell/)  ## Charlie Campbell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large Nov 13, 2015 6:20 AM CUT  Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi waves at supporters as she visits polling stations at her constituency of Kawhmu township on Nov. 8, 2015 Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi waves at supporters as she visits polling stations at her constituency of Kawhmu township on Nov. 8, 2015Soe Zeta Tun—Reuters  by [Charlie Campbell](/author/charlie-campbell/)  ## Charlie Campbell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large Nov 13, 2015 6:20 AM CUT Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party has [won](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34805806 "undefined") an outright majority in the Southeast Asian nation’s parliament, election officials announced Friday. Burma, which is officially known as Myanmar, went to the polls Sunday in what appear to be its freest general elections in 25 years. Nevertheless, the scale of the landslide NLD victory has surprised many, even if several constitutional impediments curtail the party’s power in any new administration. Although the NLD now has the requisite two-thirds of legislative seats required to choose the President, with more than 80% of constituencies having declared, Suu Kyi remains personally barred from the top job because she married a foreigner and have two children who are foreign citizens. In addition, a quarter of parliamentary seats remain reserved for armed-forces personnel, giving the military a veto over constitutional amendments, which require 75% of lawmakers to pass. Furthermore, the heads of the Home, Defense and Border Affairs Ministries must currently be appointed by the military. (The President is chosen by an electoral college between the upper and lower legislative houses.) Thus, while the makeup of the new parliament will be stocked with Suu Kyi loyalists, the military, which has ruled the former pariah nation since a military coup in 1962, will remain a powerful political force. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4111314/aung-san-suu-kyi-nld-burma-myanma-election-parliament/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4111314/aung-san-suu-kyi-nld-burma-myanma-election-parliament/"},"headline":"Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD Party Wins an Outright Majority in Burma's New Parliament","datePublished":"2015-11-13T06:20:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:35:19.029Z","description":"But the military still wields considerable clout in the legislature, controlling a quarter of the seats","url":"https://time.com/4111314/aung-san-suu-kyi-nld-burma-myanma-election-parliament/","keywords":["Burma","Election","Aung San Suu Kyi","myanmar","NLD","knowrightnow"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8b41a07c5a03f7a/698870e0e20a87fdc0a8e2f5/rts60gv.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlie Campbell","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8b41a07c5a03f7a/698870e0e20a87fdc0a8e2f5/rts60gv.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi waves at supporters as she visits polling stations at her constituency Kawhmu township","caption":"Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi waves at supporters as she visits polling stations at her constituency Kawhmu township","creditText":"Soe Zeta Tun—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/burma/","name":"Burma"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4111314/aung-san-suu-kyi-nld-burma-myanma-election-parliament/","name":"Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD Party Wins an Outright Majority in Burma's New Parliament"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Myanmar’s Democracy Activists Claim Historic Victory","description":"In the first free elections in 25 years, Aung San Suu Kyi’s party claimed over 90 percent of the votes","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/J9fnZDZ2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-11-11T17:04:43.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/J9fnZDZ2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4111314/aung-san-suu-kyi-nld-burma-myanma-election-parliament/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4111314/aung-san-suu-kyi-nld-burma-myanma-election-parliament/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```