Aung San Suu Kyi’s Party Takes Power

Representatives from Myanmar’s National League for Democracy (NLD) were sworn into parliament in the capital Naypyitaw on Monday, marking the beginning of a historic return to a democratically elected government, for the first time since 1962. Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD won a landslide victory last November, but the country’s junta-drafted constitution means the party will share power with the military, which controls a quarter of the seats. The presidential nomination process is likely to take place later in February, NLD members said. Under the constitution, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi is banned from becoming president because her children are not Myanmar citizens. It’s unclear who will replace outgoing President Thein Sein, but Suu Kyi has said she will serve in a role “above the president.”