Myanmar's president promises smooth transfer of power

He made the comments at a meeting of political leaders in Yangon.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) has won about 80% of contested seats with just a few results still to be announced.

If power is transferred, it will end more than 50 years of military-backed government in Myanmar.

At a gathering of all Myanmar's political parties, the president said all duties would be transferred to the next government systematically and on schedule.

He said: "We will make sure it will be smooth and stable without having to worry about anything."

Thein Sein has made similar comments online before, but he has now repeated them in public.

The president also said that the successful election was a result of the reform process put in place by his Union Solidarity and Development Party, which has won only 41 of the 478 seats that have so far declared. The NLD has 387.

The military has already said it will abide by the election result.

Ms Suu Kyi is expected to hold talks with the president and the army chief in Nay Pyi Taw next week.

The BBC's Jonah Fisher in Yangon says they will face the thorny issue of the upcoming "lame duck" parliamentary session. The old pre-election Burmese parliament is due to gather next week for a final session that runs until the end of January.

Only once the "lame duck" session ends will the new NLD-dominated parliament gather. It will immediately choose a new speaker, quite possibly Ms Suu Kyi, before selecting two vice-presidents and a president.

Election results came in slowly following the vote on 8 November.

It was only on Friday - five days after the poll - that the NLD finally won the two-thirds majority it needs to form the next government. It needs that amount because the constitution reserves 25% of seats in both houses of parliament for the army.

The process of choosing the next president will begin in January, when the new parliament gathers.

Aung San Suu Kyi has told the BBC that she, as the leader of the winning party, will be Myanmar's next de-facto leader.

 

(BBC)