In what has become a familiar pattern across the country, voters in Monywa township, Sagaing Region, voted by lopsided margins for the National League for Democracy, swamping the brief and small early lead established by the Union Solidarity and Development Party in advance voting.

The party yesterday reported that it won all seats in Monywa district, which comprises Budalin, Ayadaw, Chaung-Oo and Monywa.

According to electoral officials, the NLD beat the USDP for the Amyotha Hluttaw seat with 160,467 votes to 25,480, with 10,532 going to the Myanmar Farmers’ Development Party. The NLD won the Pyithu Hluttaw seat with 167,865 to the USDP’s 24,246, with about 4000 votes being shared by the MFDP and the National Unity Party.

In the Sagaing Region Hluttaw seat of Monywa 1, there were 81,359 votes for NLD, 15,157 for USDP, 1576 for NUP and 1768 for MFDP. In Regional Constituency 2, the sitting Sagaing Region Chief Minister, U Thar Aye, was defeated by the NLD’s Dr Kyaw Zay Lin 86,146 votes to 9086, with 624 votes going to the MFDP, 689 for NUP, and about 1000 votes for two independent candidates.

The election-day figures were in stark contrast to the much smaller number of advance votes, of which 1248 out of 1289 went for the USDP.

“We won by a large margin in Monywa district, despite initial USDP gains in advance votes. We will now govern according to the wishes of the people,” said U Hla Oo, who won the Amyotha Hluttaw seat yesterday.

Translation by Kyawt Darly Lin