Suu Kyi party inches closer to Myanmar poll victory

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) took 56 of the 61 lower house seats announced on Wednesday as it continued to sweep towards a landslide.

The latest results mean the NLD has claimed nearly 90 percent of contested seats declared so far in the upper and lower houses of parliament, indicating it is well on the way to the majority needed to form a government.

Suu Kyi, the democracy movement's magnetic force, securing tens of thousands of votes to retain her seat in Kawhmu constituency.

Despite the deluge of results in their favour, election officials have resisted pressure to declare the NLD winners.

That has brought frustration to NLD supporters, many of whom have waited 25 years since the party last contested a poll to cast a ballot in their favour.

"We know we won 80 percent... hopefully we will get confirmation today," said Ko Ko, who runs an air-conditioning company in Yangon.

"We expect Daw Suu to change the country... I voted for change."

Anxiety is heightened by the memory of an NLD election landslide in 1990.

The army simply swatted away that result and tightened its grip on the country, jailing dissidents and confining Suu Kyi to house arrest.

On Thursday Suu Kyi said she expected to reach a majority, but urged her supporters to refrain from celebrating until the final result is announced.

Sunday's election has left the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in tatters.

It has taken just a handful of seats so far, with several party heavyweights being bundled out off their constituencies by voters.

Before the landmark poll President Thein Sein vowed his party -- and the powerful army -- would respect the result.

"These were free and fair elections," his spokesman Zaw Htay told AFP on Wednesday.

"We are waiting for the (official) results," he added when asked if the president would formally concede defeat.

Stacked with former military men, the USDP has led a quasi-civilian government since 2011.

The party says it has guided the country through the major economic and social reforms that led to Sunday's election, which saw 80 percent voter turnout.

Its critics condemn it as a stooge of the army, which ruled as a junta for half a century.

The army is gifted 25 percent of all parliamentary seats under a constitution scripted to ensure its stake in the future.

The charter also bans Suu Kyi from the presidency and hands the military key security posts.

Suu Kyi, however, has vowed to rule from "above the president", indicating she will use a proxy to sidestep the bar on her reaching top office.

The NLD needs 67 percent of the contested seats to form a government without coalition partners.

A bigger winning margin gives it a stronger hand in parliament with political wrangling ahead.

READ: Myanmar election: What we know so far