HINTHADA, Myanmar (Reuters) - The acting chairman of Myanmar's ruling party conceded defeat to Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition on Monday (Nov 9) and said he would accept the result of the country's first free national election in 25 years.
"We lost," Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) leader Htay Oo told Reuters in an interview.
The vote count is still under way and no results have been officially announced, but preliminary reports from around the country indicate a wide margin of victory for Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).
"We have to find out the reason why we lost," Mr Htay Oo, a close ally of President Thein Sein, said. "However, we do accept the results without any reservations. We still don't know the final results for sure."
Mr Htay Oo said he was surprised by the scale of his defeat in his own parliamentary constituency in Hinthada, in the delta region, considered the heartland of the USDP's rural support base.
"I wasn't expecting it because we were able to do a lot for the people in this region." he said. "Anyway, it's the decision of the people."
The NLD has won more than 80 per cent of the general election votes counted so far in the densely populated central regions, NLD spokesman Win Htein said on Monday.
Outside the central area, the NLD had so far won more than 65 per cent of votes cast in the states of Mon and Kayin, he said.
Results from the five other states were not yet known, he added. The central area is made up of seven administrative divisions.
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