By yesterday, all signs pointed towards a landslide victory for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), with the ruling party suffering heavy defeats, although full official results are not expected for days.

While confident NLD supporters celebrated, the most recent two leaders of the army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party conceded defeat in their respective constituencies and said they would accept the results.

But despite widespread euphoria, experts warn that an election victory was just the first step in the long road towards curtailing military power and speeding up democratic reforms.

… “It will be a steep learning curve for the NLD,” said Kyaw San Wai, a senior analyst at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

“Myanmar’s challenges are daunting for whatever party assumes power or government,” he said.