Burma's president said Tuesday that elections won by democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and her party were successful, issuing the first government endorsement of the historic polls.
When asked by The Associated Press if he thought the weekend by-elections were free and fair, President Thein Sein said: "It was conducted in a very successful manner." Thein Sein's remark was the first comment by a top government official since Sunday's polls. He spoke on the sidelines of a summit in Cambodia of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, which gave him a vote of confidence Tuesday.