Having swept almost every parliamentary seat in the four states in which results have been tallied, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy looks on course to win Burma's general election.
On Monday, the party's leader, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and pro-democracy icon, told supporters not to provoke losing rivals, many of who represent the former junta that ruled Burma for a half-century. Still, celebrations are likely with NLD spokesman Nyan Win revealing the party was on course to win a "landslide" of 90 percent. If that prediction translates to official results, Suu Kyi's party would dominate Parliament and likely secure the presidency next year.
Victory would mark a remarkable rise for Suu Kyi, who has endured a “haunted” life beset with struggle and tragedy. Her older brother drowned as a child, a younger sister died in infancy and her father was assassinated when she was just 2-years-old. Having studied and lived in Oxford, she returned to Burma in 1988 to nurse her dying mother, becoming swept up in the pro-democracy movement for which was thrown in prison for 21 years. Her husband, Michael Aris, died while she was imprisoned, the junta ruling that he could not visit his wife during the final years of his life.
Before he died, Aris wrote that Suu Kyi remained "deeply preoccupied with the question of what she might do to help her people." At the age of 70, her lifetime ambition might well be coming to pass.
Aung San Suu Kyi's incredible strenth in 9 moments
Losing her siblings(01 of09)
Open Image ModalSuu Kyi [show here left, age 2] suffered heartbreak when her "favourite" older brother, Aung San Lin, drowned in an ornamental garden pool at her family's home, when Suu Kyi was eight. A younger sister also died as a baby. (credit:MD/AP)
Death of her father(02 of09)
Open Image ModalHer father General Aung San, negotiated Burma's independence from the British Empire in 1947, but never lived to see it take place. The general, who also founded the modern Burmese army, was assassinated by rivals in July 1947, along with six members of his interim government.
House arrest(03 of09)
Open Image ModalBetween 1989 and 2010, Suu Kyi was under house arrest for most of the time - meaning she was detained for 15 out of 21 years.
After a coup d'état in 1989 by General Saw Maung, martial law was imposed on the country and despite her party the National League for Democracy winning a landslide victory in the 1990 election, she was placed under house arrest at her home in Rangoon, Myanmar's largest city.
She claims to have spent her time reading books her husband sent her from the UK - some on philosophy and politics - as well as playing the piano and receiving occasional visits. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Choosing to stay(04 of09)
Open Image ModalSuu Kyi was in fact given permission to leave the country while she was under house arrest - but doubted that she would be allowed back in, and instead chose to stay with her people - sacrificing seeing her husband and sons.
"As a mother, the greater sacrifice was giving up my sons, but I was always aware of the fact that others had given up more than me" she said in 1998. "I never forget that my colleagues who are in prison suffer not only physically, but mentally for their families who have no security outside - in the larger prison of Burma under authoritarian rule." (credit:Mark Baker/AP)
Turning down power(05 of09)
Open Image ModalIn the years after the military junta took over in the early 1990s, the former Prime Minister of Burma - who was democratically elected - invited her to join him in an interim government with other opposition leaders. But she turned this down, saying the opposition should be "decided by masses of the people". (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Attacked(06 of09)
Open Image ModalIn 1996, the car she was travelling in was attacked by around 200 men with metal chains, stones and other weapons according to reports. The vehicle and others travelling had their windows smashed but she survived. The NLD lodged an official complaint with the police but Amnesty International claims nothing was done. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Losing her husband(07 of09)
Open Image ModalA visit from her British husband Michael Aris over Christmas 1995 was the last time they ever saw each other. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997, and his illness was later discovered to be terminal. The Burmese leadership refused to let him have visas to return to see his wife, despite appeals from the United States and Pope John Paul II. It claimed it did not have the right facilities to care for him. He died in 1999, four years after last seeing Suu Kki. (credit:RexFeatures)
Home destroyed(08 of09)
Open Image ModalIn 2008, the home she was forced to live in under house arrest had its roof torn off in a cyclone. She lost electricity and lived for some time in darkness, using candles for light as she was not given a generator to power her home. (credit:Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP)
Commitment to peace(09 of09)
Open Image ModalSince the early 90s, she explicitly committed herself to non-violence: a principle she held steadfastly despite the later violence directed against her. She said in 2007 that this was not for "moral" reasons but for "political and practical" ones. She is said to have been inspired by Gandhi, and won the Nobel Peace prize under house arrest in 1990. Her sons Alexander and Kim had to accept this on her behalf. (credit:Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)