At long last, Myanmar has a democratic government. On Monday, National League of Democracy (NLD) representatives took their seats as the majority party in Myanmar's National Assembly, a result of elections held two months ago. The NLD's victory in that ballot was widely expected, but its assumption of power by no means assured: The party won parliamentary elections held in 1990, but the military intervened and nullified the vote. This time, however, the will of the people prevailed and the NLD now leads the parliament and will select the government that will take office in a few months' time.

The outgoing administration has pledged to cooperate with the new government. That may not be enough to guarantee a smooth transition, however, much less success. The NLD lacks experience in governance and faces formidable national challenges. The military maintains control of 25 percent of the seats in the assembly, enough to block reform of a national charter that entrenches the armed forces within the corridors of power. Perhaps most worrisome is the degree to which even the outgoing ruling party truly controls the military: It has enjoyed near total autonomy and there are factions that will resist any loss of privilege.

The NLD won an absolute majority in both houses of parliament in the national elections in November, beating badly the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) of President Thein Sein. In most cases, that would mean that Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, head of the NLD, would become president but Myanmar's constitution forbids anyone with foreign relatives from assuming the presidency. The clause was specifically written to keep Suu Kyi from office: Her late husband was British and her two sons hold United Kingdom passports.