08 Nov 2015

Country holds first openly contested poll as it aims to make crucial transformation from military rule to democracy.
Counting of ballots is under way in Myanmar after voting ended in the country’s first openly contested parliamentary election in more than 25 years.
Excitement was high as voters had the chance on Sunday to decide if the military-backed ruling party will hold on to power, or hand over power to the opposition led by pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi.
Polling passed smoothly, with no violence or unrest reported.
“This day we can make a change for the future, for the brighter future for our country,” a voter in Yangon, the country’s largest city, told Al Jazeera.

A voter gets an ink mark to signify that he has cast his ballot

Many started lining up at booths across Yangon well in advance of polls opening at 6am local time, and it took up to an hour for many to make it through the line and into the voting centres.
“This election is seen as more inclusive and legitimate compared with the last election five years ago,” Al Jazeera’s Florence Looi reported from Yangon.
“International observers have been allowed in. People who didn’t bother voting in the 2010 election are turning up to cast their ballots.”
Daw Nilar Tin, 48, and her daughter Su Chan Myae San, 21, said they cast their ballots as early as they could and stayed at the precinct the whole day, excited to hear the result of the counting.
Daw Nilar Tin said that for her three children’s sake, she hopes that the opposition will win.

Aung San Suu Kyi has campaigned for reform since her release from house arrest in 2010

Since her release after the 2010 election, the Nobel peace laureate has led protests for reform. Her supporters repeatedly shouted, “Mother Aung San Suu Kyi”.
Her party won the election in 1990, but the military overruled the decision and put her under house arrest. She spent much of her time between 1989 and 2010 in some form of detention.