Vote counting continued late into the night after an election that is expected to return to power the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains a hero at home in spite of a reputation abroad shattered by the Rohingya crisis.
Virtually all the 600,000 Rohingya Muslims remaining in the country – half of whom are of voting age – are stripped of citizenship and rights, including their chance to vote. Restrictions across many other ethnic minority areas – ostensibly for security concerns – mean nearly two million voters are disenfranchised from an electorate of 37 million.
“This is an apartheid election,” said Burma Campaign UK, adding the polls were “less free and fair than the last”.