Myanmar votes in landmark election

Voting is under way in Myanmar`s general election - the first openly contested poll in 25 years after decades of military rule, reports BBC.

Aung San Suu Kyi`s National League for Democracy (NLD) is expected to win the most parliamentary seats, although she is barred from the presidency.

The ruling Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP), backed by the military, has been in power since 2011.

Large crowds gathered in Yangon as Ms Suu Kyi arrived to cast her vote.

Wearing her trademark thazin flowers in her hair, she smiled and waved, but left without comment.

Across the country, long queues formed at some polling booths, with reports of people waiting from before dawn.

"When I cast my vote I was very excited and so worried that I might do something wrong that my hands were shaking," said Kay Khine Soe, in Ms Suu Kyi`s Kawhmu constituency.

Voting in Yangon, Wuhan Datong said: "I am 57 years old. I never participated in the previous voting since I had doubts over it. But the election this time is fair. So I have come to vote."

About 30 million people are eligible to vote in the election in Myanmar, also known as Burma. Clear results are not expected until Monday morning.

More than 6,000 candidates from over 90 parties are vying to be elected to the 664-seat parliament in the first national elections since a nominally civilian government took power in 2011.

However, 25% of seats are reserved for unelected military representatives, who are expected to side with the USDP.
Ms Suu Kyi, a former Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is barred from the presidency as the constitution disqualifies anyone with foreign offspring - her children are British.

The NLD must take 67% of all contested seats in order to gain a majority.

On Thursday, she said she would be "above the president" if her party won.

Current President Thein Sein said he would accept the election result. He cast his ballot at a school in the capital, Naypyidaw, built in 2005 by the military.