Myanmar awaits results of landmark election

People in Myanmar are awaiting the results of the first openly contested national election in 25 years, reports BBC.

Votes are still being counted, and preliminary results are now not expected until Monday evening.

But Aung San Suu Kyi has hinted at victory for her National League for Democracy (NLD), saying: "I think you all have the idea of the results."

The military-backed Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP) has been in power since 2011.

If the NLD wins, it would end decades of military control.

Ms Suu Kyi was speaking to reporters at the NLD`s headquarters in Yangon. She also said "it is still a bit early to congratulate our candidates who will be the winners".

In one of the earliest and most significant known results, the ruling party`s Shwe Mann, who is speaker of the lower house of parliament, conceded defeat in his constituency to the NLD candidate.

Tens of thousands of officials and volunteers have been counting the votes, first in each of the 50,000 polling stations, then tallying them in constituency offices of the Election Commission.

The results will not be known for at least a few days, and the president will only be chosen in February or possibly later.

International observers say the voting process was generally smooth, with some isolated irregularities.

And hundreds of thousands of people - including minority Rohingya Muslims - were also denied voting rights, raising concerns about the fairness of the poll.

US Secretary of State John Kerry hailed the elections as a step towards democracy, but added that they were far from perfect.