WAH THIN KHA, Myanmar (AP) — Voters in Myanmar have begun casting ballots in historic polling that’s widely expected to see opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi elected to parliament for the first time.
The vote comes after months of surprising reforms by the military-backed government, and almost a quarter-century after Suu Kyi began her pro-democracy struggle.
Sunday’s by-election, to fill a few dozen vacant seats in the 664-member legislature, will not change the balance of power in a country still controlled by a clique of retired army officers.
But Suu Kyi’s campaign — made possible by a fragile detente with a government eager to emerge from isolation and get crippling economic sanctions lifted — has galvanized Myanmar’s downtrodden masses and raised hope for change.
