MASSIVE TURNOUT IN MYANMAR ELECTIONS

Voters turned out en masse on Sunday in elections that were expected to leave the governing party of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as the biggest force in the country’s Parliament, according to a Tuesday Briefing of the New York Times.

The strong turnout underscored voters’ commitment to Myanmar’s nascent democracy. It was only the second truly contested election the country has held in decades.

Despite its expected strong showing, the governing National League for Democracy is facing criticism that it is repeating some of the sins of its former foe, the military, which controls much of the government. It has arrested scores of people for expressing their political views.

Abroad, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s defense of the military in its ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya Muslims has shattered her reputation as a human rights icon.

More than 1.5 million people among an electorate of 37 million people were barred from voting, many of them ethnic minorities living in conflict zones. And many of the country’s million Rohingya Muslims forced out were unable to cast ballots.