Myanmar?s first ballot in 20 years

Yangon : Even as the West sneered at the integrity of the elections and a low voter turnout somewhat dampened the idea behind them, the people of Myanmar went to vote for the first time in 20 years on Sunday.

Being described as a scripted ballot that guarantees the victory of parties backed by the 48-year-old military regime, the elections for one are not being seen as a beacon of idealistic change for one of Asia?s most stifled states.

With scores of potential opposition candidates, including pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, in jail or under house arrest, one of the two military-backed parties are running virtually unopposed, state media indicated late on Sunday.

Results are not due for a day or more but the victory of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), contesting in 1,112 of the 1,159 seats, is almost inevitable.

The largest opposition, the National Democratic Force, is fielding with just 164 candidates for the bicameral parliament.

As foreign media sent out catcalls and baleful reports of the murky balloting, from across the equator, the American President and the Secretary of State were not left far behind in lambasting the polls as rigged.

From Mumbai, President Barack Obama, on his three-day India visit slammed the elections saying they were ?anything but free and fair? while in Sydney, Secretary Hillary Clinton called the elections ?heartbreaking?.

Despite all the foul-cry, people in Myanmar, also known as Burma, are optimistic that the elections might produce some new leaders who could bring about a change in the glum scenario.

The elections have generated a lot of buzz within and out of the country about the Myanmar?s politics. For some people, the best that they can expect out of the polls is a ?widening of the political space?.

The Burmese authorities in the meantime have clamped a 90-day state of emergency in the country that will prevent political gatherings and stop soldiers from leaving the military for three months.