[JURIST] Citizens of Myanmar on Sunday voted [AP report] in the country’s first openly contested national election in 25 years. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, of the National League for Democracy (NLD), is expected to easily secure victory, although Suu Kyi is not allowed to assume the presidency. The election is a landmark event in a country where the military has maintained a long-standing grip over the country, with the military-backed Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP) holding power since 2011. The country had been under military rule for nearly half a century. Voting was executed [BBC report] smoothly, although there were some reports of isolated irregularities. Turnout at the polls is thought to have been around 80 percent of the population, with many of the 30 million citizens casting ballots for the first time ever in their lives.

Serious political and social issues have continued to arise in Myanmar since independence from the British in 1948. Last month Myanmar President Thein Sein signed a nationwide ceasefire agreement [JURIST report] with eight armed rebel groups in an effort to establish peace in Myanmar. In March UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee called on state authorities [JURIST report] to address ongoing challenges to the democratic reform process in Myanmar. Previous Special Rapporteur on Myanmar Tomas Ojea Quintana expressed concern [JURIST report] last April about the deteriorating human rights situation in the country’s Rakhine State [JURIST news archive]. In October 2013 Quintana warned [JURIST report] that sectarian violence between the Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State was contributing to wider anti-Muslim sentiments in Myanmar and threatening the positive changes undertaken by the country in the past two years.