Fears of a return of religious violence, favours from the ruling party and a large army presence conspired to land the USDP a standout victory in Meikhtila.

Will an NLD-led government be able to transform the lives of conflict-affected ethnic communities, or will they continue to be dominated by militarisation?

In deeply divided Arakan State, some Muslims hope that an NLD victory will bring rights and support to the disenfranchised Rohingya population.

“The upsurge of support for the NLD among the indigenous peoples is interesting, considering ethnic politics is concentrated largely in extra-parliamentary politics, that being the armed struggle."

Starting today, parties can officially contest results from the election, and the USDP is set to do just that.

Observers from the European Union’s Election Observation Mission on Tuesday refused to call the Burma’s national poll “truly genuine” given the fact that the military commands an automatic 25 percent of seats without being elected, as well as the mass disenfranchisement of Muslim candidates and Rohingya voters.