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Aung San Suu Kyi's party expected to win second term in Myanmar polls despite accusations of genocide

Aung San Suu Kyi's party expected to win second term in Myanmar polls despite accusations of genocide

No hope in sight

Myanmar's citizens -- about 37 million registered voters -- go to the polls Sunday though turnout is expected to suffer because of a recent surge in coronavirus cases.

And Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi remains the country's most popular political figure by far.

In 2015, Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy party roared to a landslide election victory. Critics have since felt her administration failed to embrace democratic principles, and have often accused it of genocide of Rohingya Muslims.

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Suu Kyi and her party are also accused of being more concerned about entrenching itself in power than encouraging a broad-based democracy.

Despite this, her party is expected to again top the polls this year.

The state election commission has also been accused of conniving with Suu Kyi's ruling party by cancelling voting in some areas where parties critical of the government were certain to win seats.

The Union Election Commission insisted the voting was cancelled because of armed conflict with ethnic guerrillas in those areas.

The West was shocked at the brutal 2017 counter-insurgency campaign by Myanmar's army that drove about 740,000 Rohingya to flee into neighbouring Bangladesh, drawing accusations of genocide. It also sent Suu Kyi's reputation with Western admirers into a tailspin when she failed to restrain the security forces.