Myanmar by-elections a test for Suu Kyi's ruling party

Voters in several parts of Myanmar are choosing their representatives in 13 by-elections in a test of support for leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her ruling party.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in the 2015 general election, putting an end to decades of military rule. The party faces a general election in 2020.

The crisis involving 700,000 members of the Muslim Rohingya minority who fled a brutal army counterinsurgency campaign in western Myanmar has not much dented Suu Kyi's appeal with the country's Buddhist majority, but economic development has been lagging.

The 13 parliamentary seats at stake Saturday represent a tiny fraction of the 1,171 national, regional and state assembly seats nationwide.

Source: AP