'Unfair election': young voters absent from Myanmar polls; overall tepid turnout

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP): The droves of young people who queued to cast ballots in past elections in Myanmar were conspicuous by their absence from Sunday's military-run poll, with older voters dominating the turnout.

Legions have left the war-ravaged country since the military seized power five years ago, including many men of conscription age -- up to 35 -- or youngsters seeking better livelihoods away from Myanmar's moribund economy.

And even those still in the country were not particularly eager to take part in the vote, which international rights campaigners have dismissed as a sham.

"Most of the people who go to vote are elderly," said one man in his 20s in the Mandalay area, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.

"I don't think anyone wants to get involved in this chaos," he told AFP.