The people of Burma are voting in the country's first national elections for 20 years.

缅甸人民正在参加近20年来该国举行的首次国家选举。

Ruling generals say the polls will mark a transition（过渡，转变） to democratic civilian¹ rule, but critics say they are a sham²（虚假的） .

The main opposition³ party, the National League for Democracy, led by Nobel laureate（桂冠诗人，得奖者） Aung San Suu Kyi, is boycotting⁴ the vote.

Observers said that voting was proceeding⁵ calmly, although opposition parties said it was being manipulated.

"The authorities of various levels forced the people to cast advance votes," said Sai Ai Pa O - president of Shan National Democratic Party, which is fielding the fourth largest number of candidates.

"We are not allowed to send representatives to the polling stations at the time of advance voting," he said. "If the election was free and fair, I am sure we would win at least 80% of seats."

EU Ambassador David Lipman said that people were voting in a calm atmosphere with no visible presence either of the army or police.

Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein of the Democratic Party said she was "quite surprised to see a lot of people come to vote. 'No Vote' campaigns have appeared to be ineffective".

Earlier, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the elections "expose the abuses of the military junta⁶".

She was speaking in the Australian city of Melbourne.

Call to vote

Candidates supporting the military are expected to win the most seats.

"Every citizen who values democracy and wants democratic rule must cast their votes without fail," said a recent editorial in the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

"However, some people are inciting⁷ the people to refrain from（避免） voting in the elections. They are attempting to mislead the people who are walking along the road to multi-party democracy," it said.

Opposition party officials said the pro-junta party had told voters they could lose their jobs if they failed to vote for military-backed candidates.

The two junta-linked parties are fielding by far the largest number of candidates.