Myanmar’s military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is leading after the first phase of a contentious general election, regime media reported, following the first round of voting since a 2021 military coup ousted a democratically-elected government.
Having sparked a nationwide rebellion after crushing pro-democracy protests in the wake of its coup, the regime in Naypyidaw, which seized power from an elected government in 2021, has said the three-phase vote would bring political stability to the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.
Partial results from Myanmar’s first election since 2020, released by the Union Election Commission (UEC) for 56 constituencies, showed the military-proxy party winning by a wide margin as expected, despite thin turnout.
Preliminary results published on Friday show the USDP, led by retired military generals, winning 38 of 40 seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw, or lower house of parliament, whose outcomes have been tallied.
The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), also known as the White Tiger Party, and the Mon Unity Party (MUP) got one seat each.
Among a diminished field of competitors handpicked by the military, the USDP also won 14 seats of the 15 regional or State Hluttaw, or parliament, seats tallied in the first-past-the-post system, while the Akha National Development Party took one.
For the upper house of parliament, or Amyotha Hluttaw, only one seat has been declared, which was won by the Wa National Party.
Voting in phase two and three of the regime elections will take place on Jan. 11 and Jan. 25. The polls have been criticized by the United Nations, some Western countries and human rights groups as anti-military political parties are not in the running and it is illegal to criticise the polls.
The election panel has not revealed the total number of constituencies voting in the first phase, opting instead to release partial results on a constituency-by-constituency basis.
On Wednesday, regime media reported that 52 percent of voters, or more than half of those eligible, had cast ballots in the first phase of voting on Dec. 28.
That fell short of turnout of about 70 percent in the two previous elections in 2020 and 2015, however, according to the U.S.-based nonprofit International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
Two more rounds of voting will cover 265 of Myanmar’s 330 townships, in some of which the regime does not have complete control.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner deposed by the military months after she won the last general election by a landslide in 2020, remains in detention. Her National League for Democracy (NLD) party was dissolved by the UEC for not re-registering in 2023.
Analysts say the regime’s bid to set up a stable government in the midst of war is fraught with risk, and broad foreign recognition is also unlikely for any military-controlled administration with a civilian veneer.
REUTERS
