Myanmar pro-military party claims huge lead in contentious elections

Campaigners condemn the elections, citing a crackdown connected dissent.

Myanmar’s main pro-military enactment has claimed an overwhelming pb successful the archetypal signifier of elections organised by the country’s subject rulers arsenic critics pass that the tightly controlled ballot is designed to cement the presumption of the ruling party.

The archetypal circular of voting connected Sunday is to beryllium followed by 2 further rounds connected January 11 and January 25. Voting has been cancelled successful 65 townships.

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A elder authoritative from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) told the AFP quality bureau the enactment had won 82 of 102 seats successful the little location of the legislature successful townships wherever counting had been completed, suggesting it secured much than 80 percent of the seats contested successful Sunday’s vote.

The authoritative added that the enactment had besides won each 8 townships successful the capital, Naypyidaw. Official figures person yet to beryllium published by Myanmar’s Union Election Commission.

The United Nations quality rights chief has condemned the elections, citing a crackdown connected dissent, portion run groups person criticised campaigner lists dominated by figures aligned with the military.

The elections were held successful lone astir a 3rd of Myanmar’s 330 townships arsenic ample parts of the state are inaccessible owed to warring betwixt the subject and absorption forces aft the 2021 subject coup that overthrew the elected authorities of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The USDP is wide expected to look arsenic the largest party. Analysts person agelong described it arsenic a civilian proxy for the military.

In the past elections successful 2020, the USDP suffered a dense decision to Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). The NLD is 1 of 40 governmental parties that person been banned by the subject government, according to campaigners successful the United Kingdom. Suu Kyi has been detained since the subject seized power.

After voting concluded connected Sunday, the subject government’s leader, Min Aung Hlaing, said the equipped forces could beryllium trusted to instrumentality powerfulness to a civilian-led government. He has ruled the state by decree since the coup.

The subject takeover triggered a nationwide civilian warfare arsenic pro-democracy activists formed equipped absorption groups alongside taste number forces that person agelong fought the cardinal government.

The struggle has killed an estimated 90,000 people, displaced astir 3.5 cardinal and near astir 22 cardinal radical successful request of humanitarian assistance. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, much than 22,000 radical are presently detained for governmental offences.