The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which has close ties to Myanmar's military, won a landslide victory in the first phase of the election, capturing nearly 90% of the seats in the lower house of parliament.
The latest official results released on Monday, 5 Jan 2024 GMT+7, show that the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) secured nearly 90% of the seats in the lower house during the first phase of the elections.
This election is part of a month-long phased voting process that Myanmar's military describes as a return of power to the people following the 2021 coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government. However, Western diplomats and democracy activists see this election as a strategy to legitimize military rule rather than a free and fair poll.
According to official election data compiled by AFP news agency from Friday to Monday, the USDP won 89 out of 102 lower house seats contested in the first phase, accounting for more than 87% of the seats available in this round. Most of the remaining seats went to smaller parties representing various ethnic groups in different areas.
Many analysts and democracy watchdog organizations identify the USDP as a military proxy party, pointing to the number of former high-ranking military officers holding key positions within the party.
The election has been heavily questioned because 80-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi remains detained and isolated from the outside world, the National League for Democracy (NLD) party has been dissolved and is absent from the ballot, and numerous opposition members, activists, and dissenters have been suppressed or arrested.
Looking back at the 2020 election, the NLD had won a landslide victory over the USDP before the military claimed widespread fraud and subsequently staged a coup to seize power.
Even with elections held, the military-drafted constitution reserves 25% of the lower house seats and several key ministerial positions automatically for the military, regardless of election outcomes. Official final results will be announced after the third and final phase concludes on 25 Jan 2024 GMT+7.
The 2021 coup triggered a civil war in Myanmar, as pro-democracy protesters took up arms to form resistance forces, joining armed ethnic groups that have long fought the central government.
Multiple rebel groups have declared their intention to block elections in areas under their control, while the military government admits it cannot hold elections nationwide and is conducting military operations to retake territory from opposition forces.
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