The pro-military party in Myanmar, called the Union Solidarity and Development Party or USDP, says it has won a huge victory in the first stage of the country’s elections. A senior party official told AFP that they secured 82 out of 102 lower house seats in the areas where counting is finished.
Myanmar is holding elections in stages for a whole month. This is the first election since the military took control of the country in a coup in 2021. One phase of voting happened on Sunday. The elections are supposed to return power to the people after the military takeover.
According to the results, USDP won more than 80 percent of the lower house seats in the areas that voted on Sunday. The party also claimed it won all eight townships in the capital, Naypyidaw.
Many analysts say USDP is basically the military’s civilian partner. In the 2020 elections, the party lost badly to Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, or NLD. After the military coup in 2021, the government and both parties were dissolved. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party is not taking part in this year’s elections, and she remains in detention.
The fairness of these elections has been heavily criticized. The United Nations, some Western countries, and human rights groups have said the elections are not free or fair. Tom Andrews, the UN special envoy for human rights in Myanmar, said the election should be rejected and called it a “sham” that will not solve the country’s crisis.
Despite this criticism, a spokesperson for the military government said the elections will bring political stability to the country.
