Myanmar’s USDP claims majority in junta-run polls, securing 176 lower house seats so far, as critics denounce the election as a facade to legitimise military rule.
YANGON: Myanmar’s dominant pro-military party has claimed a majority of elected lower house seats in the country’s junta-run polls.
The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) said it won 87 seats out of 100 in Sunday’s second phase of the staggered election.
Combined with its earlier wins, the party claims 176 lower house seats so far, just over half of the 330 elected positions.
A USDP official, speaking anonymously, confirmed the figures to AFP ahead of the third and final phase of voting on January 25.
The military, which seized power in a 2021 coup, has pledged the election will return power to the people.
Democracy advocates and watchdogs say the poll has been rigged to prolong the armed forces’ grip on the country.
They cite a purge of dissent and a ballot stacked with military allies in the absence of Aung San Suu Kyi’s dissolved party.
The UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said the junta engineered the polls to ensure victory for its proxy.
He stated the aim was to “entrench military domination in Myanmar, and manufacture a facade of legitimacy”.
There are 440 seats in the lower house, but 110 are constitutionally reserved for the armed forces.
Analysts describe the USDP, many of whose officials are retired officers, as the military’s prime political proxy.
Parliament is due to convene in March, when MPs will choose the president.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has not ruled out resigning as top general to take over the civilian role.
