Myanmar junta’s proxy party named winner of criticised election
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Myanmar electoral officials counting ballots after closing the third phase of the general election at a polling station in Yangon on Jan 25.
PHOTO: EPA
YANGON – A proxy party for Myanmar’s junta was declared the “landslide” winner of elections that were derided as illegitimate by the United Nations and others, helping the military keep its grip on the war-ravaged country.
The junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won 739 of 1,025 seats in the election, which was held in three phases from Dec 28 to Jan 25.
The National Unity Party won 68 seats, and the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (White Tiger Party) won 39 seats, according to official results from the Election Commission.
The results mean USDP will dominate both national and provincial assemblies, and be able to form a new Cabinet and appoint the president on its own.
Parliament will convene in the third week of March, Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing said in a meeting with Russian Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu in Naypyitaw on Feb 3.
USDP spokesman Hla Thein told Bloomberg on Feb 4: “We won 87.8 per cent of the Lower House seats and an average of 70.2 per cent of seats in the Upper House, so it’s obviously a landslide victory.”
The spokesman said that only 0.2 per cent of the party’s more than one million members are retired military personnel.
There were no polls in parts of the country controlled by rebels, while the National League for Democracy, which had landslide victories in the 2015 and 2020 elections, was banned.
Myanmar’s former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, remains in jail.
Critics say the regime is using the election in a bid for legitimacy, effectively prolonging the military dictatorship as an elected government.
The elections were “neither free nor fair”, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Feb 1, while the US Department of State said Washington “will continue to monitor the situation closely and assess the military regime’s next steps”.
UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement on Jan 30: “Many people chose either to vote or not to vote purely out of fear, flatly at odds with their internationally guaranteed civil and political rights.”
He added: “The conflict and insecurity continued unabated in large parts of the country. Opposition candidates and some ethnic groups were excluded.”
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said some 13.1 million of 24.2 million eligible voters cast their ballots, resulting in a voter turnout of about 55 per cent.
Myanmar has a population of 51 million people, according to the 2024 census.
On Feb 3, the junta enacted a new law paving the way for the establishment of the Union Consultative Council by the next government.
The council chairman, to be appointed by the new president, will likely be the government’s de facto leader.
If Senior General Min Aung Hlaing takes the role, he would have effective power without having to quit the military.
Under the 2008 Constitution, the country’s president is not allowed to also be the military chief.
USDP chairman Khin Yi, a retired general and former police chief, said the party has yet to decide on the president and the Cabinet.
Party spokesman Hla Thein said “national interest will be taken into serious consideration” in every step it takes. Bloomberg
