Myanmar junta claims first phase voter turnout topped 50%

AFP

Myanmar’s military has said turnout in the first phase of the country’s junta-run elections exceeded 50 percent of eligible voters, a far cry from the participation rate of the last poll which was voided by a coup.

The military grabbed power in a 2021 putsch that triggered civil war, and on Sunday, opened voting in a phased month-long election they pledged would return power to the people.

Rights advocates and Western diplomats, however, condemned the vote, citing a crackdown on dissent and a candidate list stacked with military allies likely to prolong the armed forces’ rule.

Myanmar’s dominant pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party claimed an overwhelming victory in the first phase this week, while the junta accused rebels of launching attacks on poll sites and government buildings over the weekend.

Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said in a recorded message that 52 percent of the more than 11.6 million people eligible to vote in phase one had cast their ballots, or over six million voters.

“Even in democratic countries, they do not have more than 50 percent voter turnout,” Zaw Min Tun said in the video shared with journalists late Tuesday.

“This successful election is not the victory of our government. It’s the victory of our country and people.”