YANGON: Myanmar’s biggest opposition party on Wednesday said it would not recognise this week’s general election and urged authorities to hold another vote, with the help of the powerful military.
The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) urged a re-run of Sunday’s vote as soon as possible, with the military’s cooperation, “in order to have an election that is free, fair, unbiased and free from unfair campaigning”.
The USDP call came as Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party looked on course for its second successive election sweep, after partial results on Wednesday indicated a commanding lead and wins in more than 80% of the parliamentary seats that have been declared.
The NLD has claimed a resounding based on its own unofficial tally.
Nearly a third of the contests have been formally announced and the latest official results take the NLD’s seats in the bicameral legislature to 130 of the 158 declared, compared with 15 for the USDP.
The NLD won by a similar margin in the last election in 2015, which was the first vote since the end of nearly 50 years of strict military rule and quasi-military rule.
The NLD needs 322 seats to be sure of forming the next government.
The USDP alleged irregularities like poor-quality ballot boxes and envelopes, problems with advanced voting and government cash handouts it said amounted to NLD bribes.
It also complained about celebratory gatherings by NLD supporters it said breached novel coronavirus restrictions.
‘EVIDENCE’
The NLD said such complaints were to be expected but it demanded proof of any wrongdoing.
“There will always be some people who say it is not fair,” said NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt. “They must present evidence for their accusations.”
The election commission was not immediately available but it was scheduled to hold a news conference later on Wednesday.
The election was seen as a referendum on Suu Kyi’s fledgling democratic government, which is hugely popular at home but its reputation abroad has collapsed due to accusations of genocide against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority, which it denies.
Despite the emergence of new parties, experts saw the election as a straight choice between the NLD and the USDP, the political juggernaut created by the military junta before it started the transition towards a civilian-led democratic system.
International and local observers have said the election went smoothly without major irregularities. The U.S-based Carter Center said on Tuesday that voting was conducted positively in 94% of stations visited.
The election commission, which is appointed by the president, was criticized before the vote over alleged errors in voter lists, censorship of broadcasts by opposition parties, and the cancellation of voting in areas affected by insurgencies.
Among the critics was the military’s commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who said there were “unacceptable mistakes” ahead of the polls, underlining tension between the civilian government and the military, which has a quota of house seats and control of several ministries.
(Additional reporting by Thu Thu Aung and Poppy McPherson; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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