YANGON: Voters in war-torn Myanmar queued up on Sunday (Jan 11) to cast their ballots in the second stage of a military-run election, following low turnout in the initial round of polls that have been widely criticised as a tool to formalise junta rule.
Polling stations opened at 6am local time in 100 townships across the country, including parts of Sagaing, Magway, Mandalay, Bago and Tanintharyi regions, as well as Mon, Shan, Kachin, Kayah and Kayin states.
Many of those areas have seen clashes in recent months or remain under heightened security, underscoring the risks surrounding the vote.
The election is being held in three phases due to armed conflicts. The first round took place on Dec 28 in 102 of the country’s total 330 townships, followed by the second phase on Sunday. A final round is scheduled for Jan 25, although 65 townships will not take part because of fighting.
Myanmar has been ravaged by conflict since the military ousted a civilian government in a 2021 coup and detained its leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a civil war that has engulfed large parts of the impoverished nation of 51 million people.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, which swept the last election in 2020, has been dissolved along with dozens of other anti-junta parties for failing to register for the latest polls, while rebel groups have refused to take part.
The United Nations, many Western countries and human rights groups say the election is a sham exercise that is neither free, fair nor credible in the absence of a meaningful opposition.
ARMY ALLIES MARCHING TOWARDS VICTORY
The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is leading by a huge margin after winning 90 of the 102 lower house seats contested in the first phase on Dec 28, which saw only 52.13 per cent voter turnout, much lower than elections in 2020 and 2015.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/myanmar-election-vote-second-round-military-junta-5850986
