For the upper house, or Amyotha Hluttaw, only one seat has been declared, which was won by the Wa National Party.
No date has been set for the final result of the election, criticised by the United Nations, some Western countries and human rights groups as anti-junta political parties are not in the running and it is illegal to criticise the polls.
The election panel has not revealed the total number of constituencies voting in the first phase, opting instead to release partial results on a constituency-by-constituency basis.
On Wednesday, the junta said 52 per cent of voters, or more than half of those eligible, had cast ballots in the first phase.
That fell short of turnout of about 70 per cent in general elections in 2020 and 2015, however, according to the US-based nonprofit International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
Two more rounds of voting set for Jan 11 and Jan 25 will cover 265 of Myanmar’s 330 townships, in some of which the junta does not have complete control.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner deposed by the military months after she won the last general election by a landslide in 2020, remains in detention. Her National League for Democracy has been dissolved.
Analysts say the junta’s bid to set up a stable government in the midst of war is fraught with risk, and broad foreign recognition is also unlikely for any military-controlled administration with a civilian veneer.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/myanmar-elections-military-backed-union-solidarity-development-party-leads-polls-5787486
