{"id":7055,"date":"2025-12-31T11:09:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T11:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=7055"},"modified":"2025-12-31T11:09:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T11:09:47","slug":"myanmar-military-reports-50-percent-turnout-in-first-election-phase-elections-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=7055","title":{"rendered":"Myanmar military reports 50 percent turnout in first election phase | Elections News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Military hails elections as a \u2018victory\u2019, despite criticism from rights groups and reduced turnout compared with past polls.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"byline byline--single-avatar\">\n<div class=\"avatars-container\">\n<div class=\"responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/dream-1820-1756620243.jpg?resize=96%2C96&amp;quality=80 96w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 96px) 96px, 96px\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 31 Dec 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">31 Dec 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Myanmar\u2019s military has claimed a voter turnout of more than 50 percent in the first stage of its national elections, framing the vote as \u201csuccessful\u201d despite widespread condemnation as a \u201csham\u201d poll from rights groups.<\/p>\n<p>Military spokesman Zaw Min Tun said 52 percent of enrolled voters \u2013 more than six million people \u2013 cast their ballots on Sunday in the first phase of the three-part election, held amid an ongoing civil war.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) claimed an overwhelming victory. One senior party official suggested the USDP, led by retired generals and often described as a civilian proxy for the military, had won more than 80 percent of seats contested in the lower house of the legislature.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"violence-and-repression\">\u2018Violence and repression\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Rights advocates and Western diplomats have slammed the vote as a \u201csham\u201d, citing the military\u2019s broad crackdown on dissent and the exclusion of parties critical of its rule.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese elections are clearly taking place in an environment of violence and repression,\u201d United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said on December 23. \u201cThere are no conditions for the exercise of the rights of freedom of expression, association or peaceful assembly that allow for the free and meaningful participation of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Turnout was also well below the levels seen in the last national elections in 2020, which stood at about 70 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the military presented the result as a resounding success.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven in developed democratic nations, there are situations where voter turnout does not exceed 50 percent,\u201d Min Tun said, hailing \u200cthe turnout as a \u201csource of pride\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis successful election is not the victory of our government. It\u2019s the victory of our country and people,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday\u2019s voting covered only about a third of Myanmar\u2019s 330 townships, as large parts of the country are inaccessible due to fighting between the military and opposition forces.<\/p>\n<p>The next rounds are scheduled for January 11 and January 25, covering 265 of Myanmar\u2019s 330 \u200ctownships, although the military does not have complete \u2060control of all those areas.<\/p>\n<p>The military\u2019s legal framework for the election has no minimum voter turnout requirement, said the Asian Network for Free Elections poll monitoring group.<\/p>\n<p>Nobel \u200cPeace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, deposed by the military months after her National League for Democracy won a general election landslide \u200din 2020, remains in detention, and the party she led to power has since been dissolved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Military hails elections as a \u2018victory\u2019, despite criticism from rights groups and reduced turnout compared with past polls. Published On 31 Dec 202531 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Myanmar\u2019s military has claimed a voter turnout of more than 50 percent in the first stage of its national elections, framing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}