Former Junta Party Seeks Fresh Vote in Myanmar Poll Citing Fraud
Former Junta Party Seeks Fresh Vote in Myanmar Poll Citing Fraud
(Bloomberg) -- Myanmar’s largest opposition party alleged widespread irregularities in the nation’s general elections and sought a fresh vote as official results showed Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling party heading for a landslide win.
The military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party rejected the results from Sunday’s voting, saying it had evidence of a number of frauds including dead people enlisted as voters for Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and election officials favoring the ruling party. A re-election with the support of the military should be held as soon as possible, Win Win Aung, a spokeswoman for the opposition party, said at a briefing Wednesday.
The Union Election Commission dismissed the party’s claims as “groundless allegations.” Myint Naing, a commissioner, asked any political parties with grievances to lodge official complaints within 15 days with evidence of electoral fraud.
Allegations of voting malpractice come a day after Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the U.S. would continue to closely monitor the Myanmar electoral process, calling on authorities to ensure vote counting and the resolution of complaints was transparent and credible.
The election commission is on track to complete counting of votes held for the national assembly and provincial and regional parliaments within a week, Myint Naing said. Official results showed Suu Kyi’s NLD had already won 172 seats in the national assembly, about 82% of the total declared by the commission.
NLD is on course to win about 402 seats to the national assembly, according to Facebook posts by NLD senior executives. That will allow Suu Kyi’s party to retain power for another five-year term and fulfill their pledges to revive the economy and ensure internal peace.
The turnout was about 70% of the 37.3 million people eligible to vote in the election, according to the commission. The military, known as Tatmadaw, takes 25% of all seats at the national legislature and provincial assemblies, according to the 2008 Constitution.
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