While the formal announcement of the election result in Myanmar is yet to come, the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) has claimed victory in the general elections held on November 8. The preliminary vote counts show that the NLD has won close to 400 seats while the opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has secured only 21 seats. In the last elections in 2015, USDP had secured 41 seats.
The Union Election Commission (UEC) has started to formally announce the results but the final announcement will take some more time as the counting of votes is continuing in some constituencies of Myanmar.
However, the opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has demanded the rerun of elections alleging large scale irregularity in the management of the elections. The USDP in a press conference on Wednesday said that the NLD government appointed UEC has been unable to hold the elections properly. It said that for a free, unbiased and disciplined vote, the election should be held again in cooperation with the military, reports the Irrawaddy. The USDP enjoys support by the army.
The USDP alleged that NLD volunteers were recruited by the UEC for managing the polling stations. It also alleged irregularities in the preparation of the voter list, distribution of relief to COVID 19 people by the government as factors affecting the impartiality of elections.
The UEC however denied the allegation and said that USDP is making baseless allegations to create misunderstanding.
Earlier, the Myanmar Army Chief General Min Aung Hlaing had also levelled similar allegations against the government calling the election management as unfair.
However, international observers such as the Carter Centre and several countries through their embassies in Myanmar have commended the government of Myanmar for successful and fair conduct of elections.