Myanmar’s military-backed main opposition party has rejected the results of last weekend’s general election, citing unfairness.
Unofficial results on Tuesday showed that the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, won a majority of seats in parliament, giving it a second five-year term in power.
But at a news conference on Wednesday in Yangon, an official from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) read a statement demanding that the Union Election Commission (UEC) hold another vote, and work with the military so that the election can be free, fair and unbiased.
A member of the UEC said in a separate news conference in Naypyitaw that the commission has “no comment on the USDP’s accusations, as we don’t know what kind of facts or evidence their accusations are based on”.
Outside the UEC office, about 50 protesters from various groups held placards challenging the validity of the election before they were asked by police to leave.
The USDP statement came a day after party chairman Than Htay said that the election process is not yet over.
“There have been many contentious events during the whole voting process, whether in line with the law or not, and more facts are coming out,” he said in a video message posted on Facebook on Tuesday. “We will continue working according to the law to receive the final result.”
Yway Mal, an independent vote counting service, said that as of Wednesday, Ms Suu Kyi’s party had won 361 seats in the combined upper and lower houses, exceeding the 322 needed for control.
The USDP has so far captured 21 seats, while 48 were won by other parties, Yway Mal said.
The official results of Sunday’s election posted online by the UEC are lagging far behind the unofficial results, but they show the advantage going to the NLD.
They also confirmed that Ms Suu Kyi won the seat she contested and the NLD claimed victory on Monday.
