Overview
- A senior USDP official told the Associated Press the party took 88 of 102 lower-house seats in phase one, though the election commission has not issued results.
- Voting began Dec. 28 in 102 of 330 townships, with two further rounds set for Jan. 11 and Jan. 25 and 65 townships excluded because of fighting.
- The UN and rights groups denounced the exercise as a sham, citing wartime restrictions, a new law criminalising dissent, and the ban on the NLD with Aung San Suu Kyi still detained.
- Reports from several regions described explosions and air strikes during the vote, including incidents that injured civilians and killed a child.
- The military insists the polls are free and fair, observers included delegations from China, Russia and India, and the 2008 constitution reserves 25% of seats for serving officers.