Myanmar pro-military party claims big lead in disputed junta-run poll: ‘election not credible’

Myanmar’s dominant pro-military party claimed an overwhelming victory in the first phase of the elections, a senior party official said, after democracy watchdogs warned the junta-run poll would entrench military rule. The armed forces snatched power in a 2021 coup, but on Sunday opened voting in a phased month-long election they pledge will return power to the people. “We won 82 lower house seats in townships which have finished counting, out of the total of 102,” a senior member of the Union...