Myanmar junta ally claims Suu Kyi’s seat

Myanmar’s military-backed party has declared victory in the constituency once held by Aung San Suu Kyi, deepening fears that the junta’s month-long election is little more than a show of legitimacy.

The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), widely seen as the armed forces’ political proxy, said it had won in Kawhmu, Suu Kyi’s former seat in Yangon region. An official, speaking anonymously, added that the party secured 15 out of 16 lower house seats in the area during the second stage of voting on Sunday. Official results have yet to be released by the junta-controlled election commission.

The claim follows a sweeping first-round victory in December, when the USDP captured nearly 90 percent of lower house seats. UN rights expert Tom Andrews dismissed the outcome as unsurprising, accusing the junta of “engineering the polls to entrench military domination and manufacture a facade of legitimacy while violence and repression continue unabated.”

Myanmar’s generals seized power in a 2021 coup, detaining Suu Kyi after alleging fraud in her landslide election win. Since then, her National League for Democracy has been dissolved, dissent crushed, and thousands jailed. Suu Kyi herself remains in seclusion, serving lengthy sentences handed down by military courts.

The junta insists the current vote will “return power to the people.” Yet critics point to the constitution, which reserves a quarter of parliamentary seats for the armed forces regardless of the ballot. Large swathes of the country, meanwhile, are excluded from voting altogether, as rebel groups maintain control of territories in open defiance of military rule.

The civil war sparked by the coup has claimed an estimated 90,000 lives, according to monitoring group ACLED. Violence surged during the first phase of the election on 28 December, with 52 incidents recorded in a single day, leaving 68 people dead.

Beyond the battlefield, repression continues. More than 330 people face prosecution under new laws criminalising protest or criticism of the poll, with penalties of up to 10 years in prison. Advocacy groups say over 22,000 political prisoners are currently held, including Suu Kyi.

As the final phase of voting approaches on 25 January, the junta’s grip appears unshaken. For many in Myanmar, the ballot offers little hope of change—only confirmation that the military intends to tighten its hold on power.

-2026-01-13