Myanmar’s military has claimed a voter turnout of more than 50 percent in the first stage of its national elections, framing the vote as “successful” despite widespread condemnation as a “sham” poll from rights groups.

Military spokesman Zaw Min Tun said 52 percent of enrolled voters – more than six million people – cast their ballots on Sunday in the first phase of the three-part election, held amid an ongoing civil war.

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The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) claimed an overwhelming victory. One senior party official suggested the USDP, led by retired generals and often described as a civilian proxy for the military, had won more than 80 percent of seats contested in the lower house of the legislature.

‘Violence and repression’

Rights advocates and Western diplomats have slammed the vote as a “sham”, citing the military’s broad crackdown on dissent and the exclusion of parties critical of its rule.

“These elections are clearly taking place in an environment of violence and repression,” United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said on December 23. “There are no conditions for the exercise of the rights of freedom of expression, association or peaceful assembly that allow for the free and meaningful participation of the people.”

Turnout was also well below the levels seen in the last national elections in 2020, which stood at about 70 percent.

Still, the military presented the result as a resounding success.

“Even in developed democratic nations, there are situations where voter turnout does not exceed 50 percent,” Min Tun said, hailing ‌the turnout as a “source of pride”.

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“This successful election is not the victory of our government. It’s the victory of our country and people,” the official said.

Sunday’s voting covered only about a third of Myanmar’s 330 townships, as large parts of the country are inaccessible due to fighting between the military and opposition forces.

The next rounds are scheduled for January 11 and January 25, covering 265 of Myanmar’s 330 ‌townships, although the military does not have complete ⁠control of all those areas.

The military’s legal framework for the election has no minimum voter turnout requirement, said the Asian Network for Free Elections poll monitoring group.

Nobel ‌Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, deposed by the military months after her National League for Democracy won a general election landslide ‍in 2020, remains in detention, and the party she led to power has since been dissolved.