Official results show

Myanmar's dominant pro-military party won the first phase of junta-run elections, the last released official results showed yesterday, with the USDP taking nearly 90 percent of lower house seats.

The military staged a 2021 coup that ousted the democratic government of Aung San Suu Kyi, but is overseeing a month-long phased election it pledges will return power to the people.

Western diplomats and democracy advocates dismiss the poll as a ploy to rebrand military rule, citing Suu Kyi's jailing, her party's dissolution and a crackdown on dissenters.

The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won 89 of 102 lower house seats included in the first phase, according to an AFP tally of official results released from Friday to yesterday.

The USDP win equates to more than 87 percent of lower house seats included in the first phase of voting on December 28 -- the remainder mostly won by a smattering of parties representing ethnic minorities.