Myanmar's parliament packed with junta allies

NAYPYIDAW

Myanmar's parliament convened Monday for the first time since a 2021 military coup, packed with pro-junta lawmakers elected in a poll choreographed by the top brass.

The majority of MPs hail from the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) while most of the remainder belong to the armed forces, which are entitled to a quarter of unelected seats under the constitution.

MPs in the People's Assembly in the capital Naypyidaw begin proceedings Monday morning, electing USDP lawmaker Nanda Kyaw Swar as the lower house chairman.

The last election in 2020 returned a resounding victory for Aung San Suu Kyi but the junta claimed massive voter fraud and swept aside the results, detaining the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, disbanding her party and triggering civil war.

After five years of military rule, the junta stage-managed a phased re-run of the vote in December and January, outlawing criticism of the poll and stacking the ballot with its civilian allies, according to democracy watchdogs.

As MPs from the junta-backed election took their seats in the chamber, some exiled parliamentarians from the 2020 vote held a parallel session, asserting that their self-declared "National Unity Government [NUG] remains the country's rightful leadership. We have been witnessing an attempt to deceive the public with fraudulent representation through these fake elections," said NUG acting president Duwa Lashi La in an online meeting of the shadow government.