Myanmar pro-military party claims early wins in junta-run election

Myanmar's dominant pro-military party is "winning a majority" in the first phase of junta-run elections, a party source told AFP on Monday, after democracy watchdogs warned the 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 pledged would return power to the people. The massively popular but dissolved party of democratic figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi did not appear on ballots, and she has remained jailed since the military putsch, which triggered a civil war.