Dec 31 (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta said slightly more than half of eligible voters cast their ballot in the first phase of a three-stage national election at the weekend, a figure that was markedly lower than the previous two elections.
The election is the first since a 2021 coup and is taking place during a civil war. Analysts expect the military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party, led by retired generals, to be returned to power.
The United Nations, some Western countries and human rights groups have said the vote is not free, fair or credible, given that anti-junta political parties are out of the running and it is illegal to criticise the polls.
Zaw Min Tun, a junta spokesperson, told state media that more than six million people, or 52.13% of enrolled voters, had voted on Sunday across 102 townships.
"Even in developed democratic nations, there are situations where voter turnout does not exceed 50%," Zaw Min Tun said, saying the turnout was a "source of pride".
Turnout was about 70% in Myanmar's 2020 and 2015 general elections, according to the U.S.-based nonprofit International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
Further rounds of voting will be held on January 11 and January 25, covering 265 of Myanmar's 330 townships, although the junta does not have complete control of all those areas.
The junta'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 been dissolved.
(Reporting by Reuters staff; Writing by John Mair; Editing by David Stanway)
