Denying the results of last year’s election and making repeated claims of electoral fraud is “political suicide,” the spokesperson for the President’s Office said at a press conference in Naypyitaw on Friday.
Zaw Htay said the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) had won landslide victories not only in the 2020 election but also in 1990 and 2015, indicating that the party has long enjoyed the support of the majority of the public, he added.
“Those individuals and parties who have been making false claims concerning the election results are taking a suicidal approach to their own politics. It will be political suicide,” said Zaw Htay.
He did not specify which individuals or organizations were making such claims, but most criticism of the election results over the past two months has come from the military and its proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).
The military and the USDP have issued several statements expressing dissatisfaction with the handling of the election by the Union Election Commission (UEC), questioning the voters lists and calling for investigations into allegations of voter fraud.
Three days after the November 8 election, the USDP called on the UEC to rerun the election with the military’s oversight. The party has since organized several other press conferences in cities around the country accusing the government and the UEC of unfairness in the election process.
The USDP has also submitted complaints to the UEC claiming “irregularities” in almost 200 constituencies where the NLD won.
There has been no response from the military regarding Zaw Htay’s comments, but a spokesperson for the USDP said that the party was planning to take legal action to resolve the issues that it has raised.
“We’re proceeding under the law. We do not accept these irresponsible remarks that were made instead of solving it legally. We condemn it. We refuse it,” USDP spokesperson Dr Nandar Hla Myint told Myanmar Now.
Zaw Htay said at the press conference that losing parties should end their attempts to undermine the UEC’s authority by making unfounded accusations.
“It’s not okay if they keep saying that the judge played foul,” he said.
He also dismissed the complaints of opposition parties that have accused the ruling party of breaching electoral laws.
He defended President Win Myint and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, saying that the NLD’s reelected top leaders did not do anything that was not in line with electoral laws.
Criticism of the election will not prevent a government and parliament from being formed in line with the results and in accordance with the 2008 Constitution, Zaw Htay said.
“There’s only one question: Will you follow the 2008 Constitution or not?” he said.
In the 2020 election, the ruling party won 396 seats in the Union parliament, more than the 322 it needed to form a government, and 920 out of 1,117 seats nationwide, while the USDP won in just 71 constituencies.
